Spotlight by COOL BLIND TECH

In this weeks Spotlight CBT features Mr. Gilles Pepin, the CEO of HumanWare. With more than 25 years experience, Mr. Pepin has built a solid worldwide reputation in the field of assistive technology and in the arena of visual impairment. In 1988, Mr. Pepin founded VisuAide, a successful company specialized in high technology for people who are blind or visually impaired. VisuAide merged with PDI in 2005 to form HumanWare. For over 25 years, HumanWare's inspirational vision has resulted in a range of highly intuitive and intelligent solutions that empower people who are blind or with low vision by giving them the independence to participate effectively within a sighted world. For more information, contact HumanWare below: USA Toll free: 1-800-722-3393 info@humanware.com CANADA Toll free: 1-888-723-7273 info@humanware.com AUSTRALIA/ASIA Tel: 1300-551-864 or 02-9686-2600 au.sales@humanware.com UK/EUROPE Tel: 44-1933-415-800 eu.sales@humanware.com

In this Spotlight Interview, James Oates sits down with Kirk Adams, the president and CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind to discuss the mission of the AFB and the most pressing issues that blind people face in the 21st century. Helpful Resources AFB Website AFB’s Career Connect Page AFB’s Access World Publication AFB Press AFB’s Family Connect Page AFB’s Vision Aware Page AFB’s Publication, “College Bound” Learning Ally Cogswell Macy Act The American Council of the Blind The National Federation of the Blind

In this Spotlight Interview, James Oates sits down with James Teh, prior to his departure from NVAccess, to discuss the following subjects: The history of NVDA NVDA’s business model Keeping up with an ever evolving Windows environment NVDA in a corporate environment Add-ons for NVDA Voices available for NVDA The user guide and tutorials for NVDA Getting certified as a NVDA expert Telephone support for NVDA OSARA extension for Reaper Editor's note: James Teh will still be a Director (of the Board, just not an employee, and thus not an Executive Director.

Join Jessica for an exclusive interview with Glen Dobbs, President and Founder of LoganTech. Learn about their incredible journey from a small, parent-founded company with a singular purpose, to a growing distributor of Assistive Technology providing communication solutions and braille products. Learn how LoganTech is providing a way for everyone to communicate, regardless of ability, and how they are opening up doors to braille literacy through the Braille Coach and 6Dot Braille Label Maker. If you would like to know more about the products provided by LoganTech, check out their Youtube. If you would like to know more about Proxtalker, you can connect with Proxtalker on Facebook, or you can follow Proxtalker on Twitter. If you would like to know more about the 6Dot Braille Label Maker, you can follow 6Dot on Twitter, or connect with 6Dot on Facebook. We always enjoy listener feedback. If you enjoy this Spotlight Interview, we welcome your comments. Please feel free to send us an email, give us a Tweet, or find us on Facebook.

Join Jessica Rickards for an exciting Spotlight with Ronit Williams, Head of Global Sales and Marketing for Embro, makers of the Walk Pro, WalkX, and the Keller Sight. Ronit explains how this company is developing products for a variety of abilities, from vision impairment to hearing and speech disabilities. A more in-depth discussion is explored about the virtual cane technology that was developed in the Walk products and what sets it apart from other products currently available, and the features available in each product. The WalkX and Walk Pro are both available for Pre-Order. To contact Embro, or if you have questions about their products, you can contact them. To follow Embro for the latest updates and developments, you can connect with Embro on Twitter. If you enjoyed this spotlight interview, don't forget to leave us feedback. We always enjoy hearing from our fans.

Join Jessica Rickards for an exclusive spotlight interview with Idan Meir, co-founder and CEO of Right-Hear, an Israel-based company focused on providing an auditory indoor navigation solution to the blind and visually impaired. Right-Hear is a free iOS app and is also available free on the Google Play Store. Users are able to obtain information about an area through Accessible Spots installed by the individual businesses. For a full demonstration of how the app works, please watch the Youtube video Connect with Right-Hear on Facebook Follow Right-Hear on Twitter

Join Jessica Rickards for an exclusive spotlight with David Jeppson, executive director of Computers for the blind, a Texas-based organization providing computers to blind and visually impaired individuals across the United States regardless of circumstance. computers for the blind accepts refurbished windows computers and is run by volunteers. This organization is open to volunteer opportunities across the country; from those who wish to give time in their local Texas refurbishment center, to tech support professionals who can provide remote assistance, to those who can contribute financially. If you are interested in learning more about this organization, feel free to contact them via telephone or email via their website. If you do a lot of online shopping, Computers for the Blind is also partnered with

In this Spotlight Interview, James Oates sits down with Stephen Ewell, the executive director of the Consumer Technology Association Foundation. The CTA Foundation, a public, national foundation affiliated with the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)™, was launched in 2012 with the mission to link seniors and people with disabilities with technologies to enhance their lives. The foundation strategically supports programs that affect these communities and facilitates dialog between industry, consumers, government, advocacy groups and other key stakeholders. Steve talks about the foundation’s role in featuring accessible products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the foundation’s role in producing the first fully accessible self-driving vehicle, and his trips to CSUN and South by Southwest. You can follow Stephen Ewell on Twitter here, and you can follow the CTA Foundation on Twitter here.

In this Spotlight Interview, James Oates sits down with Brad Turner, the vice president of global literacy at Benetech. They discuss: Benetech Brad tells us about the organization and its mission. Bookshare Brad tells us about how the organization has grown into such a successful digital platform that makes more than a half a million books available for blind and visually impaired individuals. Born Accessible Brad talks about Benetech’s mission to ensure that as more and more print material is born in a digital format, it also needs to be born in an accessible format. The Marrakesh Treaty Brad updates us on the current status of the Marrakesh Treaty in the US Senate. He also discusses the global benefit of this treaty. Spotlight Gateway Brad finally talks about Benetech’s efforts to help with Spotlight Gateway, which is a project designed to help those who have a visually impairment gain access to the power of reading through a combination of the Spotlight Text app, a Bookshare membership, and an iPad. Students who are eligible can receive all of these for free through the Spotlight Gateway program

In this exciting Spotlight Interview, James Oates sits down with Andrew Lahart, the head of accessibility, enablement, and competency at IBM, to talk about: Accessible Olli, the first fully accessible self-driving vehicle created by Local Motors, the CTA Foundation, and IBM Research MERA, a Multi-Purpose Eldercare Robot Assistant NavCog, an indoor/outdoor navigation system for the blind AccProbe, an open-source project for developers to make sure their applications are accessible for people who are using assistive technology Enjoy listening to Drew’s explanations of IBM’s tremendous accomplishments, and what they are planning for the future. Follow Drew and IBM Accessibility on Twitter, and bookmark IBM’s accessibility webpage.

In this Spotlight Interview, James Oates sits down with Bin Liu and Arjun Mali, the founders of iMerciv and creators of the BuzzClip, which is a standalone wearable that helps people who are blind familiarize themselves with their surroundings and navigate unfamiliar areas both indoors and outdoors. From the Developers of the BuzzClip The BuzzClip is a small and discreet wearable for people that are blind or partially sighted. The device uses ultrasound to detect obstacles that may lie directly in one's path. It then notifies the user of these obstacles through intuitive vibrations, allowing the user to safely navigate around any objects that they may encounter. The BuzzClip offers essential head level obstacle detection and can be easily attached to many forms of clothing, making it a highly versatile and useful device. All aspects of the BuzzClip from its design to its functionality have been created with our customers in mind. It is a new spin on existing ultrasound technology and can dramatically change the lives of people living with blindness or severe vision loss, particularly for those who have just recently lost their vision. It is an extremely practical mobility tool that can reduce fears of travelling and it provides a reliable way to inform a user of their immediate surroundings and prevent collisions.

Join Jessica for an exciting spotlight interview with Gabe Vega, CEO of Commtech USA.. He provides some insight into why he started the company and introduces us to his exciting new video project, Commtech Academy. Commtech USA offers a variety of products and services taylored for the blind and visually impaired, including Remote Training. For those living in Arizona, Commtech also prupides local training out of their Tucson offices. Please be sure and tune in to this spotlight, as Commtech is offering our listeners a special discount code which you can only get when you tune in ! Be sure and check out Commtech USA on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Please don't leave without sending us a comment about what you enjoyed, or would like to see more of, in our shows. We love to hear from you, the listeners.

In this Spotlight Interview, James Oates sits down with Charlene Xia of Team Tactile, the creators of Tactile, which is a handheld real-time text to braille device, about the size of a candy bar. Six young women who are all engineering students at MIT have designed a device called Tactile. This device has a camera on the back and 36cells of braille on the front. You run it over text, and the camera captures the text, OCR software recognizes and converts the text, and it is displayed on the front in braille. Listen to the podcast to get all the details.

Join Jessica for another special CoolBlindTech Spotlight Interview. This time we feature Everett Elam, recipient of the Gilman Scholarship Program. He shares some amazing experiences and highlights from his exciting experience which are not featured anywhere else. If you enjoyed this content, please feel free to leave us a comment, send us an email or follow us on our social media. We'd love to hear from you.

In this exciting Spotlight interview, James Oates sits down with the highly intelligent team at Grapheel Innovation. The team consists of: • Daniel Hajas: Blind, theoretical physics student with PhD in Informatics, special research interest on accessible STEM. • Tim Lingard: Programmer and physicist, PhD student at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (Portsmouth), Head of Information Systems and online services. • David Turner: Physics student at Sussex, Head of R&D at Grapheel, researching engineering solutions for the Tactile Graphics Display. The team discusses the enormous problem that exist in providing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education to people who are blind or visually impaired. They explained the three-pronged approach that they have devised to conquer this problem. Step one is called “Iris,” which is a science community based image description service specifically for STEM graphical content used as teaching material. The student uploads an image, and receives a detailed description from a volunteer who is a professional in that field of study. The second is a consultancy scheme where they will advise on solutions that are in existence for accessible science. Various assistive software, hardware, teaching resources, good practice in science accessibility and so on. The third is the development of a Tactile Graphics Display. They wish to carry out hardware research and development and concentrate on materials science for developing cost and performance efficient actuators. They also wish to collaborate with the various initiatives developing their own tactile displays and open their operating system for third party developers. This way Grapheel could develop STEM specific applications for already existing tactile graphics display devices, since there are organizations like the American Printing House for the Blind, doing a great job in the hardware development front. Visit Grapheel’s website to learn more or get involved in helping in this remarkable effort. You can also follow Grapheel on Twitter.

In this CBT Spotlight interview, James Oates sits down with Suman Kanuganti, the cofounder and CEO of Aira Visual Interpreter for the Blind, to discuss a life changing new service for those who are blind or visually impaired. Aira takes advantage of the technology found in advanced smart glasses, like Google Glass, to connect blind people with sighted agents who can use the information transmitted by those glasses to help them with anything that might require visual feedback. That could be anything the user would like an extra pair of eyes for. Smart glasses not only have a camera that transmits visual information to the agent, but also other sensors that send detailed information to the agent’s dashboard, such as GPS information that is incorporated into Google Maps. For now, the glasses will need to be paired with a smart phone, but you should listen to this podcast to hear all the spectacular improvements that Suman is planning. You can visit their website, email Aira, or email Suman directly for more information. You can also call Aira at: (858) 876-2472.

Join Jessica Rickards along with TellMe TV CEO, Kevin Shaw, for this spotlight on TellMe TV. Gone is the old name and website for this fantastic audio description service, and what has replaced it is a more streamline, futuristic site with greater mobile device integration and app support. If you would like to try out this incredible service, TellMe TV is offering a special promotion just for our listeners. If you would like to start a free trial of TellMe TV, enter promo code TELLME17 when you sign up and you'll receive 3 months free. If you'd like to keep up to date with what's happening at TellMe TV, you can follow TellMe TV on Twitter, connect with TellMe TV on Facebook, or

In this Spotlight interview, James Oates sits down with Dr. Howard Kaplan, a retina surgeon, and the developer of Spotlight Text. Spotlight Text is an app that works with Bookshare to make eBooks accessible to the visually impaired. The app displays white text on a black background, and can make the text as large as a reader needs. It works only on iPads, but can also be airplayed to a TV screen by way of a dongle or an Apple TV. This allows for much larger text than can be provided with normal magnification software. The application also works with VoiceOver and braille displays, so that anyone with a visual impairment can use it. Working in cooperation with Bookshare, the app can access more than 450,000 books, and this number is constantly rising. To ensure that students with visual impairments have access to printed materials, Dr. Kaplan has founded Spotlight Gateway, an organization that provides free access to his app, a free Bookshare membership, and a free iPad to those who are in financial need. Students need to be certified as having a visual impairment by a licensed Ophthalmologist, and they need to show that there is a financial need for the program. You can try out a light version of the application to see if it works for you.

Join Jessica for this exciting spotlight interview with well-known author, tech journalist and podcaster Shelly Brisbin. Find out the latest about her very helpful book, iOS Access For All/ and her podcast, The Parallel. To get in touch with Shelly, follow her on Twitter, connect with Shelly on LinkedIn, or subscribe to her podcast feed.

In this Spotlight interview, James Oates sits down with Mark Riccobono, president of the National Federation of the Blind to discuss: The purpose and history of the federation. Accessible voting. Self-driving technology. Equal access to education. Future technologies. Braille and literacy. The Marrakesh treaty. How to join the NFB. Follow Mark Riccobono and the NFB on Twitter, and visit the NFB’s website.

In this Spotlight interview, James Oates sits down with Kim Charlson, the National President of the American Council of the Blind and the Executive Director of the Perkins Library. The topics include: A brief history of Perkins what the organization looks like today, The Perkins Blog(/a> Perkins Solutions Perkins eLearning Perkins International the Perkins School Library services including the Perkins Library the Perkins newsletter the National Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Info Eyes virtual reference library service BARD the application process for the Perkins Library and the Library Without Walls program, a monthly recommended reads list. New actions taken by the Library of Congress About the Orbit Reader 20 from the American Printing House for the Blind The current status of the Marrakesh Treaty The mission of the ACB ACB state affiliates and local chapters the ACB Link app for iOS devices the ACB Braille Forum Progress being made in audio described film and television distribution the success of structured negotiations with Netflix The struggles with government agencies to enforce website accessibility guidelines and to provide accessible tactile paper currency. To learn more about Perkins and the American Council of the Blind, follow these Twitter Accounts: @perkinsvision @perkins_library @acbnational

In this powerful Spotlight Interview, James Oates sits down with Jenny Lay-Flurrie, (Chief Accessibility Officer at Microsoft), to discuss the inner workings of accessibility at Microsoft. Jenny explains the challenges facing Microsoft, the progress that has been made in Windows 10, Office 365, and cloud services. She goes on to outline Microsoft’s commitment to accessibility in all its products across all platforms. She explains the importance of inclusive hiring for Microsoft to achieve its accessibility goals. She talks about Microsoft’s past reliance on third party applications and the company’s continued commitment to work with third party providers of assistive technology. Jenny then makes a major announcement that Microsoft has not made public until this time. Cool Blind Tech is excited to bring you this exclusive story. To find out what else was discussed, listen to the entire interview. Below is a list of helpful resources that are related to the topics in the interview. Microsoft’s Accessibility Home Page. Windows 10 free upgrade for customers who use assistive technologies Office 365 accessibility webpage Inclusive Hiring for People with Disabilities Narrator User Guide. Accessibility Roadmaps. Accessibility Feedback. Disability Answer Desk. Cities Unlocked. Use Narrator on Xbox One Console. To read the transcription, click here.click here.

Join Jessica for an exclusive Spotlight interview with Chad Udell, Managing Director, and Steve Richey, lead director at Float, makers of Cydalion. Cydalion is a revolutionary new app based on the Tango platform for Android which allows blind and visually impaired users to navigate indoor spaces using augmented audio technology. You won't want to miss this exciting episode. To find out more, follow @gowithfloat on twitter or check out their website

Join James Oates in this Spotlight interview with Kevin Andrews of RS Games and Marty Schultz, the developer of Blindfold Games. Blindfold Games features more than 45 popular iOS audio games such as; Blindfold Racer, Blindfold Road Trip, Blindfold Bingo, and many others. RS Games specializes in the development of accessible games for the blind and visually impaired. It is an online multi-player platform for the PC and Mac, and now is available on your iOS device as well. If you enjoy this interview, download the Blindfold RS Games app and the Blindfold Games app, and start having fun! You can also listen to our demonstration of the Blindfold RS Games app here.

Join Jessica in this Spotlight interview with the creator and visionary of Comics Empower, Guy Hasson. Comic book novices and avid fans alike will appreciate this insightful discussion of the latest developments to this powerful online comic book store for the blind and visually impaired. If you enjoyed this interview, please check out the store! The winners of the blind comic writer's competition have been chosen! Check out Bakasura! Comics Empower encourages listeners to participate in an interactive podcast. Join the conversation!

Join Jessica as she revisits Kevin Shaw, founder of Zagga TV. Find out how you, the listener, can be part of an amazing opportunity to help make the vision of entertainment for all a reality. Listen to a demonstration of the Zagga TV website at the end of the interview Watch a Ted Talks featuring Zagga TV Get a 2 month free trial of Zagga TV. Take advantage of a special CoolBlindTech listener discount when you sign up today!

This week on Spotlight the Cool Blind Tech Team features Claria Zoom. Claria Zoom is an all-in-one application helping elderly & people suffering from eye diseases (AMD, glaucoma…) stay active and independent. Download it now Claria Zoom won the Golden Silmo award at the 2014 World Optics Fair in Paris. Unrivalled reading & writing comfort Extra large characters Contrasted color themes Big keyboards Speech activation available on any screen Interface Claria Zoom FeaturesGrey copie 20+ redesigned functionalities Communication: Phone, Text messages, Emails Daily tools: GPS, Calendar, Clock, Calculator, Voice memos, Notes, Weather, File explorer Entertainment: Music player, Newspapers, Radio player, Audio book reader, Web browser Camera: Take a photo/video, Electronic magnifier, Optical character recognition (OCR)

In the Spotlight we talk to Bin Liu and Arjun Mali developers of the BuzzClip. iMerciv has developed a small, discreet and versatile wearable for people that are blind or living with significant vision loss. The BuzzClip, uses ultrasound to detect obstacles that may lie directly in one's path. It then notifies the user of these obstacles through intuitive vibrations, allowing the user to safely navigate around any objects that they may walk into. PRE ORDER NOW!

Comics Empower is featured in this weeks Spotlight Interview. The online comic book shop that was created by Guy Hasson. who makes comics for the blind and the visually impaired! After more than 20 years writing for theatre, writing science fiction stories and books, and writing for film, Guy created the indie comic book company New Worlds Comics. Among other things, he initiated the Comics Empower Project, where real people told their real stories about how comics empowered, helped, or inspired them. The real stories showed him how deeply comics empower people for decades. This inspired the creation of the Comics Empower store, the comic book store for the blind and the visually impaired. More than that, it inspired the creation of the exclusive series, Aurora, an adventure sci-fi series with a blind hero. Useful links: First Timer's Ultimate Guide to Comics. Check out the writing competition for blind or visually impaired writers.

In this Spotlight interview we feature Akash Khanolkar the CEO of CrowdViz. CrowdViz is an iOS app that unites blind people with our trusted sighted assistants. Blind users can receive immediate sighted assistance by connecting to an assistant and it is as easy as a click of a single button.

At the very tail end of August, Voice Dream Reader, the wildly popular book reading app, launched on Android. This opens up a huge potential market, ranging from students who want to read college coursework on-the-go, to professionals who drive a lot and need an easy way of reading materials with high-quality voices. Because of the excellent price range of Android devices, you can now own a book reader for under $100. We've interview Winston Chen who developed the iOS application, which has now grown into a comprehensive app. Getting this to work on Android from scratch was a unique challenge, as it requires a great effort and collaboration between features and platforms. Michael Scott developed the Android version of Voice Dream Reader, and it has many of the same functionality as found on iOS: Bookmarks, various high quality voices from Acapela (at the moment, Ivona is expected in a future update), along with bookmarking support, DRM-free Epubs, bookshelf views, Bookshare, Dropbox,One drive integration, visual adjustment of the document's contents, highlighting, built-in web browser... Just what does it take to develop an Android app anyway? How difficult was it to have all of these features migrate over from the iOS world? What are some future plans for the app? Ultimately, what goals might the team have in mind for its purpose? We sit down with both Michael and Winston to talk about the development and story of Voice Dream reader.

On this edition of Spotlight, Cory Martin meets with Mr. Brian Hartgen, owner of Hartgen Consultancy and a well-known leader in the Assistive Technology field who has brought amazing advancements to the way people with multiple disabilities use their computers. With Brian’s bridging product, J-Say, it is possible for a person to completely control their computer by voice alone, using both JAWS for Windows from Freedom Scientific and Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking. While J-Say has been improved over a number of years, Hartgen Consultancy brings a number of new products to the table, such as J-Dictate, a product which is focused on the professional or student who wishes to still use the Keyboard but receive audible feedback from JAWS, or transcribe notes in to text. In addition, Brian’s product Leasey makes it possible for beginners and power users alike to interact with their computers in a simplified and meaningful way with a straight-forward command structure and several tools to improve the computing experience. Brian discusses his beginnings, he tells us how he got started in the assistive technology field and how J-Say came to exist. Finally, Brian tells us about some of the new advancements to his Leasey product including all new support for complex iTunes tasks and the Spotify music streaming service. If you would like, click this link to visit Hartgen.org or if you wish to hear Brian demonstrate his various products, you may listen to his Laircast podcast with comprehensive demos.

Dr. Howard Kaplan, the developer of the iOS app, Spotlight Text, sits down with the team at Cool Blind Tech to discuss his amazing eBook reading app for people with low vision problems. Dr. Kaplan tells us the story of why he became a Retina surgeon, and how his concern for his patients led to him becoming an accessibility advocate. Many of his patients are dealing with Macular Degeneration, Retinitis Pigmentosis, or complications resulting from Diabetes. After the launch of Kindle eBook reader, Dr. Kaplan was disturbed to find that most of his patients could not read digital material, and there was no good reason for this to be the case. After fruitlessly trying to get the content providers to make their material accessible, he began the process of trying to do it himself. Spotlight Text works in conjunction with Bookshare, a company that provides more than 250,000 eBooks to persons with vision problems. Here is a description of the app from the App Store: Spotlight Text is the first eBook reader crafted specifically for individuals with vision loss. How to get started, instructions, and watch a video demonstration here.   “We Read to Know That We Are Not Alone.” - C.S. Lewis   - Access Bookshare's 250,000+ collection of books (including best sellers and new releases). - Designed for maximum legibility - Multiple reading modes including one designed specifically for individuals with RP Constricted Field - Autoplay mode with customizable speeds - Increase or decrease font size to your desire - Simple and easy to navigate user interface - Unlimited Screen Size with Apple TV or Direct HDMI Contact   Visit https://www.SpotlightText.com to learn more about the application and for help signing up for Bookshare.   Focus Reading Technology is dedicated to the belief that through superior product design incorporating cutting edge user interface technology and access to e-content, visual and print disabilities can be addressed and overcome, and the joy of reading restored.  

Here at Cool Blind Tech it’s not just about technology, but also about people and today we had a unique opportunity to speak to a visually impaired entrepreneur, Brent Harbolt from The Harbolt Company, a store which focuses on unique and cool mainstream gadgets we can all use as blind or visually impaired individuals. We speak with Brent about his beginnings and how he started his store, we hear about some of the challenges that Brent has faced as a blind person starting his own business and how he has met and overcome these difficulties. Brent tells us about his business and how his passion for customer service and interaction with people has formed the vision and mission for his store. Brent describes his methods for locating items he sells and how he has fun with his business. Brent also is offering our listeners a discount at his store, so give the podcast a listen to hear how this rather unique business got started and for an exclusive coupon code for Cool Blind Tech listeners should you find a gadget you just must have. If you wish to visit The Harbolt Company, you may follow this link: www.harboltcompany.com You may also visit The Harbolt Company Contact Page by Clicking Here should you wish to speak with Brent directly.

Winston Chen, the developer of the iOS app, Voice Dream Reader, sits down with the team at Cool Blind Tech to tell the story of how having been inspired by a Ted Talk podcast, his departure from mainstream tech, life on an Artic island north of Norway, and how that led to the development of Voice Dream Reader. Mr. Chen describes  the original intent for Voice Dream Reader, and how that later manifested into an app for educators, the blind, and dyslexic. Mr. Chen proceeds to announce the release of a new iOS word processing application which is designed specifically with blind people in mind. The new app is called, Voice Dream Writer, and is available shortly in the App Store for $9.99. Here's the iTunes description. Voice Dream Writer helps everyone write better: Text-to-speech proofreading reduces mistakes, phonetic and meaning search help you find the right words, and an active outline improves the structure of your writing. Text-To-Speech Proofreading. Professional proofreaders recommend reading out loud as the best way to catch mistakes. Like a personal proofreader, Voice Dream Writer reads your writing using text-to-speech, so you can easily spot awkward sentences, grammatical errors and typos. Also, it can read words and sentences as you type or voice dictate. This way, you can type faster because you no longer have to look up to check the text you just wrote. Word Finder. Voice Dream Writer helps you find the right words using phonetic search and meaning search. For example, search for "inuf" phonetically, and you will find "enough", and search for "Fast Africa Cat" by meaning and you will find "Cheetah." Word Finder also shows you the dictionary definition of a word as you type without you having to select anything or open another program. Outline. As you write, Voice Dream Writer automatically creates an outline of headings, paragraphs and sentences. The Outline helps you structure your document better by giving you an always-on overview. You can also quickly navigate to a section in a long document without endless scrolling. Finally, you can drag and drop elements in the Outline to organize your writing. No more selecting, cutting and pasting large blocks of text. Besides these unique features, Voice Dream Writer also comes with everything you would expect from any great writing tool: