Tool Type
Who Uses It?
Difficulty
Accessibility Info
This tool is meant to improve the accessibility of third-party web pages, web tools, and computing. No VPAT is available, so its exact accessibility level is unknown.
Tool Description
Natural Reader is a text-to-speech web browser extension that improves accessibility for students, faculty, and staff at community colleges. It reads webpage content aloud and includes a font changer to convert standard fonts to dyslexia-friendly ones, enhancing readability. This tool can interact with various platforms, such as ChatGPT, to ensure effective use of websites that are not fully accessible on their own. It helps students retain information and reduce eye fatigue while allowing faculty and staff to easily access and consume online content more efficiently.
Cost/Licenses
How to Get or Use This Tool
Add it to your Google Chrome web browser for free by visiting the Google Chrome Webstore and clicking Add to Chrome near the top right of the page. Alternatively, go to naturalreaders.com and click Get Started for the web version to read aloud documents you upload yourself.
Platforms
Tool Resources
Pros
- Has a mobile app, an online version to upload documents to, and a chrome extension is available for reading out loud web pages.
- Free features are expansive enough for effective use.
- Easy to use with simple controls.
- Highlight colors while reading are customizable, and it includes some dark mode controls.
- You can change the AI voice and adjust the reading speed.
Cons
- Some features are available only in the paid version.
- The font changer works only in the immersive reader view (open book icon).
- Document reading depends on the file’s level of accessibility; PDFs, for example, may not always read correctly.
- The mobile app works only with uploaded documents or copied and pasted text.