Body
Overview
All students and faculty have access to Kurzweil3000, with text to speech capabilities, note taking tools, and more to aid reading comprehension. For information on gaining access, including setting up the browser extension, read Kurzweil3000: Account Creation and Installation.
Article Sections
Universal Library
The Universal Library is where you’ll find and manage files in Kurzweil. You can upload documents, open files from your computer, or connect it to your OneDrive, Google Drive, or Bookshare account. Center for Accessibility Resources can also upload alternative text format files to your Kurzweil account.
Open Files
- Select your name from the list of folders to expand the list of folders in your account.
- Select a folder to open it and all files in that folder will be displayed on the right. The default folders are Private, Public, and Recently Opened Local Files.
- Select a document name to open it in the Document Reader and begin reading.
Upload Files
Open and Upload Local Content Video Tutorial
Kurzweil3000.com can read from .pdf, .doc, .docx, .txt, .rtf, and .jpg files.
- Navigate to the folder where you want to save the file.
- Select the Upload button in the upper right corner.
- Locate the file from your computer files.
- Select Open to upload the file
- When it has finished processing it will appear in the list of files
Document Reader
After selecting a file from your library it will open in the Document Reader where you can use the read aloud function and take notes on the document. Reading tools are in the top menu bar and note taking tools are in the left menu bar. This section will focus on the basic tools needed to start reading.
Reading PDFs and Images Video Tutorial
Text to Speech
Select the Play button at the top of the document or press P to have it read aloud from the beginning of the document. Select the Pause button or press P again to pause reading as needed.
Text will be highlighted as it reads the document so you can follow along visually while listening.
Use the Go back or Go forward buttons to rewind or fast forward by the selected reading unit (Word, Line, Sentence, or Paragraph).
Use the Next Page button to advance to the next page in the document or the Previous Page button to go back one page in the document.
Audio Options
Select the Audio Options icon to adjust how content is read.
- Voice: select a voice that sounds good to your ears
- Reading Speed: increase or decrease the rate at which content is read
- Skip Reading Headers/Footers: leave this checked so that it will not read repetitive information like the book title, chapter name, or page number at the beginning or end of each page.
- Unit: Sets how much text should be highlighted while reading and the unit for the Go back and Go forward buttons. Options are Word, Line, Sentence, or Paragraph.
- Mode: Select how you want it to read
- Continuous: keeps reading until you hit the Pause button
- Self-Paced: reads one unit (word, line, sentence, or paragraph) at a time, press the play button to read the next unit
- Word by Word: reads one word at a time, press the play button to read the next word
- Stop Reading at End of Page: check this box if you want it to stop reading when it reaches the end of the page. Leave it unchecked for it to automatically advance to the next page.
Display Options
Select the View button to adjust the display settings to better meet your needs.
- Document Zoom: increase or decrease the size of text, or select Fit width to set the page width to match your browser window size
- Page Rotation: rotate any pages that are not in the correct orientation
- Color Options: adjust the background color of the page and the highlight colors when text is being read
- Note that adjusting the background color will not change the color of text in the document
- Display Tools: adjust if certain annotations are displayed on the page
Read the Web Extension
Kurzweil also offers a browser extension to read content on the web in Chrome, Firefox, or Edge. For instructions on setting up the extension and signing in review the Read the Web Extension section of Kurzweil 3000: Account Creation and Installation. Be sure to pin the extension to your toolbar for easy access.
Kurzweil Read the Web Introduction Video Tutorial
Reading Web Pages
- Select the Kurzweil extension from your browser toolbar. This will open the Read the Web tool near the top of your browser window.
- Click in the text at the point where you want to start reading, then select the Read button.
- Use the Pause, Go back, and Go forward buttons as needed to read the content.
- To deactivate the Read the Web extension, select the extension from the browser toolbar.
Options
Use the Options menu to customize the Read the Web extension.
- Voice: select a voice that sounds good to your ears
- Reading Speed: increase or decrease the rate at which content is read
- Unit: Sets how much text should be highlighted while reading and the unit for the Go back and Go forward buttons.
- Mode: Select how you want it to read
- Continuous: keeps reading until you hit the Pause button
- Self-Paced: reads one unit (word, line, sentence, or paragraph) at a time, press the play button to read the next unit
- Word by Word: reads one word at a time, press the play button to read the next word
- Read Alternate Text for Images: when checked, it will read the alternative text for any images in the content
- Position: adjusts where the Read the Web tool is displayed in your browser
Dictionary
Kurzweil includes a dictionary to look up definitions of unfamiliar words.
- Select a word on the page by clicking on it
- Select the Dictionary icon and a window with definitions will appear below the Read the Web toolbar
- Select the Read button to read the definition
Image Reader
If you come across text that cannot be read by Kurzweil, you can use the Image Reader to take a screenshot and it will use Optical Character Recognition to recognize text in the image. This may not work well with very fancy fonts, poor quality images of text, or handwriting.
- Select the Image Reader icon from the Read the Web toolbar
- Use your mouse to draw a box around the image or area of text that cannot be read
- It will open in Kurzweil3000.com, where you can then use the reading tools to listen to the text in the image.
Additional Resources
Kurzweil Academy Video Tutorials
Using Kurzweil 3000 for Web Browsers (PDF)