Reading support for dyslexia and ADHD
Some text is easier to take in through your ears than your eyes - and some is easier when you do both at once. This is a free tool that reads documents, articles and your own writing aloud in a natural voice, at a pace you set, with captions timed to each word so you can follow along if that helps.
It makes no clinical claim and is not a substitute for accommodations or professional support. It is a reading tool, free and with no credit card, and you can decide in about a minute whether it suits you.
- Word-accurate captions
- Half to double speed
- No credit card
Edit the line to hear anything you like.
The controls that tend to matter most
| Control | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Speed | Half speed to double. Slower is not automatically easier - many people find a slightly brisk pace holds attention better than a slow one that leaves room to drift. |
| Pauses | Insert a pause anywhere in the text. A beat at each paragraph or heading marks the structure audibly, which does the job that white space does on a page. |
| Word-accurate captions | SRT and WebVTT files timed per word, not per line. Load them with the MP3 in a media player to follow the text as it is spoken. |
| Pronunciation fixes | Respell a word the voice mangles. Only the spoken form changes - the written text and the captions keep the real spelling. |
| Voice choice | 322 voices across 75 languages, each previewable before you commit. Voice preference over a long listen is genuinely individual. |
Reading your own writing back
This is the use that surprises people. A voice reads what is actually on the page rather than what you intended to write, so a dropped word, a repeated word, or a sentence that lost its way halfway through becomes obvious immediately - all things that are very easy to read straight past in your own draft.
Paste a paragraph you are unsure about into the editor and listen to it once. It is faster than re-reading and catches a different class of mistake.
What this does not do
- It does not change the text itself - no simplifying, no summarising, no dyslexia-specific typeface. It reads what you give it.
- It does not work on scanned pages or photographs of text. There has to be real, selectable text to extract.
- It does not read equations, tables or diagrams usefully. Those were written to be looked at.
- It is not a replacement for formal accommodations, assessment, or specialist software your institution may already provide.
Questions
- Does this treat dyslexia or ADHD?
- No, and nothing here should be read as a clinical claim. This is a reading tool: it turns written text into speech. Many people who find sustained reading difficult prefer listening, or prefer doing both at once. Whether that helps you is something only you can judge.
- Can I follow the words while I listen?
- Yes. Every render produces word-accurate captions - SRT and WebVTT - timed to the individual word rather than the line. Loading those alongside the audio in a media player gives you a read-along track.
- Which voice is easiest to follow?
- There is no single answer, and anyone who gives you one is guessing. Clear, evenly paced voices tend to be easier over long stretches than expressive ones. Try three or four on the same paragraph and pick by ear - the voice library lets you preview any of the 322 without spending your allowance.
- Can I slow it down?
- Down to half speed, and up to double. There are two controls: Speed before generating bakes the pace into the file, and the player has its own speed toggle for adjusting mid-listen without regenerating.
- Does it work with my screen reader?
- The site is keyboard-operable with labelled controls and live status messages, so it should not fight your existing setup. If something is unreachable or unclear with your assistive technology, that is a bug worth reporting through the contact page.
- Is any of this stored?
- No. Documents are read inside your browser and never uploaded. The text sent for speech is not kept after the audio comes back. Signing in to generate stores only your name and email address, never what you read.