How to use a ReadSpeaker?

Press the listen button on a speech enabled page, then use the toolbar to adjust reading speed, voice, highlighting, page mask and text mode.

How to use the Read Aloud feature?

Open the toolbar and press play to hear the current page. Highlight a passage first if you only want that section spoken.

How to use the Read Aloud feature on iPhone?

Open the page in your mobile browser and press the listen button. ReadSpeaker is web based, so no app download is required.

Is there a totally free text-to-speech app?

Free readers are built into most browsers and phones. They lack the page mask, translation and literacy tools found in ReadSpeaker TextAid.

Is Google read aloud free to use?

Google offers free read aloud in Chrome and on Android. It does not provide the study and accessibility tools TextAid includes.

What is a ReadSpeaker?

ReadSpeaker is a text to speech company whose tools read web content, documents and course material aloud, and power voices in apps and devices.

How to Use ReadSpeaker Step by Step — 2026 Tutorial

by Fahim Joharder | Last updated Oct 28, 2026

Quick Start

This guide covers every ReadSpeaker feature:

Getting Started — Pick the right tool and get access
How to Use speechMaker — Browser app that turns text into a downloadable audio file
How to Use speechEngine SAPI — SAPI5-compatible voices installed on a Windows computer
How to Use Custom Text-to-Speech Voices — Branded voice built with the VoiceLab team
How to Use TextAid Personal Library — Personal library inside TextAid that stores uploaded documents
How to Use speechCloud API — Cloud API that adds speech to your own application
How to Use Synchronized Highlighting — Highlights words and sentences as webReader speaks them
How to Use Reading Ruler — Line guide available in docReader and TextAid
How to Use Text Mode — Plain text view of the page, free of layout noise
How to Use Dictionary and Translation — Word lookup and language translation from selected text

Time needed: 5 minutes per feature

Also in this guide: Pro Tips | Common Mistakes | Troubleshooting | Pricing | Alternatives

Why Trust This Guide

Every step here was checked against ReadSpeaker’s own product specification documents.

Product names, toolbar features and access keys match the official documentation rather than guesswork.

ReadSpeaker is not one tool. It is a family of text to speech products.

Most guides blur them together, which is why so much advice about it is wrong.

This guide on how to use ReadSpeaker keeps each tool separate and shows exactly where it fits.

ReadSpeaker Tutorial

Each section below names the product that actually owns the feature.

ReadSpeaker

Let every visitor listen instead of read. ReadSpeaker webReader adds a listen button to your website and reads the page aloud, with no app for visitors to download. Request a quote for your organisation.

TRY READSPEAKER NOW →

READ FULL REVIEW →

READSPEAKER ALTERNATIVES →

Getting Started with ReadSpeaker

How you get access depends on which tool you need.

Here is an overview before the steps:

ReadSpeaker Review — Text to Speech Features Explained

The video shows the reading tools in use. Now let’s break down each step.

Step 1: Work Out Which Tool You Need

webReader reads a website. docReader reads documents linked on that website.

TextAid is the literacy tool for study, and speechMaker produces audio files.

Note that visitors to a speech enabled website never need an account at all.

Step 2: Get Access

Organisations request a quote, and a specialist replies within one business day.

TextAid is the exception, with a self-service signup and a 14 day free trial.

Here is what the tools look like in practice:

✓ Checkpoint: You have either a quote in progress or a TextAid account.

Step 3: Activate and Listen

On a live website, simply click the listen button or speaker icon to open the player.

The page is then read out loud from the top of the current page.

The pop-up control panel gives you play, pause, stop, volume and reading speed.

✅ Done: You are ready to use any feature below.

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How to Use ReadSpeaker speechMaker

speechMaker lets you paste text, pick a voice, and download the finished audio.

speechMaker is the tool that produces audio files. It is not the listen button on a website.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Open speechMaker in your browser and sign in with the credentials your administrator issued.

Step 2: Paste Your Text and Choose a Voice

Paste the text, set the reading language, then preview the speech before committing.

Team packages let an administrator assign a licence per user.

Here is what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: A preview plays and the export options become available.

Step 3: Download the Audio

Export as MP3, OGG or WAV, then save it to your device or Dropbox.

✅ Result: You have an audio file ready for e-learning, training or IVR prompts.

💡 Pro Tip: Feed speechMaker an Excel sheet to batch produce clips, one row per line of text and filename.

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How to Use ReadSpeaker speechEngine SAPI

speechEngine SAPI lets you add ReadSpeaker voices to Windows apps that already support SAPI5.

speechEngine SAPI supplies voices to other programs. It is not an app you read with yourself.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Get the Installer From ReadSpeaker

Your account manager supplies the Windows installer and the licence file for your voices.

Windows 10 and 11 are supported.

Step 2: Run the Installer

Install the engine and tick the voices you have licensed.

The voices then become available to Windows and any SAPI-compatible application.

Here is what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: The new voice is listed in the Windows speech settings.

Step 3: Point a SAPI Application at the Voice

Open a program that already supports SAPI5 and select a ReadSpeaker voice in its own settings.

✅ Result: Any SAPI5 application on that computer can speak with a ReadSpeaker voice.

💡 Pro Tip: Use the lexicon editor to add IPA pronunciations for product names the engine gets wrong.

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How to Use ReadSpeaker Custom Text-to-Speech Voices

Custom Text-to-Speech Voices lets you commission a branded voice built by the VoiceLab team.

Custom voices come from VoiceLab, a guided service rather than a self-serve tool.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Book a Discovery Call

Describe your channels, deployment environment and the tone you want.

Step 2: Define the Profile and Record

ReadSpeaker auditions and contracts a professional voice actor, then records purpose-built material.

A neural model is trained on that controlled dataset.

Here is what this looks like:

ReadSpeaker Custom Text-to-Speech Voices

✓ Checkpoint: You receive sample clips to approve before the voice goes live.

Step 3: Test, Tune and Deploy

Linguists adjust intonation, speed and pitch using brand-specific lexicons before release.

✅ Result: One consistent brand voice across cloud, on-premise or embedded builds.

💡 Pro Tip: Simple projects can land in a few weeks, but full enterprise builds run to several months — plan early.

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How to Use ReadSpeaker TextAid Personal Library

TextAid Personal Library lets you store documents you want to revisit inside one personal library.

The personal library belongs to ReadSpeaker TextAid, the literacy tool, not to webReader.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Log In to TextAid

Open your TextAid account, or let it be created automatically on first LMS login.

Step 2: Upload Your Documents

Add files from your device, Google Drive, OneDrive or Bookshare.

Scanned images run through OCR, though accuracy is not guaranteed.

Here is what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Your uploaded documents appear in the library list.

Step 3: Open a File and Listen

Click a saved file, press play, and adjust reading speed between 5% and 200%.

✅ Result: Study material is available from any internet connected device.

💡 Pro Tip: TextAid also offers spell check, word prediction and dictation, so writing support sits beside your reading.

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How to Use ReadSpeaker speechCloud API

speechCloud API lets you call ReadSpeaker speech from your own product over HTTPS.

speechCloud API is the developer route. Credentials come from ReadSpeaker, not from a self-service signup.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Receive Your Portal Credentials

ReadSpeaker issues a username, password and portal URL once your order is confirmed.

Step 2: Retrieve Your API Key

Collect the key from the customer portal and send it with every request over HTTPS.

Regenerate the key there if you suspect misuse.

Here is what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: A test request returns playable audio rather than an authentication error.

Step 3: Order Production Credits

New accounts start with limited trial credits; your account manager adds production capacity.

✅ Result: Your product can speak using licensed ReadSpeaker voices.

💡 Pro Tip: Check your order confirmation before caching anything — storing or reusing generated audio needs explicit written permission.

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How to Use ReadSpeaker Synchronized Highlighter

Synchronized Highlighting lets you follow each word visually while the audio plays.

ReadSpeaker webReader marks text as it reads so your eyes never lose the line.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Press Listen

Simply click the listen button and the player expands on the current page.

Step 2: Open Settings

Use the toolbar settings to change what gets marked.

By default words turn light blue and each sentence turns light green.

✓ Checkpoint: Each spoken word lights up as the audio moves forward.

Step 3: Pick Your Text Color

Choose from six text colours, eight background shades, or switch to an underline.

✅ Result: Listening while reading helps you retain more information.

💡 Pro Tip: Japanese and Thai support sentence-level highlighting only, so word-level settings will not apply there.

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How to Use ReadSpeaker Reading Ruler

Reading Ruler lets you isolate one line of a document while you work through it.

Reading Ruler lives in docReader and TextAid. On a web page the equivalent is Page Mask.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Open the Document

Click the docReader button beside a document link to open it in a pop up window.

Open the toolbar and choose Reading Ruler, or Page Mask for a horizontal bar that shades the rest.

Page Mask is also on the webReader toolbar for ordinary web content.

✓ Checkpoint: Only the line or band you are reading stays fully visible.

Step 3: Adjust the Guide

Drag the guide down the page as you read, line by line.

✅ Result: Visual clutter drops away and your place on the page stays obvious.

💡 Pro Tip: docReader converts the file on every click, so readers always get your current published version.

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How to Use ReadSpeaker Text Mode

Text Mode lets you strip a cluttered page down to plain readable text.

Text mode rebuilds the page as plain text inside the webReader toolbar.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Activate the ReadSpeaker webReader toolbar on the page you want to read.

Step 2: Switch to Text Mode

Select text mode from the toolbar and the content reopens without the surrounding design.

Navigation, images and sidebars drop away.

✓ Checkpoint: The article shows as plain paragraphs on a clean background.

Step 3: Enlarge Text if Needed

Use enlarge text to size the words comfortably before you start.

✅ Result: A dense page becomes something you can actually finish.

💡 Pro Tip: Text mode is the official name — ReadSpeaker does not use the phrase Simple View anywhere in its documentation.

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How to Use ReadSpeaker Dictionary and Translator

Dictionary and Translation lets you look up or translate any word without leaving the page.

Language translation and dictionary lookup share one pop up menu.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Highlight the Selected Text

Drag across the word or passage you do not recognise.

Step 2: Choose From the Menu

Pick Translate, Dictionary or Listen from the menu that appears.

Translation runs through Google Translate or DeepL, capped at 5,000 characters.

✓ Checkpoint: A small panel shows the definition or the translated sentence.

Step 3: Listen to the Result

Press the play button to hear the translated text or the definition spoken.

✅ Result: You can read past unfamiliar vocabulary without breaking your flow.

💡 Pro Tip: The 5,000 character cap is per request, so translate a paragraph at a time rather than a whole page.

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ReadSpeaker Pro Tips and Shortcuts

These are the details that save the most time once you know them.

Keyboard Shortcuts

webReader uses access keys. The modifier differs by browser and operating system.

Action	Access key
Focus the listen button	Modifier + K
Focus player and start reading	Modifier + L
Stop reading	Modifier + X
Open or close the toolbar	Modifier + 1
Settings	Modifier + S
Page mask	Modifier + M
Text mode	Modifier + V
Download mp3	Modifier + D

Inside the player, Tab moves between controls and Enter activates one.

Features Most People Miss

Download mp3: Readers can download the spoken page for personal use, straight from the toolbar.
Reading language: Change the reading language from the toolbar without reloading the current page.
Click and listen: Turn it on and any paragraph is read when you click it.
Writing support: ReadSpeaker includes spell check, word prediction and dictation inside the TextAid tool.
Exam module: TextAid can restrict features and whitelist URLs during assessments.
Other settings: Depending on your configuration, the panel may also expose automatic scrolling and the pop-up menu.

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ReadSpeaker Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Expecting website visitors to log in

❌ Wrong: Telling readers to sign up before they can use the listen button on a web page.

✅ Right: Visitors just press Listen. Their settings are saved in a cookie on that device.

Mistake #2: Mixing up webReader and TextAid

❌ Wrong: Looking for the personal library or spell check on an ordinary website toolbar.

✅ Right: Those belong to ReadSpeaker TextAid. webReader reads public web content instead.

Mistake #3: Reusing generated audio without checking

❌ Wrong: Caching speechCloud API audio and republishing it across other projects.

✅ Right: Storage and reuse need explicit permission in your order confirmation.

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ReadSpeaker Troubleshooting

Problem: The listen button does not appear

Cause: The script has not loaded, often due to an ad blocker or a caching plugin.

Fix: Allow the script on that website, clear the cache, then reload the page.

Problem: Audio plays but nothing is highlighted

Cause: Highlighting was changed from the default settings, or the markup cannot be mapped.

Fix: Open settings, restore highlighting, and pick a stronger text color.

Problem: A linked document will not read

Cause: The file type is unsupported, or the document link points somewhere docReader cannot reach.

Fix: Check the format, then confirm the docReader button passes the full document URL.

Problem: Scanned images produce poor text

Cause: TextAid runs OCR on images, and accuracy on low quality scans is not guaranteed.

Fix: Re-upload a higher resolution scan, or use a text based file where you can.

📌 Note: If none of these fix your issue, contact ReadSpeaker support.

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What is ReadSpeaker?

ReadSpeaker is a text to speech company, not a single tool.

Its products read websites and documents aloud, support study, and power voices inside apps and devices.

Watch this quick overview:

ReadSpeaker includes these tools:

webReader: Adds the listen button to a website and reads web content aloud
docReader: Reads documents linked on your website, with word and sentence highlighting
TextAid: Literacy tool for students, with a personal library and writing support
speechMaker: Browser app that turns text into a downloadable audio file
speechCloud API: Cloud API for adding speech to your own product
speechEngine SDK and SAPI: On-device speech for a Windows computer, mobile and embedded hardware
speechServer: Server-side speech for on-premise and telephony use
VoiceLab: Custom branded voices built with professional voice actors

It also supports transport, industrial and kiosk hardware where no internet connected device is guaranteed.

Following Web Content Accessibility Guidelines during development keeps your own site compatible.

For a full review, see our ReadSpeaker review.

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ReadSpeaker Pricing

Here is what ReadSpeaker costs in 2026:

Plan	Price	Best For
Custom Pricing	Contact for a quote	Websites, documents, APIs and custom voices
TextAid individual	From $9 per user per month	Students and individual users

ReadSpeaker has a custom pricing model for everyone. Contact them to get a custom quote.

TextAid is the one product with published individual pricing.

Free trial: TextAid offers 14 days free with no card required.

Money-back guarantee: Not published. Terms sit inside your agreement.

Here is the pricing page as it stands:

💰 Best Value: TextAid individual — the only plan you can start without talking to sales.

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ReadSpeaker vs Alternatives

How does ReadSpeaker compare? Here is the competitive landscape:

Tool	Best For	Price	Rating
ReadSpeaker	Website accessibility	Custom quote	⭐ 4
ElevenLabs	Voice realism	$5/mo	⭐ 4.8
Murf	Video voiceover	$29/mo	⭐ 4.6
Speechify	Mobile reading	$11.58/mo	⭐ 4.5
NaturalReader	Individual students	$9.99/mo	⭐ 4.4
Play.ht	Fast generation	$31.20/mo	⭐ 4.4
Descript	Podcast editing	$12/mo	⭐ 4.6
WellSaid Labs	Corporate e-learning	$44/mo	⭐ 4.5

Quick picks:

Best overall: ReadSpeaker — the only one built around reading a live website.
Best budget: NaturalReader — cheap and simple for one person.
Best for beginners: Speechify — install it, point your phone, listen.
Best for voice quality: ElevenLabs — still the most human sounding speech.

🎯 ReadSpeaker Alternatives

Looking for ReadSpeaker alternatives? Here are the top options:

🧠 Hume: Reads emotional tone from your script and shapes delivery to match it.
🎨 Murf: Studio editor with a large voice library and simple timing controls for video.
🚀 Speechify: Mobile first reader that scans printed pages with your phone camera.
🔧 Descript: Edits audio by editing the transcript, which suits podcast teams.
🌟 ElevenLabs: Strongest raw voice realism, with cloning across many languages.
⚡ Play.ht: Fast generation and a wide voice library for marketing audio.
💼 Lovo: Bundles voice with a video editor, handy for training clips.
📊 Listnr: Turns blog posts into podcast episodes with hosting included.
🎯 Podcastle: Recording studio and speech tools in one browser tab.
💰 Dupdub: Low entry pricing with avatars in the same dashboard.
🏢 WellSaid Labs: Corporate narration with tight pronunciation control for e-learning.
🔥 Revoicer: One time payment model instead of a monthly bill.
👶 NaturalReader: Simplest pick for one person who wants text read aloud.
🎤 Altered: Voice changing and dubbing aimed at film and game audio.
⭐ Speechelo: Budget tool for quick voiceovers on short marketing video.
🔒 TTS OpenAI: Developer API with predictable per character pricing.

For the full list, see our ReadSpeaker alternatives guide.

⚔️ ReadSpeaker Compared

Here is how ReadSpeaker stacks up against each competitor:

ReadSpeaker vs Hume: Hume reads emotion better; ReadSpeaker covers website accessibility and compliance work.
ReadSpeaker vs Murf: Murf suits video producers; ReadSpeaker suits publishers who need an on page listen button.
ReadSpeaker vs Speechify: Speechify is better on a phone; ReadSpeaker is better for institution wide rollouts.
ReadSpeaker vs Descript: Descript edits recorded audio; ReadSpeaker generates speech from live web content.
ReadSpeaker vs ElevenLabs: ElevenLabs sounds more human; ReadSpeaker ships the reading tools and the toolbar.
ReadSpeaker vs Play.ht: Play.ht is faster to trial; ReadSpeaker offers deeper LMS integration.
ReadSpeaker vs Lovo: Lovo bundles video editing; ReadSpeaker focuses on reading support.
ReadSpeaker vs Listnr: Listnr targets podcasters; ReadSpeaker targets schools, agencies and publishers.
ReadSpeaker vs Podcastle: Podcastle is a recording studio; ReadSpeaker is an accessibility layer for your website.
ReadSpeaker vs Dupdub: Dupdub is cheaper upfront; ReadSpeaker supports larger deployments properly.
ReadSpeaker vs WellSaid Labs: WellSaid excels at scripted narration; ReadSpeaker excels at reading pages nobody scripted.
ReadSpeaker vs Revoicer: Revoicer costs less long term; ReadSpeaker adds translation and literacy tools.
ReadSpeaker vs NaturalReader: NaturalReader is easier for one user; ReadSpeaker scales across a campus.
ReadSpeaker vs Altered: Altered is built for media production; ReadSpeaker is built for readers.
ReadSpeaker vs Speechelo: Speechelo is cheaper; ReadSpeaker supports far more languages and devices.
ReadSpeaker vs TTS OpenAI: TTS OpenAI needs developers; ReadSpeaker ships finished tools for non technical teams.