Software that reads aloud highlighted text

[Mandi]

I have a client looking for software that will read aloud text that the user highlights with a mouse. He indicates that Opera comes with (came with . . .? I'm not Opera savvy and am not sure what he's referring to exactly) a utility that could do this very thing - but that he couldn't get Opera to behave well on his system.

Even if someone knows the name of the utility he's refering to, I'd have a starting point :dopey: LOL - but I'd be happy to hear any FQ'bie recommendations for anything that would fit the bill.

[hobbes]

Mandi -

The term for what you want is text-to-speech software. A search on this term on your favorite search engine should yield various options. If this is for Windows, you can also try Microsoft's software (http://www.microsoft.com/reader/developers/downloads/tts.asp).

[oacis]

Mandi --

I've been using TextAloud (http://www.nextup.com/TextAloud/index.html) for for about a year and a half. It "voices" any highlighted text in any application that I've tried. The most important factor for me though is not the actual text-to-speech application (most use the same Microsoft API) but the voices. The link above contains links to three sources for voices. Listen to samples from them all before you (or your client) make a choice.

-- Wayne