Voice Reader Word For Mac

Macs have voice dictation built-in, allowing you to talk instead of type. This feature functions more like voice dictation on a mobile operating system, and less like the more complicated Speech Recognition feature found in Windows.

OS X Mavericks contains an “Enhanced Dictation” feature. It lets you use Voice Dictation offline and displays text as you speak, so you can see exactly how your speech is being interpreted.

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NaturalReader is a free TTS program that allows you to read aloud any text. The free version of the software converts Microsoft Word files, webpages, PDF files, and emails into spoken words.

If you need to use those accessibility features, create a custom dictation shortcut: Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Keyboard, click Dictation, then choose “Customize” from the Shortcut menu. Voice Dream Reader for PC (Windows 7/8/Mac) – Free Download 3 (60%) 20 votes Voice Dream is a reader of ebooks that interprets texts and has great features.

Set Up Enhanced Dictation

First, you’ll need to enable the Dictation feature. Click the Apple menu at the top of your screen and select System Preferences. Click the Dictation & Speech icon in the System Preferences pane and ensure Dictation is set to On.

Enable the Enhanced Dictation option and your Mac will download the appropriate dictionary from Apple’s servers. It will then be able to interpret your voice offline. If you don’t enable Enhanced Dictation, your speech will be sent to Apple’s servers an interpreted there.

You’re also free to customize your dictation shortcut and which microphone dictation uses from here. The purple microphone will light up as you speak if your Mac can hear you.

Using Voice Dictation

To use voice dictation in an application on your Mac, first select a text field in an application. Next, press the Fn (Function) key twice or click the Edit menu and select Start Dictation.

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Speak to your Mac and the words you speak will start appearing in the text field. If you’ve set up Enhanced Dictation, they’ll appear immediately. If you haven’t, you’ll have to click Done or press the fn key again and your voice will be sent to Apple’s servers, where it’s interpreted and the text is filled into your application. You can only speak for up to 30 seconds each time if you haven’t set up Enhanced Dictation.

The purple indicator on the microphone should move as you speak. If it doesn’t, your Mac can’t hear you. You’ll need to reposition your microphone or configure which microphone is used from the Dictation pane.

When you’re done dictating, tap the fn key again or click Done to make your Mac stop listening to you.

Dictation Commands

Like on other operating systems, Voice Dictation won’t automatically fill in the appropriate punctuation marks as you speak a sentence normally. You’ll need to speak the punctuation marks you want to type. For example, to type “I’m doing well. How are you doing?”, you’d have to say “I’m doing well period how are you doing question mark.”

RELATED:Use Voice Dictation to Save Time on Android, iPhone, and iPad

Here’s a full list of voice dictation commands you can use, adapted from Apple’s help site. If you have an iPhone or iPad, note that these are identical to the voice commands used on Apple’s iOS.

  • Punctuation: Apostrophe (‘), open bracket ([) and close bracket (]), open parenthesis(() and close parenthesis ()) open brace ({) and close brace (}), open angle bracket(<) and close angle bracket (>), colon (:), comma (,), dash (-), ellipsis or dot dot dot(…), exclamation mark (!), hyphen (–), period or point or dot or full stop (.), question mark (?), quote and end quote (“), begin single quote and end single quote (‘),semicolon (;)
  • Typography: Ampersand (&), asterisk (*), at sign (@), backslash (), forward slash (/),caret (^), center dot (·), large center dot (•), degree sign (°), hashtag or pound sign(#), percent sign (%), underscore (_), vertical bar (|).
  • Currency: Dollar sign ($), cent sign (¢), pound sterling sign (£), euro sign (€), yen sign(¥)
  • Emoticons: Cross-eyed laughing face (XD), frowny face (:-(), smiley face (:-)), winky face (;-))
  • Intellectual property: Copyright sign (©), registered sign (®), trademark sign (™)
  • Math: Equals sign (=), greater than sign (>), less than sign (<), minus sign (-),multiplication sign (x), plus sign (+)
  • Line spacing: new line, new paragraph, tab key

You also have control over formatting and spacing:

  • Say numeral or roman numeral and speak a number. For example, if you say “eight,” it will appear as 8 or VIII.
  • Say no space on, say something, and then say no space off. For example, if you say “good day sir,” your words would appear as “gooddaysir”.
  • Say caps on, say something, and say caps off. The words you spoke will appear in Title Case.
  • Say all caps on, say something, and then say all caps off. The words you spoke will appear in ALL CAPS.
  • Say all caps and say a word — the next word you speak will appear in ALL CAPS

Whereas the Windows Speech Recognition feature is extremely powerful and can feel more like an accessibility tool than something intended for the masses, the Mac Voice Dictation feature is more streamlined and simplified. It’s easy to start using without a long training process and will feel familiar to people who’ve used voice dictation on smartphones and tablets. In fact, it’s extremely similar to the voice dictation feature on Apple’s iOS.

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One way your Mac can speak to you in Mac OS X Lion is using Text to Speech, which converts on-screen text to spoken words. If you’ve used Text to Speech in earlier versions of Mac OS X, you’ll find that it’s pretty much unchanged.

Why might you need Text to Speech? Because sometimes hearing is better than reading. For example, you can use Text to Speech to read a column or page to you before submitting it. If something doesn’t sound quite right, give it another polish before sending it off.

You can configure this feature in the Speech System Preferences pane:

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  1. Open the System Preferences (from Launchpad, the Applications folder, Dock, or Apple menu), click the Speech icon, and then click the Text to Speech tab.

  2. Choose one of the voices in the System Voice pop-up menu to set the voice your Mac uses when it reads to you.

  3. Click the Play button to hear a sample of the voice you selected.

  4. Use the Speaking Rate slider to speed up or slow down the voice.

  5. Click the Play button to hear the voice at its new speed.

  6. Select the Announce When Alerts Are Displayed check box if you want to make your Mac speak the text in alert boxes and dialogs.

    You might hear such alerts as “The application Microsoft Word has quit unexpectedly” or “Paper out or not loaded correctly.”

  7. Click the Set Alert Options button to choose a different voice to announce your alerts.

    You can also set the delay between the time the alert appears and when it’s spoken to you.

  8. (Optional) If you like, select either of these two check boxes: Announce When an Application Requires Your Attention or Speak Selected Text When the Key Is Pressed.

    They both do what they say they’ll do. In the case of the latter, you assign the key you want to press by clicking the Set Key button.

  9. (Optional) If you want to have the clock announce the time, click the Open Date & Time Preferences button, and you’re whisked to that System Preferences pane; then click the Clock tab and select the Announce the Time check box.

    That’s it for your preferences.

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Now, to use Text to Speech to read text to you, copy the text to the Clipboard, launch TextEdit, paste the text into the empty untitled document, click where you want your Mac to begin reading to you, and then choose Edit→Speech→Start Speaking. To make it stop, choose Edit→Speech→Stop Speaking.