This article provides instruction on how to activate text to speech for any selectable text on your iOS Device – iPhone, iPad (Mini), and iPod Touch.
The accessibility features of iOS 6 have been covered in multiple articles on TeachMeiOS.com. These articles include how to activate Kid’s Mode (Guided Access) and How to bypass a broken Home Button (Assistive Touch). Another helpful accessibility feature enables your iDevice to read any selectable text (Speak Selection). This feature was designed for those with seeing impairments but it can also be helpful for those without a sight impairment by turning large PDFs into audio PDFs or any other text into audio text. You can select the speed of the spoken selection to help you process through a document faster. I used this feature for doing homework in school when I had to read large PDFs. The Speak Selection feature was especially helpful when I was really tired and having a hard time staying awake to read. This also helped with greater comprehension since hearing something audibly helps with retention of information. Here is how to setup, activate, and use Speak Selection in iOS 6:
1. Open up the Settings App and navigate to General –> Accessibility –> Speak Selection.
2. Turn On Speak Selection. Once Speak Selection is on, you can select various dialects, the speaking rate (speed that the text is read), and whether or not you want the words to be highlighted as they are read out loud to you.
3. With Speak Selection turned on, anytime you select a word or a bigger selection of text, a Speak button will appear right next to the Select, Copy, and Cut buttons. If you are reading a PDF, simply select an entire page of text and tap “Speak.” Your iOS device will read the entire page for you at whatever speed you selected in Step 2. If you have a large text document that you have opened in the Pages App, simply tap and hold on any word and then release after the text magnifier appears. Tap Select All and then Speak. Your iDevice will then read you the entire text even across multiple pages. As the selection is read out loud, you can scroll down and follow along. You can also turn an ebook in the iBooks app into an audio book of sorts by selecting the text on each page and using Speak Selection. What works best with digital books is to make the font size as small as possible so you are able to select as much text as possible on each page that you activate Speak Selection.
Give it a try. Are there other ways you can use Speak Selection? Let us know in the comments.
