As a person with low vision who primarily reads print, I don’t always need to use a screen reader to read a website or access information on my phone. However, there are situations where I need to hear text read aloud because it is otherwise difficult or impossible to read. This is where I use text-to-speech, which helps with reading text, identifying navigation buttons, or listening to alt text and image descriptions.
When I wrote the first draft of this post, I referred to text-to-speech as an on-demand screen reader, as I could use it to read text and other on-screen content exactly when I needed it. That said, screen readers and text-to-speech are not interchangeable terms, and I wanted to update this post to better reflect how I use built-in text-to-speech with low vision across multiple platforms. Here is a list of options for using text-to-speech with low vision with pre-installed software and accessibility features; this includes free text-to-speech tools for low vision and print disabilities that do not require any additional downloads.
What’s the difference between a screen reader and text-to-speech?
A screen reader enables users to access text, images, and user interfaces in a nonvisual way, reading information out loud using synthesized speech and/or displaying content on a braille display. With a screen reader, users can navigate their device using a keyboard or gestures instead of using a mouse (which is inaccessible to use non-visually), though users with low vision may still use a mouse if they prefer to access information visually. Screen readers are typically “always on,” and it is reasonable to assume that someone would be unable to access their device if the screen reader was turned off.
Text-to-speech enables users to access text and images by reading information out loud when prompted by the user. Text-to-speech can be activated as needed using a shortcut, hotkey, or gesture. Once text-to-speech finishes reading all of the text/visible content 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.
Related links
- A to Z of Assistive Technology For Low Vision
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- Mainstream eReader Apps and Low Vision Accessibility
Why learning to use text-to-speech is important for low vision
Even though I prefer to access information visually using things like large print, screen magnification, display scaling, and high-contrast displays, I still consider audio to be a secondary access preference. If large print or other accessible visual formats are not available or if I am having trouble reading them, I can use strategies like text-to-speech to make it easier to read content that would otherwise be difficult or impossible. Learning to use text-to-speech can be considered a component of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) in the areas of assistive technology, compensatory skills, and sensory efficiency.
Admittedly, I struggled to use text-to-speech efficiently in many of my high school classes because I found it challenging to use headphones in the classroom; I didn’t want to miss what other people were saying, and I didn’t have many opportunities to practice using text-to-speech effectively. In college, I started using bone conducting headphones or a single earbud to listen to text-to-speech in the classroom, which made it easier to follow along with what was happening in class.
For students who are just starting out with learning to use text-to-speech, I share several ideas in posts below about incorporating student interests and other fun activities into assistive technology lessons. Some specific strategies that have helped me and other students/clients I have worked with include:
- Choosing headphones that can be used in the classroom or workplace setting.
- Exploring different text-to-speech voice options and adjustments.
- Using text-to-speech to read a book, song lyrics, article, or other text that incorporates student interests.
Related links
- April Fool’s Day Prank Lessons For Low Vision Assistive Technology
- Global Accessibility Awareness Day: Activity Ideas for Students
- Teach Kids About Low Vision and Assistive Technology: Free Resources
- Mainstream Technology and Low Vision: Headphones
- How I Listen To Textbooks With Low Vision
- Tips For Improving Confidence About Using Assistive Technology
- Ten Lessons My TVI Taught Me
Various Microsoft products: Read Aloud
Several popular Microsoft products offer a Read Aloud feature that is separate from the Narrator screen reader, including Microsoft Word, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Outlook, OneNote, and the mobile versions of these apps. Read Aloud can be activated in a few different ways, including selecting the Read Aloud icon (often found on the Review tab in Word), using a keyboard shortcut, or long-pressing/right-clicking on a page with text and selecting Read Aloud from the menu.
In Microsoft Word for Windows, Read Aloud is started or stopped with Ctrl+Alt+Spacebar, paused or resumed with Ctrl+Spacebar, and the reading speed can be increased with Alt+Right arrow or decreased with Alt+Left arrow. Word’s Read Aloud uses the voices already installed in the operating system and offers a control panel for adjusting voice and speed once it starts.
In Microsoft Edge, Read Aloud can be started with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+U, by right-clicking a page and choosing Read aloud, or by opening Immersive Reader and selecting the Read aloud button. Once it is running, the Voice options menu in Edge’s toolbar provides a slider to adjust reading speed and a long list of natural-sounding voices in many languages and accents. These voices require continuous internet access; if internet access is not available, system voices will be used.
Read Aloud is particularly helpful for PDFs, which open natively in Microsoft Edge and respond to the same right-click activation. It can also read information in Jupyter Notebook while the notebook is running in the Edge browser, which is what I used for several of my classes.
Related links
- Customize Microsoft Edge Accessibility For Low Vision
- Designing Accessible Documents With Microsoft Word
- Secret Microsoft Office Accessibility Features I Use Every Day
- Five Apps I Use In Statistics Classes As A Low Vision Student
Firefox: Reader View with Read Aloud (Narrate)
Firefox includes a built-in Read aloud feature inside its Reader View mode on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, with no extension or paid software needed. To activate Reader View, select the Reader View icon in the address bar, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + R on Windows or Linux, Command + Option + R on macOS, or the F9 key.
Once Reader View opens, a Read aloud icon appears in the Reader View settings panel; selecting it begins narration, and the playback controls include voice selection, speed adjustment, and pause/resume. The Read aloud option appears only when the host operating system has text-to-speech voices installed in the language of the article, so the available voices are drawn from the system voices used by screen readers or built-in text-to-speech software.
Google Chrome: Listen to this page
Google Chrome offers a built-in “Listen to this page” feature, currently available in Chrome for Android and Chrome for iOS rather than on desktop Chrome. To use it, open a webpage in Chrome on a mobile device, tap the three-dot More menu in the top right, and select Listen to this page. A media player then appears at the bottom of the screen with controls for play, pause, rewind, fast-forward, and a tap-the-speed button (1.0x) that adjusts playback speed.
Inside the player’s Options menu, a voice picker allows previewing and choosing among multiple natural-sounding voices, and a “Highlight text & auto scroll” toggle synchronizes on-screen highlighting with the spoken text. The feature also supports a Standard playback mode and an AI playback mode, with playback continuing in the background while other tabs or apps are used.
On desktop Chrome, a fully built-in equivalent to “Listen to this page” has not been released, so desktop Chrome users who want narrated webpages will need to use the operating system’s built-in accessibility tools. Alternatively, users may consider third-party text-to-speech extensions, which may require additional paid plans.
Related links
- My Favorite Web Browser Extensions For Low Vision and CVI: Reducing Visual Fatigue
- Google Reader Mode and Low Vision
Android and Chromebook: Select-to-speak
Select-to-speak is an on-demand screen reader 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. Once enabled, users can tap the play button to hear everything on the screen, or tap and drag a finger to select single or multiple items. The feature is part of the Android Accessibility Suite and is available on Android 5 (Lollipop) and higher, with the most recent improvements requiring Android 11 or later.
To enable Select-to-speak on Android:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Accessibility, then tap Select to Speak.
- Turn on the Select to Speak shortcut.
- Activate Select-to-speak by tapping the accessibility shortcut icon (typically in the bottom corner of the screen) and then tapping the play button or selecting specific items on the page.
If Select to Speak does not appear in the Accessibility menu, the Android Accessibility Suite may need to be updated from the Google Play Store.
To enable Select-to-speak on Chromebook:
- Press the keyboard shortcut Search+S (older devices may use Alt+Shift+S).
- Alternatively, open Settings, then select Accessibility, then under Text-to-Speech, turn on Enable select-to-speak.
- Once activated, drag a finger or stylus across the text to be read, or press Search+S and then click and drag the area to be spoken.
Related links
Google Assistant: Read This (no longer available)
For Android users, Google Assistant has historically been able to read webpages and articles out loud when asked “Hey Google, read this.” Users could follow along with on-screen highlighting, see how long a page would take to read, and control playback options such as pausing and adjusting the voice speed.
It is important to note that this feature has become unreliable since Gemini began replacing Google Assistant on many Android devices; Gemini often responds that it is a text-based assistant only and cannot read web pages out loud. When I tested this on an Android tablet that still had the classic Google Assistant enabled, it crashed after about two minutes.
On devices where Read This is still available, Read This requires screen context to be enabled for Google Assistant, which can be done by opening Settings, searching for “Use text from screen,” and turning the option On. Until Gemini supports this feature, Select to Speak is the most reliable built-in Android alternative for reading content aloud on demand; Google Reader Mode may also be considered for supported devices.
iOS, iPadOS, and Mac: Speak Selection/Speak Text
Speak Selection (Speak Text) and Speak Screen will read text that is selected or shown on the screen, as well as alt text and other elements of a page that would traditionally be read by VoiceOver. The voice settings for VoiceOver and Spoken Content are drawn from the same pool of system voices, though users do not need to know any VoiceOver gestures to interact with content. Settings for Speak Selection can be customized independently from VoiceOver, though the settings for each feature are similar.
To enable Speak Selection and Speak Screen in iOS or iPadOS, follow these instructions:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Accessibility.
- Tap Spoken Content, which appears under the Vision section.
- Turn on Speak Selection, Speak Screen, or both.
- For further customization, tap Highlight Content to display words, sentences, or both as they are spoken; tap Speech Controller to enable a floating on-screen button for quick access; and tap Voices to choose from system, Siri, or premium downloadable voices.
- Activate Speak Selection by selecting text and tapping the Speak option in the contextual menu, or activate Speak Screen by swiping down from the top of the screen with two fingers.
To enable Speak Text and Speak Screen on Mac running macOS Sonoma, Sequoia, or later, follow these instructions:
- Open the Apple menu and select System Settings (called System Preferences on older versions of macOS).
- Select Accessibility in the sidebar.
- Scroll down and select Spoken Content.
- Turn on Speak Selection. The default keyboard shortcut is Option+Esc, but it can be changed by clicking the small “i” (Info) button next to Speak Selection and choosing a new combination of modifier keys (Command, Shift, Option, or Control) with another key.
- Optional: turn on Speak Item Under the Pointer, Speak Announcements, or Speak Typing Feedback, and use the System Voice dropdown to pick a preferred voice. The Info button next to System Voice offers additional voice downloads, including the higher-quality Siri voices and, on supported devices, a Personal Voice option.
- To use the feature, select text and press the configured shortcut. Pressing the shortcut again stops the speech.
Related links
- How To Use VoiceOver With Low Vision on iPad
- How To Make iPad Accessible for Low Vision
- Low Vision Accessibility Settings For Mac Computers
Bonus: Simplified reading displays
For people who benefit from large print and consistent formatting for text content, many simplified reading displays such as Microsoft Immersive Reader (built into Word, OneNote, Outlook, Teams, and Edge) have built-in text-to-speech for reading content. Immersive Reader pairs Read Aloud with adjustable text size, line spacing, font, background color, syllable breaks, and parts-of-speech highlighting, which can make it easier to follow along with text visually while listening.
Similar simplified reading displays exist in Apple Safari (Reader View, accessible via the page settings menu in the address bar) and Firefox (Reader View, accessible via the icon in the address bar), both of which can be combined with the system’s Speak Selection or Read Aloud features. More details about simplified reading displays are available in the in-depth post linked below.
Related links
- Simplified Reading Displays and Low Vision
- How I Use Microsoft Immersive Reader With Low Vision
- Using YuJa Panorama and Anthology Ally With Low Vision
- How To Create An Accessible Formula Sheet
More tips for using text-to-speech with low vision
- Adobe Acrobat Reader on Windows and Mac includes a built-in Read Out Loud feature, found under the View > Read Out Loud menu, that reads PDF text along with comments and the alternate text descriptions assigned to images and form fields, using whatever voices are already installed on the operating system. Acrobat on the web now offers a comparable Read Aloud tool with built-in voice and speed controls
- The Kindle app on iOS, Android, Mac, and Fire tablets includes an Assistive Reader that reads books aloud with real-time word highlighting and adjustable reading speed. Fire tablets additionally offer a system-level Speak Selection option under Settings > Accessibility > Screen Readers > Speak Selection for reading text outside the Kindle app, and the VoiceView full screen reader for users who need always-on speech. I share more about Kindle accessibility in Amazon Kindle App and Low Vision Accessibility
- On Windows, the built-in Narrator screen reader can be temporarily activated with Ctrl+Windows+Enter for one-off reading tasks; Narrator includes a scan mode that reads selected paragraphs or full pages without requiring full screen-reader navigation. Text-to-speech is also built into Windows Magnifier; I share more about using Magnifier in Windows Magnifier and Low Vision
- Text-to-speech is different from dictation, also known as speech-to-text. More on dictation is available in How To Use Dictation As Assistive Technology With Mainstream Devices
Published March 22, 2020. Updated May 2026