Readable V2.5 update
Sensory Readable Suite for Windows was updated to Version 2.5.4 and released on 7th February 2025. All existing users will be able to update through the Manual “check for updates” function in Readable triple dot menu item. Version 2.5.4 includes some major additions as follows.
1. Addition of Ambient Balance function. Readable includes a selection of sensory ambient sounds, to help with focus. These can be selected on the new Ambient tab in Readable Settings. We have engineered the Readable audio controls so that Readable can speak text content with the chosen voices, and the ambient sound is reduced whilst text speaking happens.
2. The Readable Microphone button (on the main toolbar) now links to the recent Windows 11 Voice Access offline speech dictation tool. Voice Access requires Windows 11 22H2 or later. We find Voice Access to be a highly accurate and responsive, offline speech dictation/voice typing tool.
3.Readable Settings> Speech now includes a “Voice Echo” option. When selected, Readable will echo any phrase dictated into your PC. This allows you to confirm the accuracy of the recognised text, and is a method for increasing confidence using speech dictation. The Voice Echo function is tested with Windows 11 Voice Access and Dragon Pro. It may well work with other speech dictation tools.
4.Readable now provides additional text to speech support for Adobe Acrobat Reader. When Readable is running, and a PDF is opened in Adobe Acrobat Reader, an accessibility check will be quickly performed. Then accessible text under the mouse will be spoken by Readable, when pressing the CTRL key to start speech. Also, the Readable “select text with the mouse” will speak. All speech is using the new Natural Voices, and the Readable underline highlight will function at a block/paragraph level.
5. Since Readable V2, there is an option to connect to the Microsoft Natural Voices in the cloud. This is activated through the “Readable Editor” program. There are over 400 voices, so the list is long. Readable V2.5.4 has an updated Voice Settings panel (Settings>Voice) that groups the voices into the three; Offline voices, Multilingual Online Voices and Single language “Cloud online” voices. The online voices are grouped into language, with the language of the Windows operating system listed first. For example, on an English Windows PC, the English voices will feature at the top of the “Cloud online”. We continue to offer the Natural Voice online voice access as an experimental feature, to offer many more dialects and voices. We also offer deliver a network installer without capability to connect to cloud voices.
6. Minor update – Readable Settings screen now follows the PC accessibility>Text size setting (e.g.150%).
See the full updated Readable Help file online for full details.
Videos below.
