Technologies

Digital Talking Books

Information about DTBs including descriptions of play-back software and hardware, DAISY-capable play-back and production options, and reviews and comparisons of DTB products. http://aim.cast.org/resources/formatandtech/tech/dtbs [1]

A Pocketful of Sound by Anna Dresner describes and reviews accessible media players. http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/POCKET.html [2]

Text-to-MP3

There are several text-to-MP3 format converters available for free (basic/demo versions) online:

SpokenText.net "allows you to record PDF, Word, plain text, PowerPoint files, RSS news feeds, emails, and web pages, and converts them to speech automatically. You can download your recording as an iPod book or mp3 file" (from the web site).  http://www.spokentext.net/ [3]

ReadTheWords is a web-based application where text can be converted via their online conversion, or users can upload documents in the following formats: Word, PDF, txt, and HTML. http://www.readthewords.com/ [4]

Expressivo is a TTS application that converts various format content into audio that can be copied to an MP3 player. http://www.expressivo.com/ [5]

Supported Reading Software

The Supported Reading Software [6] page describes a variety of free and for-sale software for use with AIM.