Textic Toolbar
Makes reading - EASY! - for people with and without communication difficulties
Your quick guide to the:
- Textic Toolbar - with 5 Comfort Levels for reading
The Textic Toolbar has 5 levels of comfort – any one, or all of them could be good for you!
What to do - simply 'play' on the Textic toolbar below. Start by letting your intuition guide you to what is best and right for you.
The 5 Comfort Levels
1 The 'Big Button'
Ideal for you to select the size of text to suit you. Whatever your age, eyesight or reading needs you can alter the 'Big Button' size to suit you – and get away from tiny text!* You may also find later you can go back to a smaller size text and have more on the screen with a colour background that is easier on the eye than white.
*Only 3 out of 300 of the worlds top companies in 2005 have a bigger text button – not very good for everyone with eye-sight or other disability issues. Complain to them – it is the law that they make 'reasonable adjustment' for you as a customer, colleague at work or community member - whether they are selling something or not.
2 Font Choice
You can choose from the most popular types of font for people with communication difficulties. Kids (of all ages!) like comic - it is easy on the eye and fun!
3 Design Choice
Are the designers designing their sites for themselves – or you? Here is your chance to choose a design that suits your needs.
- Standard – is the design given to you by the website designer.
- Reverse – does what it says and reverses the white type out of a black background to make it ultra bright and clear. Good for those with 'low light vision' and great if you are outdoors too!
- Slate is ideal for those who get distracted by colourful pictures or logos, for example if you have attention deficit issues – it lets you concentrate on what is important, the message, not the medium!
- Simple is even better for concentrating on the message, there is no design AT ALL.
- Soft - Are you one of the 20% of people who NEED a background tint to help them read (Authors note - I didn't know I had it, until I took the test!). Do you find that the typical black type words on a white background move and 'wobble'? Is reading hard? Do you jump back, miss words, and skip lines? Or are you one of the massive 80% of people who, research shows, just prefer a background colour. Then 'Soft' is for you – or - choose your own colour screen you prefer from the rainbow.
4 Screen Colour Choice
If according to Prof David Thomson MCOptom PhD you are one of the millions (20%) of people who do suffer from visual stress or the many more millions (80%) who prefer a background colour - then changing the background screen colour may help you. Some have reported their reading went up by a massive 60% when they found the suitable background colour. And remember 20% of people get migraines and may take time off school or work because of visual stress. [NB You can not use this option to print this colour as it would use up your ink! Refer to your optician to choose the right colour for either paper or acetate overlay to help you.]
5 Text Colour Choice
Now you have set your background colour you can also set the tint of the text that suits you best. And you can 'play' too to get real WOW! effects like yellow tint on 'reverse' screen – try it. Great for keeping kids (and adults) interested in dull copy like instruction manuals! Let your intuition guide you as to what is best for you. Colour is an important part of our lives – we were given it for our benefit.
So now you can set your unique 'Comfort Level 5' to benefit you. Enjoy!
But there is more!
Dictionary and Thesaurus Quick Search on the website version: Just drop 'n drag your word into the box
When you need a dictionary to understand a word and you are on-line then highlight the word, drag and drop it into the box and press Dictionary to go to an on-line dictionary. But that may be no good at all if you still don't know what the word is and can't read it! Even better use 'Hot Keys' to have a spoken dictionary definition. Just press F9 then 'right click' on a word and listen to the definition.Faster reading, fewer headaches, no more 'sore eyes'
Play with the Textic Toolbar and simply let your intuition guide you through to a level that you find 'comfortable'. Then watch your ease and speed of reading get better - at the touch of a few buttons! And you may find that you will get less headaches, especially for those who suffer from 'visual stress' (or sore eyes!) when sat at a computer!You are in control – with the law behind you
With a Textic product on your website, you are in control of how the words appear on the page. And remember, it is a legal requirement that organisations make these 'reasonable adjustments' for people with difficulties like dyslexia, attention deficit, sight etc – so enjoy creating your very own 'Comfort Level 5'.The 'Green' bit, don't press 'Print'
You may also find that your tendency to press 'print' will go right down as you find it more comfortable to read on screen. So your pleasure and productivity go up and your time spent and costs go down – we call this the 'quadruple whammy' so everyone wins.Talklets Toolbar
- SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE FOR HELP ON THE TEXTIC TOOLBAR.
The Talklets toolbar will read back anything on this website. You can also save any text on this site to an MP3 file and take it with you on your portable player.
There are 2 parts of the Talklets Toolbar. The left part of Talklets toolbar turns a screen reader on and off.
The ON button will turn on the screen reader so your computer will read back highlighted text on your screen. The OFF button will switch it off. When the toolbar in turned on just hold your mouse over the text or paragraph you want read back. Or highlight specific text to read back.
The right part of the Talklets toolbar will read back text. Click on the speaker button to begin speaking the article. If you want to stop the speech at any time just click the X button. Click on the MP3 button to save the article to an MP3 file for listening to later on your computer. Or you can export it to a portable MP3 player to take on your travels.
Talklets are available on a subscription basis to both individuals for personal use on home and work computers, and to organisations for the use of all clients and employees on the internet and intranets. Visit www.textic.com for more details.