Listen to our Website

Wrexham County Borough Council is pleased to introduce facilities to aid accessibility on our award winning website for those with reading difficulties.

It is now possible to 'listen to our website', using the following two methods:

• Readspeaker
• Browsealoud

ReadSpeaker

To help improve the accessibility of our website we use the ReadSpeaker XT software. This software, when activated, will read aloud the content and links of a web page including documents in PDF and Word formats.

 Listen to this website with Readspeaker

ReadSpeaker XT does not require any downloads, installation or plug-ins of software and works on most computers including PC/Windows, Mac, Linux and SUN. ReadSpeaker XT supports most browsers including Internet Explorer (IE), Netscape, Opera, Safari, Mozilla and Lynx.

All that is required is a live internet connection, browser and speakers (or headphones). ReadSpeaker XT will work on slower connections (33k modem and up).

How to activate ReadSpeaker XT

1. Listen to this website with ReadSpeaker by clicking on the ReadSpeaker XT button to listen to this website - a navigation bar will appear at the top of the page.
2. Choose an option; read text, read links or stop (see below).
3. Make sure your volume is turned up.
   Keyboard shorts cuts are shown in brackets.

Instructions for the use of Readspeaker

ReadSpeaker is a server based facility for speech-enabling web-sites. It does not replace screen-readers but it supports people who find it difficult to read and lack tools to help them.

Button	Function	Short cut
	Read content of page. Certain areas of text can be read by highlighting that text and clicking on Read Text. It is possible to change how it is read under 'Settings'.	Alt + T
	Reads a list of the links on the page. It is possible to change how it is read under 'Settings'.	Alt + L
	Stops reading.	Alt + X
	Goes to a link. Enter either the number, the name or part of the name of the link and click on 'Go' (or ALT + G).	Alt + N
	Changes settings of ReadSpeaker XT.	Alt + I
	Shows the help page.	Alt + H
	Closes ReadSpeaker XT.	Alt + Z

Listen to pages with ReadSpeaker

ReadSpeaker can read the web-page in different ways:

• You can select text by highlighting, clicking on the "Read Text" button and ReadSpeaker will read the selected text only.
• If you have not selected text, ReadSpeaker will read according to the options you have chosen under "Settings". There you can choose if you want the "Read Text" button to read the text only, the whole page including links or section by section.
• If you have chosen to listen to one section at a time, the read section will be highlighted while read. To have the next section read, click the "Read Text" button again.

Links

ReadSpeaker offers different ways of navigating around the site:

• Choose a link by clicking on it with the mouse or use the Tab-key to move between links.
• Choose a link by listening to the link list and write the link-number in link field (Alt + N) and click Enter or click or "Go To" (Alt + G).
• Choose a link by the entering the link-name in link field (Alt + N) and click Enter or click on "Go To" (Alt + G).

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Browsealoud

We have teamed up with Texthelp Systems to provide a service which gives our visitors the chance to listen to wrexham.gov.uk. All you have to do is simply install the free Browsealoud software by following the steps below.

Browsealoud is a Windows Browser plug-in designed for use with Internet Explorer 4 upwards or Netscape Navigator. You can control the voice, pitch and the speed. When you scroll over the text on the website, browsealoud will read and speak what you require.

Before you install the software, you can get further information by visiting the Browsealoud website.

Step 1

To install the software, please click on the following link to go to download the software from the BrowseAloud website.

Step 2

To install browsealoud you have two options

1. an interactive web install * , or,

2. a single installation file - recommended for installations behind firewalls.

Click the 'DOWNLOAD Interactive Web Install' link on the website, choose the 'Save' option. Once this setup file has been downloaded, click 'Open' to commence the installation.

Click the 'DOWNLOAD Single Installation File' link below, choose the 'Save' option. Then when the file has been downloaded, click 'Open' to commence the installation.

* Smart Web Install - The size of this download depends on the configuration of the user's computer. An internet connection is required during this type of installation.

Using Browsealoud

Speech

Here you can alter the pitch, speed and volume of the speech facility. Simply move the slider left or right until you get your preferred sound.

You can also choose male or female voices which has options set for you.

Pronunciation

You can add a dictionary of words and how to say them phonetically in this section. For those words, particularly Welsh words and names, which Browsealoud has difficulty in pronouncing.

Updates

You have the opportunity to update your information on a regular basis with this section. There are options to download more voices, updates to the software etc and also the chance to update your list of websites that Browsealoud can access.

Misc

This section allows you set your preferences on how Browsealoud works with your computer and how it functions when accessing websites.