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Over the past two years, we have noticed a marked increase in the number of Apple Mac related enquiries coming in to Spectronics’ advisory, training and technical support teams. So it may be of interest to you to be aware of a couple of new text-to-speech programs now available for the Mac platform.

• GhostReader with the Infovox iVox high quality voices for Mac
  This simple-to-use program allows you to have the content of Text, Word, HTML (Web pages), PDF and RTF documents read aloud. You can also convert text to audio files or iTunes tracks – for playback on your iPod or other MP3 player. To hear samples of the Infovox iVox voices in action – visit the Spectronics website. Click here to view videos of GhostReader in action and click here to download a 15-day Trial Version of the program.
• Texthelp Read&Write 3 GOLD for Mac
  This newly released version of Read&Write GOLD for Mac now looks and feels much more like the popular Windows version – using the floating toolbar to offer text-to-speech features directly within Microsoft Word for MAC 2008, Safari and Acrobat Reader for PDF files. It also offers OCR (optical character recognition) scanning to convert printed documents to onscreen files which are able to be read aloud and a host of other reading, writing and study support tools. More information is available on the Spectronics website . If you would like to be sent a 30-Day Demo CD and information pack contact Spectronics and we will be happy to post one to you.
• ClaroRead for Mac V4
  Also newly released for 2009, this version of ClaroRead for Mac offers text-to-speech output for many file formats on the Mac, and like Texthelp Read&Write GOLD, also includes OCR scanning and a range of reading, writing and study support tools. Videos highlighting each of these features are viewable on the Spectronics website and a trial version of the program is downloadable from the Claro Software website.

In recognition of this growing interest in all-things-Mac, we have negotiated to have a lab of Apple Mac laptops with iPods in place at our Inclusive Learning Technologies Conference in May next year – to allow our delegates to experience these and a range of other new Mac programs in hands-on workshops.

If you would like more advice about any of these programs or guidance on choosing which might best meet your needs, our advisory team is happy to assist. Feel free to contact Spectronics’ Educational Technology Consultants by phone on (07) 3808 6833 or email Greg O’Connor or Natalie Clarke directly with your questions.