PRESS RELEASES - NOVEMBER 2007

November 16, 2007

City of Arlington Launches Browsealoud
New Software to Help Users with Limited Sight and Literacy Challenges

The City of Arlington has become the first municipality in Texas to launch a new computer software designed for people with visual impairments and literacy difficulties such as dyslexia.
Browsealoud reads website content aloud to users while simultaneously highlighting appropriate words. Listeners can choose to hear highlighted passages of text or whole pages. The feature improves comprehension and learning for anyone with low literacy and reading skills, according to Information Technology Director Louis Carr.

“As part of our commitment to open government, we are working to make as much of our information on our website accessible to as many people as we can,” said Carr.

Browsealoud will also help readers whose English is not their first language and anyone who finds it difficult to read large paragraphs of material online.

From the city’s Home Page on the website, Browsealoud can be downloaded for free. Once users install the downloaded browser plug-in, content on all web pages that are Browsealoud-friendly can be read aloud. Other Browsealoud features include the adjustment of font sizes and color screens for contrast, and the choice of listening to a male or female voice.

To review Browsealoud and download a copy of the reader, go to: http://www.arlingtontx.gov/ada/browsealoud.html.

To learn more about the software and its capabilities, go to www.browsealoud.com.