Category: accessible Devices
Hi, I hear the newest version of Kindle is speech-enabled. Does anyone have it? One of my best friends has one, but she can read print, so I'm not sure how often she uses the speech. I was thinking of buying one, but I wanted to hear about others' experiences before I buy it. I've heard that you can read Kindle books with your I Phone. I don't have an I Phone, and don't plan on getting one. I'm just wanting to know about the Kindle device. Any thoughts?
i believe that the kindle does have a built in voice taht reads the books back to you but thats all it does it doesn't navigate the unit or anything so you would still need to have site for that. and iPad or and iPod touch running the kindle or iBooks apps would be a more accessible solution since you don't want an iPhone.
Heard good things about iBooks as an app.
Not only is it accessible via speech but if you have some sight you can use their magnifier too. I don't have any sight so anything I would say is theoretical. But the iPad has a good screen for the book which does more than looks nice, it would help you if you've got some sight. Of course the voice / reader is quality now.
I don't have an I anything. I can wait and see if the Kindle comes out with a more accessible versions. I'm not interested in anything I gotta use Itunes with.
I am a big fan of the copy and paste method myself but i must say using itunes isn't all that bad now that i have been forced to use it myself. However you can purchase things from the phone/ipod/iPad and never sync themm if you choose not to which means not using iTunes after the initial setup, which they can do for you at the apple store so you never have to sync it to a computer if u choose not to .
The latest version of kindle, the stand alone reader has speech enabled menus. Does this mean that you can use the text to speech feature to read any e- book independently with out sight?
well i believe it is i think there are a few podcast on this out there. blind bargains i think di one as well as their may be one on the blind cool tec website. don't quote me on that though. just know some podcast are out there.
Oh cool, Let me know how the new Kindle works. I might have to start saving for one.
Joanie has one. She's fully sighted so doesn't use that feature but started playing around with it to see how well it would work for me. It seems to navigate through the books so that you could choose which one you want but the dictionary is inaccessible and I'm not sure about going online or checking e-mail. I think it has those capabilities, not sure. I only saw it for a few minutes. Do they have a program that works with Windows or with a Macbook that takes the place of a Kindle and once I download a book, can I save it as a txt, rtf or doc file so that I can read it with a regular wordprocessor or text editor?
i think copy protection will keep you from easily exporting it, however i think since the PC software came out it's been hacked so if youdig around you will find a way to convert the stuff. And the Kindle is a book reader not a tablet like an iPad. you really want to check emaila nd do all that as well as read books and do it well look into one of those.
I personally have my laptop and am satisfied there. But I was under the impression that this device had those capabilities. Perhaps, it only downloads books from Amazon? I'm not sure.
I think it has a download feature which connects to the net, as well as a google dictionary. I've never heard of being able to check your email or surf the net with one.
I have done some poking around to try and see if Kindle is accessible. Since the last posts here, has anyone purchased a Kindle and found it accessible/inaccessible?
I don't think Kindle the device is accessible, but the Kindle for PC is. It's free. You still have to use your computer, but you can dl and have books read to you instantly.
Meant to say that I know you weren't asking about Kindle for PC, but perhaps you could try it, and see if the voice is something you think you could stand to listen to, for a whole book. Then you'd have an idea what you'd be getting, with the device itself. I have some instructions for operating the PC version, and can pass them along, if you'd like. PM me.
Sure! Any assistance would be awesome!
Kindle for PC, Keyboard Shortcuts:
Start reading (from top of page)
CTRL R
Pause/Restart reading (from current position)
Space Bar
Toggle voice (male/female)
CTRL Shift V
Increase speech rate
Shift (+)
Decrease speech rate
Shift (-)
Announce current location within a book
CTRL P
Toggle continuous reading
CTRL Shift C
Jump to Reading Pane
CTRL Shift R
Read current sentence from beginning
CTRL , (comma)
Read Previous sentence
CTRL Shift Up Arrow (or Left Arrow)
Skip forward one sentence
CTRL Shift Down Arrow (or Right Arrow)
Read instructions
CTRL I
Add note to whole page
CTRL Shift N
Highlight whole page
CTRL Shift H
I have a few questions about Kindle for PC:
Do you know which voices are used and more important, if the program is limited to the English language when using a feature which reads books aloud?
And the second question is if any current screen reader has access to the program at all.
Well, to side track a bit. I do have some info on the kindle device. This, mind you, is not the pc software.
I bought my girlfriend a kindle for christmas, and here's what i've found.
The tts voice is very standible. It's actually pretty high quality.
If you can stand jaws, or i o s speech, you'd get on well with kindle.
As for email and internet access, it does have that. It is not, however, able to be used with speech -- at least that i know of.
The books work with speech, but the web features don't. that's about what it boils down too.
I am going to get a kindle for my birthday. One with the speech. I heard it does other things as well as books.