Technology

Recite Text To Speech

Recite Provides Simple Web Accessibility Solution
For Disabled Users

A simple solution to the problems faced by dyslexic and visually impaired computer users has been devised by Newcastle-based Recite, providing web designers and site owners with a cost-effective solution to help them meet W3C accessibility guidelines.

The Recite platform, which can be added to any website by inserting a single line of code, offers a series of intuitive tools including text-to-speech, text resizing and colour-coding of text to help visually impaired and dyslexic users gain full access to the site. The Software as a Service (SaaS) product can be added to any new or existing site for a simple yearly subscription model.

“As someone who has grown up with dyslexia, I know how frustrating it can be to understand websites, even when they’re perfectly well designed for everyday users,” said Ross Linnett, Founder and Managing Director of Recite Me Ltd. “These problems have become more prominent in recent years, but the solutions offered by other web design companies have often been expensive and complicated.

“With Recite, we wanted to address all of the key issues faced by dyslexic and visually impaired users, while keeping the product itself lean and cost-effective. This means that website owners can address accessibility issues on their websites without having to spend a large amount, while users are able to access more and more sites.”

The guidelines for web accessibility come from a number of different sources. The European Parliament endorses W3C AA as the minimum standard for accessibility websites, while UK law is covered by the Equality Act, which replaced most of the Disability Discrimination Act (2001) (DDA) on 1st October 2010.

The British Standards (BS) Institute also addresses the challenges of digital inclusion in its latest publication, which presents a fully up-to-date, detailed guide for businesses and organisations on how to make web products more accessible to disabled and elderly users.  While none of these guidelines are currently legal requirements, the government has not ruled out future legislation if website owners and designers do not comply with the voluntary recommendations.

“With simple solutions like Recite available, there really is no excuse for websites not to work towards W3C compliancy,” added Mr Linnett. “There are over nine million people within the UK who have dyslexia and another two million registered with visual impairment, so businesses can see this as an opportunity to open up their website to a group that represents around 20 percent of the UK population.”

Recite is accessed by a simple button, prominently placed on the client’s website. Once the user clicks on this, a bar will appear at the top of the page giving access to the Recite tools, including magnified plain text view, text-to-speech capability and translation into 52 languages. It’s even possible to change the colour and layout of text to suit certain specific conditions.

To find out more about Recite, visit www.recite.me or call (0191) 432 8092.

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