People who are blind or visually impaired use screen readers to have digital text read aloud to them. A variety of text-to-speech tools can also be convenient for sighted individuals to avoid eyestrain or to listen when reading is not feasible.
Access Matters by Victor Komarovsky licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Screen readers are software programs that allow people who are blind or visually impaired to hear the text on a computer screen. A screen reader looks at the coding behind the scenes while it reads the text -- and also reads popup boxes, buttons, etc. As assistive technologies advance, more screen readers become available. Here are a few to explore:
NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) - Designed by a blind individual; free but available for Windows only
Apple VoiceOver - A platform built-in to iOS products
JAWS (Job Access With Speech) - Popular, available for a fee, and for Windows only
Visit the American Foundation for the Blind website for a list of additional platforms.
Text-to-speech tools tend to be less robust than screen readers. Many web-based platforms and apps are available, often at no charge. Here is a sampling of tools to explore:
Natural Reader - Software available on the web or as a Chrome extension
Read Aloud - A text-to-speech extension for Chrome
SpeakIt - A tool available on Windows (using SAPI 5), macOS, and Chrome OS
ttsMP3 - A tool that both reads text aloud and provides the opportunity to download the converted text to .MP3