Read&Write GOLD - supporting students as they progress from University into the workplace

Aug. 4, 2010 - PRLog -- Read&Write GOLD is Texthelp’s award-winning literacy support software designed to assist people with literacy difficulties.  The software works discreetly with all mainstream Windows applications allowing users the opportunity to work in an inclusive manner.  The software particularly benefits those with learning difficulties, dyslexia and where English is a second language.

Read&Write GOLD is easy to use and features include: Screen Masking (to tint or mask sections of the window), Texthelp Voices (new text-to-speech voices), a Translator which translates selected words into French, Spanish, German or Italian, enhanced Spelling, Dictionary & Homophone support, and the software echoes back Dragon text.

The student Chris was mentoring has Cerebral Palsy which has seriously affected his voice, so his speech is almost unintelligible.  Over the years Chris has gradually been able to understand a certain amount of what the students says but most of his communication is by a computer and mobile phone.  

In his final year the student applied for a twelve week paid work placement at British Aerospace which was restricted to only three places across all Universities in the country.  The challenge came when he was invited for interview which consisted of a ten minute stand up presentation in front of a panel outlining why he should be selected for a post with the company.  

Chris explains “I had the idea to create a voice for him using the male voice in Read&Write.  He typed out the various paragraphs of text into a word processor that he wanted to speak at the interview.  I then got him to create a separate speech file of each paragraph using the R&W Speech Maker facility.  He then attached each speech file to separate slides in a PowerPoint presentation and loaded it all on his Laptop.  At the interview he used his laptop and a projection screen provided by the company to deliver his presentation.  He triggered the speech files from his laptop and used a handheld pointer to point to each paragraph of text as it was read on the screen.  He was accepted for a placement, and graduated last year with a 2:1 in Software Engineering.  He now works as a software engineer for a Hampshire company”.

For further information on Read&Write, please contact Elaine on Tel: 028 9442 8105, email elaine@texthelp.com or visit our website www.texthelp.com

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About Texthelp Systems Ltd

Texthelp Systems Ltd is the worldwide leader of literacy software solutions provided through three core business divisions: Education, Speech Services and Publishing. Texthelp has been developing assistive technology software for the learning disabled community since 1996. The aim has always been to provide the most comprehensive cutting-edge technology available to provide inclusive education.

Based in Antrim, N. Ireland and with offices in the US, Texthelp is currently experiencing a period of sustained year on year growth. The company has a reseller network covering over 20 countries.

Texthelp has been a Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Award winning company for ten years and won numerous product, innovation and marketing awards.