As someone with low vision that fluctuates, I don’t need to use a screen reader all the time for accessing media, but find it helpful to have text read out loud on occasion. Instead of using a screen reader that is always on, I use text-to-speech tools like Select-to-speak for Android so that I can have an on-demand screen reader at the push of a button. Here is how I use Select-to-speak on Android as a user with low vision and print disabilities.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SCREEN READER AND TEXT-TO-SPEECH?
A screen reader is a tool used by people with vision loss that reads information out loud on a webpage or in an application. Screen readers allow users to navigate their device using a keyboard or a series of gestures, and are typically “always on”- if someone has a screen reader enabled, it is reasonable to assume that the user would be unable to use their device if the screen reader were turned off.
Text-to-speech or on-demand screen readers are tools used by people with vision loss or print disabilities that impact the ability to read standard text. They can be activated on an as-needed basis by selecting a shortcut, pressing a button, or using a keyboard/gesture shortcut. Once text-to-speech finishes reading all the information on a page, it shuts off until the user activates it again. Text-to-speech does not use any specific gestures or require the user to change how they interact with their device.
On Android, the screen reader feature is called TalkBack, and the text-to-speech feature is called Select-to-speak.
RELATED LINKS
- A to Z of Assistive Technology For Low Vision
- What I’ve Learned About Print Disabilities
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- Disability Accommodations For Fluctuating Eyesight
- Enabling Temporary Accessibility Settings For iPad
What is Select-to-speak?
Select-to-speak is an on-demand screen reader/text-to-speech tool from Google that reads selected text on the screen, as well as alt text and other elements on the page that would traditionally be read out loud by a screen reader like TalkBack or ChromeVox. Users can tap the play button to hear everything on the screen, or tap/drag their fingers to select single or multiple items when Select-to-Speak is enabled. This feature is available in all Android versions starting at Android Lollipop (version 5).
Related links
- How To Use Text-To-Speech With Low Vision
- Low Vision Accessibility Settings For Android Phones
- Google Reader Mode and Low Vision
Is there a difference between Select-to-speak and TalkBack?
While Select-to-speak and TalkBack use the same settings when it comes to text-to-speech, the main difference is that TalkBack is always on and reading information, while Select-to-speak can be accessed by pressing the accessibility shortcut or using a two finger swipe-up gesture.
As a user with low vision, I prefer to use Select-to-speak over TalkBack for the following reasons:
- I prefer to read large print or use screen magnification whenever possible, since I primarily access visual media.
- My phone has a custom gesture layout that I designed with Microsoft Launcher, so I don’t need any assistance accessing my phone’s homescreen or with custom gestures for things like scrolling or selecting media
- Google Assistant can make calls, send texts, and do a lot of other tasks for me without me having to look at the screen. I prefer this over listening to audio continuously with a screen reader
- When I do use audio access, I like having visual displays as a “backup”, which makes it possible to use audio as a way to support my access to visual information.
I’m not sharing these reasons to “back talk” about TalkBack, but rather to show my own technology preferences for how I use my Android phone with low vision.
Related links
- Low Vision Accessibility Settings For Android Phones
- Make Any Android Smartphone Accessible For $8
- How I Use Google Assistant While Traveling
- How To Create A Custom Android Home Screen With Microsoft Launcher
How to enable Select-to-speak
To enable Select-to-speak on Android, follow these instructions:
- Open Settings
- Go to the Accessibility section
- Under the Screen Reader section, turn on Select-to-speak, which is above TalkBack
- Activate Select-to-speak by tapping the accessibility shortcut in the bottom right-hand corner of the phone screen.
To enable Select-to-speak on Chromebook, follow these instructions:
- Press the keyboard shortcut Alt-Shift-S
- Select Settings
- Select Accessibility
- Under text-to-speech, turn on Enable Select-to-speak
Add as an accessibility shortcut
Android’s Accessibility button is used to quickly access accessibility features on the device, and may be located either on the Navigation bar or floating over other apps, depending on which setting the user has enabled. The Accessibility button can be customized by opening Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcuts, which is located under the General sub-section of the Accessibility page.
To add accessibility features to the accessibility shortcut, open the desired accessibility feature in Settings and turn on Shortcut, followed by Tap accessibility button. Alternatively, users can choose to press and hold down volume keys to open/activate a specific feature. Users can enable more than one accessibility feature to be used with the Accessibility button, and can choose a feature to use by long-pressing on the accessibility button and choosing which tool they would like to use, or enable a specific feature to open by default.
Android currently offers the following options for the Accessibility button:
- Shortcuts for downloaded apps (e.g. Reading Mode)
- TalkBack
- Color Correction
- Color Inversion
- Extra Dim
- Magnification
- Select-to-speak
- Accessibility Menu
- Switch Access
- Live Transcribe
- Sound Amplifier
I’ve linked another page on how to activate Select-to-speak on Chromebook, as there are several different methods.
Related links
- Hear text read aloud – Chromebook Help (google.com)
- Texting and Low Vision
- Simplified Reading Displays and Low Vision
- Customize Accessibility Settings For Specific Apps
Adjusting text-to-speech output
There are a couple of different ways to adjust the text-to-speech output for Select-to-speak, though it’s worth noting that these are the same settings used for TalkBack. Users can access the settings for Text-to-speech output under the “Screen Readers” section.
Google Text-to-speech engine
By clicking the settings option within text-to-speech, users can select from the following options:
- Use Wi-Fi only for downloading voice data (I have this turned off by default)
- Amplify speech volume to make spoken text louder than other audio
- Intonation- change speech patterns, mine is set to Expressive
- Number processing for improving how dates and times are spoken (mine is on)
- Language detection for improving how foreign languages are detected (mine is set to conservative, which does not detect language changes as well)
Language
Users can set the language of their choice to be used for Select-to-Speak and TalkBack. Even though I live in the United States, many of my friends and I prefer the English (Australia) language setting for my screen reader because it sounds different from the other virtual assistant tools that I interact with, and sounds distinctive when I am in a room with other screen reader users. Some of my friends also prefer it because of the way it enunciates text.
Other settings
Users can also adjust the speech rate and pitch for their Text-to-speech voice. I choose to have mine be slower than average and at a normal pitch, since having text quickly highlighted on a page can be disorienting to read. I recommend enabling Select-to-speak when testing voice settings as it tends to read at a faster rate than the preview option in the settings menu.
What I use it for
Here are the ways I have used Select-to-speak in the last hour:
- Tap a specific item on the screen like text or an image to hear text content or image alt text read out loud. This is especially useful on social media platforms.
- Drag one finger across the screen to select multiple items to read out loud, such as text and an icon.
- Tap the play button to hear everything on the screen from top to bottom and left to right. Interacting with the screen while Select-to-speak is reading will stop it from reading out content, though information is highlighted as it is read out loud.
- Select text that appears inside the Camera view to read environmental text out loud— this is really helpful for recognizing environmental text.
Related links
- Twitter Accessibility Features For Low Vision
- How To Make Your Instagram Feed Accessible For Visual Impairment
- My Ideas For Improving Alt Text Features On Social Media
- Texting and Low Vision
- How I Use My Phone As Assistive Technology In Class
More tips on how to use Select-to-speak on Android with low vision
- Want to have text read out loud on web pages and have it displayed in larger font size? Try Google Reader Mode and Low Vision
- Users can have TalkBack and Select-to-speak enabled simultaneously, and activate Select-to-speak by swiping up with three fingers. Though to be honest, I’m not sure why someone would want to have both tools enabled- maybe to have different voice speeds?
- Want to recognize text from a screenshot? I recommend using Google Lens For Low Vision
- Select-to-speak is only available on Android and Google devices, but there are similar text-to-speech tools available on Apple, Microsoft, and other mainstream technology devices- even TVs! Learn more at Mainstream Technology and Low Vision: Televisions
Published September 23, 2019. Updated November 2024