The Lab-Aids Portal utilizes ReadSpeaker to provide various accessibility options within each student book.
- Opening ReadSpeaker Text Mode
- Changing Font Size
- Changing Font Type
- Changing Text Colors / Color Contrast
- Text Spacing
- Page Mask
- Text-to-speech
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- ReadSpeaker FAQ Page
Opening Text Mode: Used for many of the below options
From a student book, click on the Readspeaker hamburger menu from the top middle of the screen and click on Text Mode. Text Mode is used for many of the below options.
Changing Font Size
Open ReadSpeaker text mode and use the two A- and A+ icons at the top to decrease and increase font size.
In addition to the ReadSpeaker option above, Portal 1.0/epub books offer zoom in/out icons on the right side of each page.
Changing Font Type
Open ReadSpeaker text mode and use the Aa settings icon at the top (third icon from the right) to choose different fonts, including the "Open Dyslexic" font.
Changing Text Colors / Color Contrast
Open ReadSpeaker text mode and use the Aa settings icon at the top (third icon from the right) to choose different text colors/backgrounds/contrast.
Text Spacing
Open ReadSpeaker text mode and use the Aa settings icon at the top (third icon from the right) to choose different text spacing.
Page Mask
- Page Mask allows user to view the page with an adjustable focus bar while the rest of the page is dimmed.
- To open/enable page mask: From a student book, click on the Readspeaker hamburger menu from the top middle of the screen. Then, choose the Page Mask option.
- Keyboard access: Shift + Ctrl + Alt + M (works only after the menu has been opened once)
- Click "Page Mask" to see the page with a focus bar. The rest of the page is dimmed. The focus bar follows the mouse cursor, or the finger on touch devices, to make it easier to focus on smaller portions of text at a time. Hit the escape key or click the cross on the right edge of the focus bar to turn the page mask off. Click on the + or - to make the focus area larger or smaller.
- To enter (or exit) keyboard navigation mode when page mask is showing, hit the space key. A small keyboard icon will show just above the focus area when keyboard navigation mode is active. When active, arrow keys can be used to move the focus area (or shift key + arrow key for faster movement). Plus and minus keys will change the size of the focus area.
- Please note: Page Mask is a purely graphic tool that can help some users focus but might not be useful to people with low vision.
Text-to-speech (ReadSpeaker)
Please refer to our ReadSpeaker site for more information on text-to-speech: https://www.lab-aids.com/readspeaker
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard combinations (keyboard shortcuts) are available to activate most features. Each feature has its own shortcut. There are a few ways to view ReadSpeaker Keyboard shortcuts.
A) ReadSpeaker Settings Menu >> Help >> Table of Contents >> Keyboard Navigation: This Keyboard Navigation Help menu contains general information on keyboard navigation and keyboard shortcuts.
B) ReadSpeaker Settings Menu >> Help >> "Keyboard access" section under each topic heading: Each topic within the "Help" menu contains a section for specific keyboard shortcuts, in italics below the heading for each feature:
C) ReadSpeaker Menu >> Settings >> Keyboard Shortcuts Settings menu: Users can disable, enable, view, and customize keyboard shortcuts from this screen.
- From the ReadSpeaker menu, click the "Settings" option and then click on the keyboard icon for "Keyboard Shortcuts" menu.
- Enable/disable keyboard shortcuts and customize keyboard combinations here. Click the information bubbles next to each option for more information.
- To change a shortcut for a specific action, click on the button showing the current shortcut and then define the new key combination by holding the keys down at the same time on your keyboard. The button will now show the new shortcut.
- If you make a mistake on keyboard shortcuts, you can restore keyboard settings and other settings via the instructions in part D, below.
D) If needed: Restore keyboard shortcuts from ReadSpeaker Menu >> Settings >> Restore menu
- Settings >> Restore allows users to restore various ReadSpeaker settings back to the standard ReadSpeaker system default settings.
- To restore just the keyboard shortcut settings, deselect all options except for "Shortcuts", and then click "Restore".