ReadSpeaker and Instructure Partner to Integrate Text to Speech on the Canvas Learning Management System

UPPSALA, Sweden and SALT LAKE CITY, October 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

ReadSpeaker, a leading cloud-based text-to-speech provider, today announced a partnership with Canvas, an easy-to-use learning management system (LMS) by Instructure enabling text-to-speech versions of virtually all course content. By adding the ReadSpeaker speech technology, Canvas shows its commitment to helping all students access educational content in the way that best fits their learning style.

"Canvas was designed to be a flexible learning platform and to accommodate different learning styles," said Brian Whitmer, co-founder and chief learning officer. "The ReadSpeaker integration into Canvas helps students access educational content in a way that fits their learning style, by enabling text-to-speech technology in their educational experience."

Canvas uses the ReadSpeaker Enterprise Highlighting product, which is a software as a service (SaaS) solution hosted by ReadSpeaker. Learners have access to the read-aloud functionality from any connected device including smartphones and tablets through their mobile browsers. Students use the service by either selecting text on the screen and then clicking on the floating listen-button or by clicking directly on the floating listen-button. This will result in the text being read out and highlighted simultaneously on a word and/or sentence level as it is being read. Content that is presented in both audio and visual formats at the same time enables students to benefit from improved reading comprehension fluency, accuracy and concentration. By providing an audio path to the learning content, ReadSpeaker also brings the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles for students with different learning styles.

The solution crafted for Canvas has been developed so that system administrators simply add a JavaScript or add the link to the JavaScript in their admin interface. The ReadSpeaker Canvas integration can be configured to read a pre-defined area, skip certain content, change the default position of the floating listen-button and modify the appearance of the player. This allows for maximum flexibility in how the ReadSpeaker listen feature is presented to students using the Canvas LMS.

"ReadSpeaker fits nicely with the innovative and forward-looking Canvas LMS developed by Instructure," said Joop Heijenrath, ReadSpeaker CCO and Co-founder. "This partnership will help faculty using Canvas to reach out to all their students by providing them with a simple click and listen feature to easily access content pages, wikis, blogs, news, announcements, tests, and quizzes in audio format."

About ReadSpeaker

A leader in cloud-based text-to-speech (TTS) technology, ReadSpeaker provides learners with the ability to listen to text content. The TTS service helps all learners expand their comprehension and allows for bimodal learning. By providing different ways of accessing the learning content, ReadSpeaker nicely fits the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) philosophy. The seamlessly integrated TTS feature requires no downloads and works on all supported devices and operating systems, further enabling users who would otherwise have to download and install third-party software. Please visit http://www.readspeaker.com.

About Instructure

Instructure is a technology company committed to improving education. We provide instructors and students with modern tools and resources to empower the learning experience. Instructure offers Canvas Network-the open, easy-to-use, cloud-native learning management system. We also provide an index of open, online courses from Ivy Leagues to community colleges. To keep learning, visit http://www.instructure.com.

SOURCE ReadSpeaker