This is a space for the teal alert bar.
This is a space for the yellow alert bar.
This is a space for the teal alert bar.
This is a space for the yellow alert bar.
The following sites provide collections of free audio books.
Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat both have a read aloud feature. This feature will allow pdfs that are ADA accessible to be read out loud for patrons.
NOTE: The absolute best way to make use of Adobe's accessibility features is to use Adobe in conjunction with your assistive technology screen reader software.
To turn the read aloud feature on in PCs:
To turn the read aloud feature on in Macs:
To pause, select a specific section, or read to the end of the document, select view, the read out loud option, and then the appropriate option (pause, etc.).
The list of Library databases in the box below provide text-to-speech capabilities. In other words, they allow users to listen to an audio version of an article or e-book. Note that the audio files in databases are "machine read" and therefore do not demonstrate the natural voice or inflection of a human narrator.
The NU Library and the databases do not take responsibility for the accuracy, reliability or completeness of any audio file.
Credo Reference allows you to listen to or download the MP3 of articles by clicking on the Read Aloud icon in the white toolbar above the article.
Although Ebook Central isn’t officially certified for text-to-speech, limited functionality may be available online. For downloaded PDFs and EPUB, assistive technology typically reads whatever metadata or alternative text is provided by the publisher and tagged to be associated with the image or chart. We provide accessibility guidelines to our publishing partners to obtain the most accessible files possible.
The Accessibility section of the Ebook Central LibGuide provides an overview of our accessibility support, a short video to demonstrate accessibility, and links to more detailed documentation including our VPAT and WCAG checklist.
All of the EBSCOhost databases listed below have a read aloud feature for HTML articles that may be manually activated. Note that this option is not available for every article, only those with HTML full text. To activate the read aloud feature, follow the steps below.
List of NU EBSCO databases with the Read Aloud Feature:
For additional information about EBSCO text-to-speech see the instructional guide here: http://support.ebsco.com/knowledge_base/detail.php?id=4814
On the article's page, the "Listen" icon appears above the article title if audio is available. Click on "Listen" to begin play. Alternatively, you may click on the "Download" link in the toolbox on the right to download an MP3 file of the audio of the article. See detailed instructions below.
To hear a document read aloud, click or tap Listen to expand the player and begin playback.
Change the Settings
On the Listen player, you can adjust the reading speed and customize other Settings. By default, the text is highlighted as it is being read.
Download the Document as an Audio File
To download an audio file of the document, use the Download MP3 tool on the Listen player. Download MP3 is also available under Tools.
Listen to Part of the Document
To reset the player, close the player (click or tap the Close Player arrows) or refresh the page. You can then select a different portion of the text or listen to the entire document. The amount of selected text that the audio player will read aloud depends on your web browser and operating system.
