Literacy Support Software Comparison Chart
by Spectronics
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| Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 7+ | 7+ | 7+ | 7+ |
| USB version | Available | Available | Not available | Available |
| Operating system required | Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 | Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 | Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 | Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 |
| Operates in conjunction with other Windows applications e.g. MS Word, Internet Explorer | Y – Floating toolbar | Y – Floating toolbar | N – Stand alone application | N – Stand alone application |
| Customisable size and features displayed on toolbars | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Network licensing options | Site licences, organisation licences, school and home licences available | Site licences, organisation licences and school licences available | The network version of WYNN uses floating licences. A school, educational institution or organisation is allowed to install Network WYNN on as many workstations as they wish, but only the licensed number will be allowed to use the Network WYNN program at the same time. | Web licensing: software licences are managed via Web services hosted by Cambium Learning Technologies. In addition it allows students and teachers to install Kurzweil 3000 on any computer – school, home, library, or other – and access a school licence. Network licensing: Install anywhere within the network – and use up to the purchased number of licences concurrently |
| SPEECH TOOLS – Speech Output | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
| Australian voices | Y | Y | Y | N |
| Human sounding voices | Y – RealSpeak voices | Y – RealSpeak voices | Y – RealSpeak voices | Y – Neo speech |
| Alter pitch | Y | Y | ||
| Speed control | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Word pause | Y | Y | Sentence pause | Sentence pause |
| Specify length of word pause | Y |
| SPEECH TOOLS – Reading Aloud | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speak as you type | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Speak by letter | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Speak by word | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Speak by sentence | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Synchronised highlighting as text is read | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Edit pronunciation | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Pronunciation tutor | Y | |||
| Syllabification | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Foreign language support | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Reads information from the web out loud | Y – With word highlighting | Y | Y – With word highlighting, within own application | Y – With word highlighting, within own application |
| Reads PDF files out loud | Y | Y | Y – With word highlighting, within own application | Y – With word highlighting, within own application |
| Reads Internet email out loud | Y | Y | Y | |
| Screen shot reader; read “graphic” based text such as labels on diagrams and visual text on photos. | Y | |||
| Spells words aloud | Y | Y | Y | |
| Screen reading | Y | Y | ||
| Speaks menus | Y | Y | Y – Within WYNN environment | Y – Within Kurzweil environment |
| SPEECH TOOLS – Speech Input and Maker | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
| Speech input for writing | Y | Y | Voice notes, not speech to text input into documents | Voice notes, not speech to text input into documents |
| Echoes speech input from Dragon NaturallySpeaking | Y | Y | ||
| Create audio files from text | Y – (MP3, WMA or WAV) | Y | Y – (MP3 or WAV) | Y – (MP3) |
| Create video files from text | Y |
| WRITING TOOLS – Dictionary Definitions | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core dictionaries | 15 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Basic | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Advanced | Y | |||
| Web | Y | Y – Linked to Google definitions | Y | |
| Thesaurus | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Add new words to dictionary | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Audible dictionary with sample sentences | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Create topic dictionaries | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| UK spelling option | Y | Y | Y | |
| View and edit word/phrases in word lists | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Auto learn new words as you type | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Word Wizard for suggestions | Y | |||
| Learn new words, vocab patterns from text file or clipboard | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Bilingual dictionary | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Picture/symbol support option within dictionary | Y | Y – 1,300 graphics | ||
| Foreign language/translator | Y – French, Spanish, German and Italian | Y – French, Spanish, German, Italian, Finnish, Portuguese | ||
| International voices | Y – 11 languages available | Y – 20 languages available | Y | Y |
| WRITING TOOLS – Prediction | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabetical | Y | Y | Y | |
| Frequency of use | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Predicts ahead (grammar) | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Flexible prediction – spelling guesses based on phonetic substitutions | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Includes access to word definition in prediction window | Y | Y | Y | |
| Includes homophones and confusables | Y | Y | Y | |
| Insert space after selection | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Add vocabulary to suit topics, customise word prediction | Y | Y | Y | |
| WRITING TOOLS – Prediction Display Window | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
| Fixed | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Dynamic (follows cursor) | Y | Y | Y | |
| Vertical | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Horizontal | Y | |||
| Selection method click on words | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Change font size | Y | Y | ||
| Change font colour | Y | Y | Y | |
| Change background | Y | Y | Y | |
| Adjust number of words in the prediction window | Y | Y | ||
| Change size of prediction window | Y | Y |
| WRITING TOOLS – Prediction Selection Method | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Click on word | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Type number or function key | Y | Y | Y | |
| Previews word before selection on mouse hover | Y | |||
| Previews word before selection on mouse click | Y | Y | ||
| Scans words in list before selection | Y | |||
| WRITING TOOLS – Spell Check | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
| Spell check as you type | Y | Y | Y | |
| Spell check when toolbar icon selected | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| UK or USA spelling | Y | Y | USA | Y |
| Spelling lists | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 – UK or USA |
| Add new words to user spelling list | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Word definitions | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Synonyms / thesaurus | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Identifies and records error type | Y – Also information on error type | Y | Y | |
| Search methods for identifying spelling errors | Y | Y | ||
| Phonetic substitutions | Y | Y | Y | |
| WRITING TOOLS – Homophone Support | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
| Homophones and confusables identified in text | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Add new homophones to list | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Sound alert when typing homophone | Y | |||
| Highlights homophone in text | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| OTHER TOOLS – Highlighting | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Block highlighting | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Bimodal dual highlighting | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Choose words, sentences or paragraphs to be highlighted | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Alter text colour | Y – 10 Colours | Y – 48 Colours | Y | Y – 11 Colours |
| After highlight colour | Y – 10 Colours | Y – 16 Colours | Y | Y |
| Web highlighting | Y | Y – Sentences | Y | Y |
| OTHER TOOLS – Visual Display Features | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
| Text magnification | Use inbuilt operating system magnification and text enhancements | Y – Separate features within program | Y | Y |
| Screen masking | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Text window | Y | Y | Y | |
| Single word display while reading | Y | Y | ||
| Toolbar provides access to literacy supports while working in Windows applications. Toolbar can be docked and won’t hide application menus. | Y | Y | ||
| OTHER TOOLS – Rate Enhancement Features | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
| Shortcuts for document formatting from toolbar (text size, spacing) | (Using Windows application tools) | Y | Y | Y |
| Abbreviation expansion | Y |
| OTHER TOOLS – Scanning Features | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optical character recognition | ABBYY FineReader | Omni Page Pro | ABBYY FineReader | Omni Page |
| Scanning from a digital camera | Y | |||
| Scan to Word | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Scan to PDF | Y | Y | Y | |
| Scan to HTML | Y | Y | Y | |
| Scan from file | Y | Y | ||
| Retains document format and full colour | Y | Y | Y – MS Word, PDF and HTML | Y – In Professional Colour Version. Black and white only in Professional Black-and-White Version |
| Simple document format | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Image resolution | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Brightness / contrast | Y | Y | Y | |
| Single/multiple page scanning | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Auto page orientation | Y | Y | Y | |
| Colour settings | Y | Y | Y | |
| Foreign Language for OCR | Y | Y | Y | |
| OTHER TOOLS – Calculator | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
| Standard | Y | Y | Y | |
| Scientific | Y | Y | Y | |
| Speech input | Y | Y | ||
| Speech output option for calculator | Y | Y | Y |
| OTHER TOOLS – Study Tools and Organisation | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bimodal, dual colour highlighting text as it is spoken | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Fact Finder – easy web search tool | Y | Y | ||
| Fact Folder – for collecting and collating information | Y | Y | ||
| Fact Mapper – brainstorm Ideas | Y | Y | Y | |
| Annotations | Y | Y | Y | |
| Book marks | Y | Y | Y | |
| Summarise tool | Y | Y | ||
| Text circle tool | Y | |||
| Generate outline from highlighted text | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Add or insert audio/voice notes to text | Y | Y | Y | |
| OTHER TOOLS – Teacher Tools | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
| Set up profiles for individual users | Y | Y | Y | |
| Logging of student progress | Y | Y | ||
| Collect, view and print spelling error analysis | Y | Y | Y | |
| Create topic dictionaries for word prediction | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Add to dictionary definitions | Y | Y | Y | |
| Restrict access to tools | Y | Y | Y |
| OTHER TOOLS – Additional Features | Texthelp Read&Write GOLD | ClaroRead Plus V5.5 | WYNN Wizard V5.1 | Kurzweil 3000 v12 for Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compatible with DAISY formats | Y – (DAISY and NIMAS) | Y – (DAISY and NIMAS) | Y – (DAISY and NIMAS) | |
| Internet Explorer compatible | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Mozilla Firefox compatible | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Test taking support features | Y | Y | ||
| Add sticky notes | Y | Y | ||
| Add bubble note | Y | |||
| Add a foot note | Y | Y | ||
| Writing templates | Y | Y |