Read&Write for Google Chrome, a literacy support extension available to anyone in LCPS, has been updated to include an array of new voices from which learners can choose. Invite learners to explore the new voices to choose the one that works best for them in any given situation. Educators can literally support student Voice and Choice! The new voices can be found by opening the toolbar and selecting Settings then Speech.
Read&Write for Google Chrome Speech Options
Users can then choose Change voice to explore the various voices.
Read&Write for Google Chrome Change Voice Menu
Use the black arrow to listen to a sample and then select the voice itself to make a selection. Whether listening to text written by someone else or editing their own work, each learner can choose what works best for them.
The Translator tool of Read&Write for Google Chrome uses Google Translate to provide the translation for a single word at a time in the language of your choice in a pop-up box. The icon on the Read&Write for Google Chrome toolbar will turn purple and have a dot under it when the tool is on. The translation can be read aloud by speech to text by selecting the triangle next to the translated word in the box. To choose the language, select the three vertical dots on the far right of the toolbar, and select “settings,” from the drop-down menu that appears. A menu will pop up. Select “speech,” on the left hand side of that menu and scroll down a little to see the, “Translation,” heading. Use the drop-down menu to select from the available languages. At the time of this blog post’s publication, Read&Write for Google Chrome is available to every student and teacher in Loudoun County Public Schools. The translation tool will give learners quick, single word translations without having to leave Google Docs.
Translator Tool
Select a Translation Language in Read&Write for Google Chrome
The Check It feature of Read&Write for Google Chrome extension checks writing for grammar, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and common word confusion errors. When activated, it will create a purple underline under potential errors. This works in addition to built-in spell checking or grammar checking software in the word processing software, appearing above or below any underlines that software may generate. It will also generate a list of suggested corrections. These corrections can be read out loud by Read&Write for Google Chrome if the user turns on the “Read Check It suggestions on hover” option in settings.
On the far right of the Read&Write for Google Chrome toolbar, select the 3 horizontal dots and then select, “Settings.” On the left side of the menu that opens, select “Check It.” Then check the box next to, “Read Check It suggestions on hover.” At the time of this blog post’s publication, Read&Write for Google Chrome is available to every student and teacher in Loudoun County Public Schools. This feature could be added to an editing process to improve writing.
The Check It feature of Read&Write for Google Chrome extension checks writing for grammar, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and common word confusion errors. When activated, it will create a purple underline under potential errors. This works in addition to built-in spell checking or grammar checking software in the word processing software, appearing above or below any underlines that software may generate.
The Check It tool will be a black check mark inside of a black circle on the Read&Write for Google Chrome toolbar. Select this icon to turn the tool on. The check mark and circle will turn purple, and a dot will appear under it. The document will automatically be checked for errors. Select the icon again to turn off the tool. At the time of this blog post’s publication, Read&Write for Google Chrome is available to every student and teacher in Loudoun County Public Schools. Learners could use this tool as an additional support during the editing process. The video titled Read&Write for Google Chrome – Check It Overview describes how to use this feature of the toolbar.
The Word Prediction feature of the Google Chrome extension Read&Write for Google Chrome provides a list of potential words someone might use next in a sentence. By default, the feature is set to predict ahead where a list of words appear without the user needing to begin the next word. This feature can be deactivated in the Word Prediction settings. When deactivated, a user will only be provided with a list of words once they’ve started to type. With the Predict Ahead feature inactive, a user needs to generate their own words and choose a word from the options provided based on what they have started to type. Select the Read&Write for Google Chrome (purple puzzle piece) icon to open the toolbar. Select the crystal ball icon to activate word prediction. Use the three dots to the far right to access the settings, navigate to the Word Prediction settings, and deselect Predict Ahead. When the user begins to type, that user can select from the generated list of words. A user could also use the key command of CTRL + the corresponding numeral of the word in the list. The following video is a short demonstration of how to use the Word Prediction feature in Read&Write for Google Chrome. At the time of this blog post’s publication, Read&Write for Google Chrome is available to every learner in Loudoun County Public Schools.
The Word Prediction feature of the Google Chrome extension Read&Write for Google Chrome provides a list of potential words someone might use next in a sentence. By default, the feature is set to predict ahead where a list of words appear without beginning the next word. With the feature active, a user need to generate their own word and instead choose a word from the options provided. Select the Read&Write for Google Chrome (purple puzzle piece) icon to open the toolbar. Select the crystal ball icon to activate word prediction. While activated, a list of potential words will be automatically generated. A user can select from the list by clicking on the word. A user could also use the key command of CTRL + the corresponding numeral of the word in the list. The following video is a short demonstration of how to use the Word Prediction feature in Read&Write for Google Chrome. At the time of this blog post’s publication, Read&Write for Google Chrome is available to every learner in Loudoun County Public Schools.
Work alone or find some friends to work through it together! Either way, you can become Read&Write for Google Chrome certified! Read&Write for Google Chrome is currently available for anyone to use in LCPS.
Not all web pages are created equally. Some provide information in a clear and concise manner. Others are cluttered including extensive text, numerous graphics that might or might not add to the understanding of the content, or advertisements that detract from the content. This can be frustrating for any user, but especially so to those who are working on limiting distractions, focusing on goals around decoding and comprehension of text, and people with certain visual impairments.
TextHelp’s Read&Write for Google Chrome extension is available to all LCPS staff and students and has a tool that can help alleviate these issues called Simplify Page. It reduces visual clutter from Chrome web pages, simplifies the text on the page, and has features to make the web page even more visually accessible.
When on a Chrome web page, select the purple puzzle piece icon on the menu bar to open the Read&Write for Google Chrome toolbar.
Then, select the Simplify Page tool. A new tab will open showing a simplified version of the page and the available features.
Simplify: The amount of text displayed on the page can be summarized or shortened by selecting the minus (–) icon. If you’ve decreased the text too much, you can select the plus (+) icon.
Discover: This feature underlines key words in purple. When the words are selected, a brief description or graphic appears, similar to a dictionary.
The visual contrast can be modified by changing the text and background color. Choices include Black on White, White on Black, Blue on Yellow, and Yellow on Blue.
The font size and style can be changed, including the Open Dyslexic font.
The spacing between the lines can be also changed to Single, 1.5, or Double.
Check out this video for more information and enjoy exploring this amazing tool!
A recent update to Read&Write for Google Chrome has brought with it a new, highly requested feature! The Talk&Type button is a shortcut to activating the Voice Typing feature of Google Docs. Prior to this update, this feature only worked in the Speaker Notes section of a Google Slides presentation. Users needed to turn on the Enable Dictation feature in the Accessibility settings of Chrome to dictate directly into a slide. Now, users can use the Talk&Type button in Read&Write for Google Chrome when using Google Slides to use speech to text, essentially cutting down on navigation and providing a consistent experience between applications. This new feature provides learners with yet another option for how to compose text to show what they know! Watch this short tutorial titled Read&Write in Google Slides Speech to Text Update to see how it works.
on the menu bar to open the Read&Write for Google Chrome toolbar.
tool. 
