TOP PICKS | 13 TOOLS

Best Assistive Technology for Reading in the Classroom

Many students live with challenges that limit their reading abilities. Dyslexia alone affects from 5 to 17 percent of us. Thankfully, there's a range of apps and websites available to help not just people with dyslexia, but students who have physical limitations like sight issues or blindness. These tools can also be useful to students who just need some extra assistance to aid reading fluency or comprehension. On this list you'll find screen readers and text-to-speech tools as well as full libraries of texts that open up the wonderful world of reading, making text accessible to students of all abilities.

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Bookshare

Unique digital library gives access to those with print disabilities

Bottom line: This fantastic digital library service provides a powerful sense of independence for students with print-related disabilities.

Grades: Pre-K–12 Price: Free, Paid Free for students and schools in the U.S.

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Read&Write

Useful text-to-speech app and extension unlocks the written word

Bottom line: A valuable tool to make classroom use of websites and digital documents more accessible to all students.

Grades: K–12 Price: Free to try 30-day free trial. $145 per year for a single license and access to Read&Write across all platforms. School and district licenses also available.

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Read2Go

Customizable reading tool offers access to texts in Bookshare

Bottom line: Although it doesn't contain its own learning content, Read2Go opens doors for kids who struggle with reading.

Grades: K–12 Price: $19.99

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Scan and Read Pro

Easily scan, read, and study texts regardless of reading level

Bottom line: This is a powerful tool to support students' independence in reading, studying, and test-taking at any level.

Grades: K–12

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Universal Reader Plus

Text reader and summarizer with translation for eight languages

Bottom line: Software for struggling readers supports comprehension and also includes a translator.

Grades: 1–12

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News-2-You

Draw kids into weekly news with powerful symbols and voice narration

Bottom line: Students can expand literacy skills, learn about the world, and get involved with discussion questions and activities.

Grades: 2–6 Price: $1.99 per newspaper; $54.99 per year New and archived newspapers can be purchased for $1.99. Annual access to all newspapers is $54.99.

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JAWS

Screen reader gives kids who are blind access to digital world

Bottom line: Powerful screen reader requires lots of patience to learn, but rewards with total access to the digital universe.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Paid $900-$1100; pricing reflects the cost of both the Home and Professional versions.

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NaturalReader

Natural text-to-speech tool helps kids with reading difficulties

Bottom line: The simple interface and natural-sounding voice can empower many types of kids, those with difficulties in reading or those with cognitive disabilities.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free, Paid Free account: 20 mins/day for Premium Voices; Unlimited usage of Free Voices; Supports PDF, Docx, RTF and TXT documents. Premium acccount: $9.99/month; Unlimited text-to-speech conversion; 57 different Premium Voices available; Supports PDF, Docx, and text documents; Convert audio for up to 1M characters/year. Premium Plus: $15.90/month; All features of Web Premium included; Listen to scanned PDFs and images with OCR function; Convert audio for up to 5M characters/year.

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Rewordify

Text-leveling tool gives every student access to complex readings

Bottom line: This utilitarian differentiation tool is useful enough to be in every teacher's toolbox.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free

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VoiceOver

Mac screen reader provides access for students with visual impairments

Bottom line: A screen reader that rewards training with access to today's digital world.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free

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BeeLine Reader

A surprisingly simple tool to improve reading

Bottom line: This is a unique, easy-to-implement reading fluency and comprehension aid that's gaining some evidence of effectiveness.

Grades: 4–12 Price: Free, Paid Free version supports two news sources and one email/social source. For $0.99, users can add three more news sites. For separate $4.99 subscriptions, users can have unlimited news sites and unlimited email/social options.

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