This prototype shows how text from a library's digital collections, such as transcriptions of historic documents, can be read aloud. Press Play and a natural-sounding voice reads the text, while each sentence and word is highlighted as it is spoken.
Listening helps people with low vision, dyslexia, or other print disabilities, people who are learning English, and anyone who would rather listen than read. It works alongside screen readers and does not replace them.
How it works
When a page is published, Amazon Polly turns its text into audio and a timing map of every sentence and word. Both are stored with the page and delivered through a content delivery network, so visitors never wait for audio to be generated.
The player is built for keyboards, screen readers, and touch. You can pause, move to the previous or next sentence, change the reading speed, and download the audio. Nothing plays until you ask it to.
Tested on every release
Each time the prototype is published, automated tests check every page for accessibility problems, confirm that the audio plays and the highlighting stays in step with the voice, and compare screenshots with approved versions to catch visual changes. The results are published with the site.
About the sample texts
The sample pages use public domain texts: the Gettysburg Address, the opening of the Declaration of Independence, and, to show a Spanish voice, the opening of Don Quijote.