Read&Write for Mac

Text to Speech - Text to Speech is one of the most fundamental support features of Read&Write. Hearing text read aloud in conjunction with dual highlighting helps the reader with comprehension and word recognition. Research has proven that that reading aloud, paired with dual highlighting, boosts reading comprehension and allows writers to listen to their written work. Studies have also found that students' writing skills and attitude towards writing improve when they have their writing read aloud back to them (Central Washington University, Technology for Learning Disabilities Project).

Phonetic Spell Checker - An advanced phonetic spell checker analyzes and corrects students' spelling and returns more suggestions for common spelling errors. In addition to correcting phonetic spelling errors, flexible spelling errors are identified, such as words without vowels (for example, "brkfst").

Word Prediction - Read&Write's Word Prediction learns the writer's style and predicts the word they are typing and the word they want to use next. Word Prediction enables the user to develop their writing skills by providing the tools to construct sentences with ease. As the user types, a list of suggestions will appear in the Prediction Panel. Indicators beside each word show context accuracy. This means users will be less likely to make a grammatical error thus increasing the quality of their work.

Talking Dictionary - Read&Write provides talking dictionaries - basic, advanced and online dictionaries - to provide definitions and alternative words to help students expand their vocabulary, improve reading comprehension and enhance creative writing skills. Each word in the dictionary has a description and sample sentence, all of which can be spoken, along with alternative suggestions. These talking dictionaries increase word understanding for students.

Picture Dictionary - An online Picture Dictionary is available to display images for a selected word. Visual images often help users better understand a word's meaning. Text definitions are also included.

Word Wizard - The Word Wizard acts as a thesaurus for those times when users are at a loss for words. It guides users from the known word to a new or preferred word. The word wizard provides a great choice of alternative words and provides a list of linking words. Each of the descriptions and sample sentences can be read by Read&Write to help find the word to use.

Sounds Like and Confusable Words Checker - The Sounds Like and Confusable Words Checker identifies words that sound the same but are spelled differently (homophones) or words that are commonly confused. Alternate choices are displayed as well as their definitions.

Verb Checker - The Verb Checker helps students determine correct verb conjugation. Once the student selects the past, present or future tense, multiple verb conjugation options are provided.

Screenshot Reader - This feature can be used to read aloud all text, including text that is embedded within an image or video or is contained within inaccessible Flash, giving users access to text that was previously unreadable. Screenshot Reader can also be used to read aloud text on websites and online applications, such as course management systems, credit recovery applications, remedial learning programs, and online assessments. With Screenshot Reader, users can select any part of the screen to be read aloud.

Speech Maker - Read&Write allows the conversion of text into an audio file, such as MP3, using high-quality voices. For example, a user may convert text from a novel or magazine to listen to when relaxing or studying, or convert a script to audio format to help learn lines for a school play or amateur production. Ideal for reviewing work, the playback voice can be adjusted to suit the individual's needs, making the experience as productive as possible.

DAISY Reader - The DAISY Standard for Digital Accessible Documents is an open worldwide specification that revolutionizes the reading experience for people who are blind or print disabled. Read&Write contains DAISY Reading technology and allows users to read their DAISY Books while working within the program.

Pronunciation Tutor - Pronunciation Tutor breaks words into syllables allowing easy recognition of syllables in a word. An on-screen moving mouth assists in the development of more accurate speech. The Pronunciation Tutor can also be of particular advantage to English Language Learners (ELL) as it highlights the pronunciation of a given word in a visual format.

Scanning - Read&Write has a built-in, one-click scanning tool. With Read&Write, it is possible to scan print documents or saved images into Microsoft Word, HTML, or PDF format. A user can even scan a document in using a digital camera! Once scanned, the text may be read aloud.