Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust

We understand that many people who find it difficult to read online. Reading large amounts of text on screen can be especially difficult for those with literacy and visual impairments.

The Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust is speech-enabled, which means that you can download the free software onto your personal computer and have the site read aloud to you. The free software is called Browsealoud, and is used on over 2000 websites in the UK and USA.

Browsealoud

Browsealoud is a Windows browser plug-in designed for use with Internet Explorer 4 upwards or Netscape Navigator. If you install the browsealoud plugin onto your PC, you can have the web pages on the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust website read to you (as well as any other sites that are speech-enabled).

Why speech enable our website?

Speech enabling our website provides an additional way of accessing our content for people who find it hard to read. This includes those with dyslexia or learning difficulties, those for whom English is not their first language, or anyone with a mild visual impairment. It is not designed to replace other screen readers.

How does it work?

You download a free, small browser plug-in. Once the plug-in has been installed, content on this site can be spoken aloud.
Take a video tour of how to use the Browsealoud software >>

Does it work on all pages?

Browsealoud will read every webpage on our site. It can also read pdfs in Adobe Reader Version 6.0 onwards. This meets the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C's) Level A guidelines for accessibility.

Can I customise browsealoud?

Yes. Once plugged in, look for the browsealoud icon in your system tray, which is usually at the bottom right hand corner of your screen (beside the system clock). Right click on the icon and choose 'open browsealoud settings' from the menu. The speech tab on the settings window enables you to choose a male or female voice, and change the speed, pitch and volume of the reader. To read the entire page from where your cursor points, check the 'Continue reading from pointer' box. Otherwise Browsealoud will only read the individual sentences you point to.

For further help and assistance with the Browsealoud product take a look at the Browsealoud FAQs on their website.

Downloading browsealoud

Click on the link below and you will be taken to an external site where you will find full instructions to carry out the download and installation. A browsealoud icon will be placed in your system tray which is at the bottom right of your browser.

Alternative screen reader software

We also recommend the THUNDER screen reader software. Thunder is award-winning free screenreader talking software for blind and visually impaired people.

Thunder is very easy to use, is free of charge for home use, and is quick and easy to download on a modern computer.

Thunder is developed by Screenreader.net CIC who have a Royal Patron in HRH The Duke of York and The RT Hon David Blunkett MP also champions their work. They are already widening the horizon of many blind and visually impaired people and organisations. 
 

Download a free copy of THUNDER software here >>