New 'Talking' Software for Dyslexia Developed from Government Funded Trials Includes Access to Accessible ebooks
Results of a groundbreaking dyslexia trial funded by UK government leads to development of a new dyslexia toolbar. SaySo, from accessibility experts Dolphin Computer Access, supports students' reading and writing by reading aloud their documents, webpages and the accessible ebooks that SaySo uniquely gives access to.
- (1888PressRelease) March 06, 2012 - Dolphin Computer Access today announced the immediate availability of SaySo, a reading and writing toolbar for dyslexia. Designed off the back of the Department for Education funded Accessible Resources Pilot Project, SaySo empowers people with dyslexia to read and write with confidence.
Developed by leading British software company and accessibility specialists Dolphin Computer Access, SaySo offers a unique collection of reading and writing features designed by the dyslexic students involved in the groundbreaking government trial.
SaySo's Product Manager Simon Kitchen explains the inspiration for Dolphin's latest release:
"Dolphin was thrilled to take a leading role in the DfE Accessible Resources Pilot Project. We saw firsthand the approaches that worked best for students with dyslexia. The result is a tool which is incredibly easy to use and provides all the essential support that a student, employee or general computer user with dyslexia needs."
To assist with reading, SaySo includes human sounding voices to read back documents, emails and web pages. As well as reading back text, SaySo also provides options to save text as MP3 to listen to on a smartphone or MP3 player, and scan in paper documents to have them read back.
In addition to the support offered for reading on a computer, SaySo also has a few approaches to supporting people with dyslexia with their writing, as Simon explains:
"Spelling can be a real headache, and a simple spell checker often fails to help people with dyslexia. SaySo can help in a number of ways. Firstly, by reading back every word that is typed, SaySo allows you to hear if you've made a mistake and instantly check it. But what happens if you have spelt the word how it sounds? Take the word 'knowledge'. If you spell this word phonetically ('nolij'), a traditional spell checker might not make an appropriate suggestion. SaySo's spell checking also offers suggestions based on phonetic spelling. Further to this, if this or any spelling error is a mistake you make frequently, you can even add it to your personal list of AutoCorrects so that the error instantly corrects itself next time around."
As well as the spelling options outlined above, SaySo also checks documents for homophones, or tricky "Soundalike" words. These are words which are spelt correctly, sound the same as other words but mean completely different things. To help users pick the correct word, all suggested words have simple dictionary definitions next to them.
"The reading and writing support that SaySo offers enables users to become much more confident and productive, whether in a classroom, at work, or at home. SaySo empowers users to focus on learning and living, and not get tripped over by processing words and untangling spellings."
Access to eBooks through SaySo
The Accessible Resources Pilot Project demonstrated that the combination of reading and writing support and the provision of accessible learning materials improved reading levels in 56% of cases and writing levels in 70% of cases. However, these fantastic results cannot be realised without access to relevant reading and learning materials.
Identifying this requirement, SaySo also includes its own Bookshelf, enabling users to search for, download and instantly read accessible eBooks.
"It's all well and good providing talking software for people with dyslexia, but none of this matters if users cannot find and read the books they want to read. It's like giving someone a car, but not making any roads to drive on. Using SaySo, a dyslexic student can listen to, read and learn from the same book alongside everyone else in the class. This is a remarkable step forward."
A free 30-day trial, along with additional information about SaySo is available on the Dolphin website www.YourDolphin.com/SaySo.
SaySo is also included as part of Dolphin's "My Accessible School". Launched at the BETT show in January earlier this year, My Accessible School is a new proven approach to raising student achievement, focussing on learners with dyslexia. As well as providing SaySo for students to use at school, My Accessible School provides students with access to SaySo @ home, and provides teachers with the tools and training needed to quickly create their own accessible learning materials. To find out more, visit www.YourDolphin.com/MyAccessibleSchool.
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