# Kindle Keyboard Text-to-Speech



## KMenozzi (Jan 8, 2012)

Could any of you tell me how "good" this feature is on the Kindle Keyboard? If I've understood the info on the Amazon site well enough, this model can read any book which has allowed this feature for it, plus it can also "play" books from Audible.com. Is that correct?

I'm getting a crash course in these features now after my mother (who owns the Kindle Keyboard) lost her vision yesterday morning. She's the most avid reader I know (even more than me, which is saying something) and she adored her Kindle, but now she can't read any more. She said she thought the Kindle had this feature and I went online to find out what I could about it, but I'm not home (yet) to set it up for her.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I've heard mixed reviews on the Text-to-Speech, it's slightly robotic, but people say they get used to it.  You can search You Tube and hear samples.  The biggest drawback is in the number of books it's available for.

Audible books sound fine, it's basically an MP3 player.  I have a KTouch.

I don't use the sound much but others here do and I'm sure will weigh in!  I'm sorry to hear about your mom's sight.  I hope she's hanging in there.  It's great that you can help her with this.

Betsy


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## KMenozzi (Jan 8, 2012)

Thanks for weighing in, Betsy.

I'll be searching for a lot of things online so she'll still be able to keep herself entertained. It's a tough blow for someone who has always enjoyed reading as much as she has. She's the reason I'm an avid reader - and thus, a writer - too. She has had macular degneration in her left eye for a few years and has been under a doctor's care for that for the duration, and hasn't been able to drive at night for the last couple of years. Still, it was amazing how quickly it happened - on Thursday everything was "normal".  Then she woke up on Friday morning unable to see out of her right eye. Scant peripheral vision. Doctor diagnosed macular degneration in the right eye, too.

Literally overnight. 

We're all stunned. I'm going home to the US as soon as I can change the ticket I had booked for the end of May, but I want to find out all I can about this before I'm there with limited internet access. Thanks again for offering your opinion.

Kimberly


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Kimberly, the biggest difference between the text to speech and the Audible books is that the TTS works on the ordinary books your mom may already have - the 'computer' reads the text and the text moves along with it. The voice is fairly monotone and robotic.

The audible books on the other hand are actual audio books, with an actor or other 'real' person reading the text - so you will get them using different voices for different characters and putting all the meaning an emotion into the reading etc. If your mom isn't ever going to be able to read text books anymore, then audio books would probably be the way to go and you can listen to them on lots of different devices. The main drawback would be cost - they tend to be more expensive than ebooks.


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## KMenozzi (Jan 8, 2012)

Linjeakel said:


> Kimberly, the biggest difference between the text to speech and the Audible books is that the TTS works on the ordinary books your mom may already have - the 'computer' reads the text and the text moves along with it. The voice is fairly monotone and robotic.
> 
> The audible books on the other hand are actual audio books, with an actor or other 'real' person reading the text - so you will get them using different voices for different characters and putting all the meaning an emotion into the reading etc. If your mom isn't ever going to be able to read text books anymore, then audio books would probably be the way to go and you can listen to them on lots of different devices. The main drawback would be cost - they tend to be more expensive than ebooks.


Good to know - and unfortunately (re: cost) exactly what we expected. I'm going to see about sourcing audiobooks, programs, etc, when she decides where she wants to live.

Thanks for the input - I'm still a novice to this arena, as you can tell. She might not mind the "robot" voice, as long as it's reasonably accurate when it reads (for instance, it won't be able to read certain passages of my books easily because of the use of foreign words/phrases).

I'll let her know when we talk today.

Grazie mille!

Kimberly


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## Annalog (Dec 28, 2008)

Something else to consider about the Kindle Keyboard is that it will read the menus, selectable items, and  descriptions. If your mom's Kindle has software version 3.3 or higher then the Voice Guide can be toggled on or opp by holding down the shift key and then pressing the spacebar. It is also a menu choice from the Settings menu from the Home page.

I am sorry to hear about your mom's eyesight. 

ETA: I forgot to mention that I use the TTS feature while driving and for reading at night with the lights off. It did not take me long to get used to the two voices, male and female. Most of the time I prefer the male voice but the female voice seems to pronounce some words better.


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## Annalog (Dec 28, 2008)

Many public libraries in the US  have audio books that can be checked out. Older books might only be  available on cassette tape while newer ones may be available on CD, mp3, PlayAway, or downloadable. I have been listening to audio books from my local small town library while commuting and have been pleasantly surprised by the selection available.

I have heard that audio books can be available at special rates when someone has lost their vision but I don't know any details.


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## Annalog (Dec 28, 2008)

Several places I found said to check out bookshare.org. Others have posted additional sources in posts below.

Some Kindleboard links that might help:
Two year old review with some tips added a year ago: http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=35052.0
Two year old topic on Voice Guide with links and videos: http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=34173.0

Other links:
Letter to the editor of AFB (American Foundation for the Blind) AccessWorld magazine about Kindle Keyboard: http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw121206
2010 review in AccessWorld: http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw110705

Amazon forum topic mentioning Kindle to PC plug in available to turn on TTS for all books when a person can certify a print disability: http://www.amazon.com/forum/kindle/ref=cm_cd_pg_next?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdPage=2&cdSort=oldest&cdThread=Tx325FAT0Q5LSYN

Amazon discussion with a recent post with tips from a user of the Kindle Keyboard who is totally blind: http://www.amazon.com/forum/kindle?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdThread=Tx3HN5Q054IGTOY

Article on various formats of and access to e-books in Braille Monitor publication January 2012: http://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm12/bm1201/bm120105.htm

ETA: Added one more link. I won't add more links unless they have different information from links already posted in this thread.


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## KMenozzi (Jan 8, 2012)

Annalog, I can't thank you enough for the extremely informative posts! Wow! I'll have to see if her local library has any download/lending options, but it's not terribly likely (it's a very small town in Tennessee). If/when she moves to Florida, I expect she'll have more options because she'll be in St. Petersburg.

I'm genuinely and deeply touched by your sharing, here. I'll return frequently to this post to see if there is new information, but you've already given me quite a lot to follow up on.

Thank you very, very much for that.

Grazie mille,

Kimberly


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Annalog said:


> Many public libraries in the US have audio books that can be checked out. Older books might only be available on cassette tape while newer ones may be available on CD, mp3, PlayAway, or downloadable. I have been listening to audio books from my local small town library while commuting and have been pleasantly surprised by the selection available.
> 
> I have heard that audio books can be available at special rates when someone has lost their vision but I don't know any details.


That's what I was going to say. . . .

And since she really won't be reading visually at all, she might do better with a simple MP3 Player that she can control more easily by touch . . . there are a number available that have larger buttons -- easier to feel what to click for older fingers.

Also check your local senior center or department of aging. . .they will have suggestions and possibly classes she can attend to help her learn to manage.


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

So sorry to hear about your mom. That must be really scary. But the good news is that there are lots of resources for the blind, which it sounds like your mom legally is now. Her doctor could probably help point her toward these, and Ann's suggestion of calling a local senior center is good, too. There are devices that help her maximize the vision that she has left, as well as audio resources, that are probably covered by her insurance or donations.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

I like the TTS for nonfiction books, but not so much for fiction


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Chad Winters said:


> I like the TTS for nonfiction books, but not so much for fiction


Same here but I think if I suddenly went blind, I'd be happy to use it on fiction since Audiobooks can be pretty expensive.


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## KMenozzi (Jan 8, 2012)

Marianneg got it right - Mom is now "legally blind". She can get around okay, can take care of herself, but she's got a lot of adjusting to do. Not reading is a big blow for her. Unfortunately, where she lives in Tennessee, there aren't a lot of local senior centers/assistance to be found. This is one more reason she might accelerate her move to Florida. Lucky thing she bought that condo in the 55+ community last winter! They have shuttles and stuff like that, plus her brother and sister and other family are all in the same area.

We're going to look into things her insurance will cover (another thank goodness ties in, there: when my stepfather passed away three years ago he left a very good insurance coverage for her), but that's another thing that might motivate her to move to Florida. She's very disappointed to have to go live among the "old people", though.  

We'll see what develops. But I must thank all of you for your advice and for your support - it's wonderful to have people who care and are willing to offer some assistance in this way.

Thanks so much for that.

Kimberly


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## Shannon Ryan (Apr 13, 2012)

You might also want to check out http://www.podiobooks.com/ They have many free audio books.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

also:
http://librivox.org/


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

KMenozzi said:


> Good to know - and unfortunately (re: cost) exactly what we expected. I'm going to see about sourcing audiobooks, programs, etc, when she decides where she wants to live.
> 
> Thanks for the input - I'm still a novice to this arena, as you can tell. She might not mind the "robot" voice, as long as it's reasonably accurate when it reads (for instance, it won't be able to read certain passages of my books easily because of the use of foreign words/phrases).
> 
> ...


The good news is that there are lots of audio books available from public libraries. Also, if you get a membership to Audible.com (which I believe Amazon owns) you can get discounted books - there are quite a few folks here who use audible.com so they'll hopefully weigh in on the advantages. But most public libraries that are connected to Overdrive have more audio books than eBooks - because the audio books have been around longer. An MP3 player might be a better bet for those books, and she'll need help with getting them to her device (Kindle or MP3 player) but if your library uses Overdrive it will be a great resource for her.

My mom had macular degeneration as well - had it for a number of years before it got too difficult for her to read, but it was sad that when she was in assisted living and really had a lot of time to read, she wasn't able to. Hopefully you'll get your mom listening to books soon.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

KMenozzi said:


> Annalog, I can't thank you enough for the extremely informative posts! Wow! I'll have to see if her local library has any download/lending options, but it's not terribly likely (it's a very small town in Tennessee). If/when she moves to Florida, I expect she'll have more options because she'll be in St. Petersburg.
> 
> Kimberly


I believe the St Pete area has a consortium of libraries for Overdrive, so there should be a LOT of audiobooks available for her there - might be another little incentive to move to the home you said she'd bought there.  As others have pointed out there are other sources, especially for public domain audiobooks.


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## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

In addition to Kindle, but check out free resources for the blind like Lighthouse for the Blind or a state or county-provided service..  Way back in the day my mom used to record books for them.  At the special education school I work for, some of the students receive free books on loan, I think, from the state.  The books are across all genres.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

I find the Kindle read aloud feature to be usable for nonfiction books, but just not tolerable for fiction. Of course, if I'd lost my sight I might feel differently.

I like to listen to audiobooks on long car trips, and for many years, I'd go check out the discount shelves up at the front of Barnes & Noble bookstores (where the remaindered books are). Usually there was an end cap with some audiobooks on tape or CD heavily discounted. I haven't done this in quite awhile, but I assume it still works.

If your mother is a fan of fantasy or science fiction, Baen Books provides their ebooks free to blind or other disabled readers. See here for more specifics:
http://www.baenebooks.com/news.aspx?

This website describes blind-friendly features on the K3, if you haven't seen the info elsewhere:
http://ireaderreview.com/2010/08/01/kindle-blind-readers-kindle-3-for-blind-readers/


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## Annalog (Dec 28, 2008)

KMenozzi said:


> Annalog, ...
> I'm genuinely and deeply touched by your sharing, here. I'll return frequently to this post to see if there is new information, but you've already given me quite a lot to follow up on.
> 
> Thank you very, very much for that.
> ...


Kimberly, you are very welcome. I added one more link to my earlier post and others have added great suggestions. I suspect that this thread you started will become one that is frequently referenced.

Accessibility by everyone to books, Websites, and other information media has been an interest of mine for as long as I can remember. This interest has been reinforced over the years due to friends and coworkers who were or are deaf, blind, or vision impaired. DH has had vision in only one eye since he was a baby; his parents were told that he would be completely blind by the time he reached high school. Fortunately that turned out not to be true as he will be 60 on his next birthday and still has vision in one eye. The advancements over the past 60 years have been amazing but there is still a long way to go.

All the best to you and your mom,
Anna


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## KMenozzi (Jan 8, 2012)

valleycat1 said:


> In addition to Kindle, but check out free resources for the blind like Lighthouse for the Blind or a state or county-provided service.. Way back in the day my mom used to record books for them. At the special education school I work for, some of the students receive free books on loan, I think, from the state. The books are across all genres.


Thanks for the suggestion, Valleycat1. As soon as she's decided where she's going to be in the near future (Florida or Tennessee), we'll be able to find out more. In the meantime, I'll be hitting used book shops and the like for lower-cost audiobooks she might enjoy.


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## KMenozzi (Jan 8, 2012)

The Hooded Claw said:


> I find the Kindle read aloud feature to be usable for nonfiction books, but just not tolerable for fiction. Of course, if I'd lost my sight I might feel differently.
> 
> I like to listen to audiobooks on long car trips, and for many years, I'd go check out the discount shelves up at the front of Barnes & Noble bookstores (where the remaindered books are). Usually there was an end cap with some audiobooks on tape or CD heavily discounted. I haven't done this in quite awhile, but I assume it still works.
> 
> ...


Thanks for that, uh, shall I call you "Claw"? 

She actually used the text-to-speech feature on Saturday (in order to finish the book she was halfway through when this happened) and said it wasn't too bad. It might take some getting used to, but in the interim, it'll do. It's better than nothing - and when I'm home I'll happily read to her. It's something I enjoy doing, and I can always use the practice before I do another book reading/signing. 

I'll be checking out those endcaps as soon as I'm in the US this week - well, next week, once I've gotten over the jetlag. Heh.

Unfortunately, Mom isn't a fan of sci-fi or fantasy. Those are probably just about the only genres she's not open to, it seems. Still, if she can find something there to entertain her, maybe she'll convert?

I've bookmarked that site to go over a little later - it looks very interesting, and gives me a bit of hope, too.

Thanks again!


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## KMenozzi (Jan 8, 2012)

Annalog said:


> Kimberly, you are very welcome. I added one more link to my earlier post and others have added great suggestions. I suspect that this thread you started will become one that is frequently referenced.
> 
> Accessibility by everyone to books, Websites, and other information media has been an interest of mine for as long as I can remember. This interest has been reinforced over the years due to friends and coworkers who were or are deaf, blind, or vision impaired. DH has had vision in only one eye since he was a baby; his parents were told that he would be completely blind by the time he reached high school. Fortunately that turned out not to be true as he will be 60 on his next birthday and still has vision in one eye. The advancements over the past 60 years have been amazing but there is still a long way to go.
> 
> ...


I developed an interest in this topic a while ago when I found that audiobooks weren't that popular in Italy. My husband has a friend who suffered a stroke when he was 28 and he hasn't been able to read easily since then. He was a big reader, too - and he can read on the PC by making the letters bigger, etc. But that's tiring for him and he's not able to tolerate a lot of light because of damage the stroke did to his eyes.

I wanted to buy him some audiobooks but couldn't find much selection here, and thought that was a shame. Compared to the US, there's practically nothing available in Italy - in Italian, anyway.

I have a lot of learning to do in the US this time around, and a lot of work ahead of me. Mom is having surgery today to see if they can repair some of the damage, but it's doubtful they'll be able to do enough to make a significant difference. If nothing else, we're looking at it as buying some time, if it works.

I posted here originally because I wanted her to have some access to entertainment - she loves films and books and television programs - and I hoped that she wouldn't have to go without. She lives alone (during the day she's alone, a friend of mine stays with her at night) and only has a few friends in the town where she lives. I see now the main thing we'll have to do is make adjustments and get her somewhere she can be comfortable on her own.

Again, it's a learning curve of considerable proportions, but we're going to muddle through.

Thanks again to you and to everyone who has contributed to this thread. You've all made a world of difference for us already.

If I could hug you all, I would.

(((HUG)))
That'll have to do for now.
Grazie mille,
Kimberly


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## Eltanin Publishing (Mar 24, 2011)

There are lots of fantastic comments here, and Kimberly, your mom is lucky to have you, working so hard for her. Good luck with everything.

The only thing I wanted to add is that I think the text-to-speech is OK, but my biggest complaint is at the beginning of chapters, if there aren't periods or commas, it all runs together. So, something like this:

_*Chapter 1

The Big Blue Sea*

Last night we all went down to the water..._

Will sound like this:

_Chapter 1 the big blue sea last night we all went down to the water..._

I'm thinking the same thing would happen with poetry if there isn't a comma at the end of each line. I think Amazon should put a pause any time there is a line break, or at the very least, any time there are two line breaks in a row.

One last thought is that the Kindle with Special Offers occasionally has offered free audiobooks. I've gotten two so far. These can be listened to from a variety of devices, not just kindle.


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## KMenozzi (Jan 8, 2012)

Hello, everyone. After six months, I'm happy to say I'm back in Italy and my mother's eyesight had greatly improved before I left. She's still using the text-to-speech to enjoy her books, but the last surgery she had (in July) had remarkable results once she healed up from it. She's had a couple of injections since then which also seem to have helped.

I wanted to respond in this topic in order to say "Thanks" again to everyone who offered suggestions for accessing audiobooks and website resources, etc. You helped make a scary and unexpected event into something more manageable.

Grazie mille,

Kimberly


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Another resource for free audio books - Philadelphia Free Library. If she's over 60? she's eligible for a free library card. They have a ton of audio-books.

http://www.freelibrary.org/index.htm


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## KMenozzi (Jan 8, 2012)

HappyGuy said:


> Another resource for free audio books - Philadelphia Free Library. If she's over 60? she's eligible for a free library card. They have a ton of audio-books.
> 
> http://www.freelibrary.org/index.htm


Wouldn't she have to be from Philadelphia to benefit from that, though? I'll have to read it more in-depth to be sure, but I didn't see anything saying a Tennessee resident or Florida resident could use it.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

KMenozzi said:


> Wouldn't she have to be from Philadelphia to benefit from that, though? I'll have to read it more in-depth to be sure, but I didn't see anything saying a Tennessee resident or Florida resident could use it.


Actually I think the Philadelphia Free library is available to anyone -- though if you're not a PA resident or a military person or retired it may not be "Free". Check the website.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

KMenozzi said:


> Wouldn't she have to be from Philadelphia to benefit from that, though? I'll have to read it more in-depth to be sure, but I didn't see anything saying a Tennessee resident or Florida resident could use it.


My husband is a senior and has a free membership. We live in VA. As Ann says, military personnel and senior citizens (I think that's what she meant, not  retired), can also have free access. We applied via mail and received the card in a few weeks. Not sure what the deal is now....


Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> My husband is a senior and has a free membership. We live in VA. As Ann says, military personnel and senior citizens *(I think that's what she meant, not  retired)*, can also have free access. We applied via mail and received the card in a few weeks. Not sure what the deal is now....
> 
> 
> Betsy


Sorry, yes. . . . and I should know better as Ed is retired twice but no where near 'senior citizen'.


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

KMenozzi said:


> Wouldn't she have to be from Philadelphia to benefit from that, though? I'll have to read it more in-depth to be sure, but I didn't see anything saying a Tennessee resident or Florida resident could use it.


I live in Florida and use it quite often. I got my free card via internet because I'm retired military. As I recall, free access for a "senior" citizen was at 65 years of age, but may be mistaken on that.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

HappyGuy said:


> I live in Florida and use it quite often. I got my free card via internet because I'm retired military. As I recall, free access for a "senior" citizen was at 65 years of age, but may be mistaken on that.


That sounds right. I know I wasn't eligible, but hubby was. He's very old. 

Betsy


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

"...anyone who is 65 or older or who has a valid card with an Access PA sticker from another Pennsylvania library can obtain a Free Library card without charge. Veterans and members of the Armed Services can also obtain a Free Library card without charge." - regardless of where you live. Or you can pick up an out-of-state card for $35/year if you want to support the library, or don't fit the free card criteria.
You can apply online here: http://libwww.freelibrary.org/register/getcard1.cfm


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