Voice Dream Reader is a robust reading app with text to speech capabilities for PDF, web-based text, Word documents, ePub books both on-line and offline for the iPad and iPhone (9.99). A Voice Dream Reader lite version is available which reads a couple of lines at a time but is fully featured.
Created by Winston Chen while living for a year on a small island in the Arctic Circle, Voice Dream Reader App has continued to evolve according to users needs and requests. Winston Chen has been a responsive developer committed to improving his app to needs of his users.

When Voice Dream Reader app first debuted, providing him a few suggestions found him responsive and eager to improve his app based on special needs users with print disabilities. His committment of improving this app for those with learning challenges has been remarkable with continual improvements made in his app allowing additional formats and features to make this app versatile for those with a print disability.

Features of the app include:

62 different voices and languages

Loading and Managing Reading Material

• Text extraction from PDF files
• Text extraction from eBooks in DRM-free ePub format
• Text extraction from plain text, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, Apple Pages, RTF and HTML files
• Dropbox and Google Drive integration
• Experimental Evernote integration
• Load files using iTunes via USB or WiFi
• Bookshare integration
• Gutenberg integration for over 40,000 free eBooks
• Pocket and Instapaper integration
• Built-in Web Browser to extract text from Web pages
• Copy-paste via clipboard
• Text Editor
• Language translation via Google Translate through in-app purchases
• Folders for organizing content
• Export full text to clipboard, printer, email, and other apps
• Export highlighted text and notes to clipboard, printer, email, and other apps
• Open the original Web page in Safari if possible
• Share what you’re listening with friends on Twitter, Facebook, SMS, or email (iOS 6+)

Listening to Text

• Play-Pause with remote control enabled
• Remembers where you stopped in each book or article
• Shows elapsed time and remaining time
• Sleep timer
• Previous and next book or article
• 30-second rewind and fast forward
• Full sentence rewind and fast forward
• Change reading speed on the fly. 50-500 words per minute
• Change TTS voice on the fly
• Remembers the voice used for each book or article
• Playlist for listening to multiple articles back to backs
• Continues reading when you exit the app or lock the screen

Visual Interaction with Text

• Blazing fast vertical scrolling
• Synchronized word and line highlighting
• Full screen mode to hide the controls
• Focused Reading Mode with reduced text area and auto-scrolling
• Full-text search
• Table of content for ePub and DAISY books
• Page numbers for PDF documents and DAISY books
• Bookmarking
• Highlighting and note taking
• Customizable font and font size
• Includes OpenDyslexia font
• Preset light and dark color theme, plus a fully customizable color theme
• Built-in dictionary

Winston’s development of Voice Dream Reader started with his journey to Rødøy, a small granite island jutting from the Norwegian Sea north of the Arctic Circle. He and his wife took a mid-life retirement year on this remote island. As a software developer, he developed Voice Dream Reader app, providing text to speech capabilities. He continues to develop the app as he returns from his retirement to his work life in Boston. Seeing the (Northern) Light: A Temporary Arctic Retirement on NPR provides the account of Winston’s sabbatical and app development’s. It’s an inspiring story of this developer who continues to listen and improve this app for individuals with special needs.

For more information visit Voice Dream Reader’s website or down load his Voice Dream Reader Lite to trial. This is a flexible app for individuals needing text to speech capabilities for a variety of formats and with many helpful features.

A great app for your teaching, OT, rehab mTool Kit!

Carol