TextAid is the literacy support tool students use everywhere they learn: on the web, in their LMS, in their browser, even during assessments. One account, every device.
Already a TextAid user? Log inAvailable everywhere a student learns
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Web app
Canvas
Moodle
Blackboard
BrightspaceWorking with accessibility partners, publishers and educators around the world.
Customer story
For a child with dyslexia, reading takes all of their mental energy and that's before they've even thought about understanding the text and answering questions on it. ReadSpeaker TextAid just takes that load away from them so they are actually able to show the teacher what they are capable of without being so overwhelmed and tired from having to read through the text.
Read the full story
Student journey
From class to home to exam day, the same literacy support tool follows the learner: the same voice, the same notes, the same reading and writing settings, every step.
TextAid embeds in the school's LMS. Students access lesson readings, take annotations, and listen along without ever leaving Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard or Brightspace.
Drop any document, PDF or web article into TextAid. Read aloud with synchronised highlighting, draft essays with spell check and word prediction, and build revision notes to listen back to.
The TextAid Exam Module gives approved students text-to-speech, dictionary, spell check, calculator and timer. URL whitelisting and single-login keep assessments secure for high-stakes use.
Deployment
Roll TextAid out as an LMS-integrated tool, a standalone web app or a browser extension, all managed from a single admin console.
Plug TextAid into the learning environment your school already runs, so students reach it from the same dashboard they open every morning.
Works with any LTI 1.3 LMS, including
Blackboard LearnBrightspaceCanvasMoodle
itslearning
Open edX
ILIAS
LearnosityStudents sign in at textaid.readspeaker.com from any modern browser. No software to install, on a laptop, desktop or Chromebook.
Works in any modern browser, including
ChromeEdgeFirefoxThe TextAid Chrome, Edge and Firefox extension turns any web page, PDF, Google Doc or webmail into a listening and writing session, right in the browser the student already uses.
Available as an extension for
ChromeEdgeFirefoxIntegrations
Browser extensions, LTI 1.3 connectors, single sign-on and cloud library imports: TextAid plugs into the tools your school already runs.
Blackboard LearnBrightspaceCanvasMoodleitslearningOpen edXILIASLearnosityFeatures
Every tool a learner needs to read, write and study. Text-to-speech, an exam mode, writing assistance, focus reading aids, a personal document library and an offline audio output, all in one literacy support workflow.
Text Read Back reads each letter, word or sentence aloud as the student types.
Spell Check suggests alternatives with a Listen button on each one. Word Prediction learns from the user and offers spoken completions, in the text editor and the browser extension.
Page Mask brightens one horizontal strip of the document while shading the rest.
Reading Ruler shows a horizontal grey bar to anchor the eye on the current line. Both tools have customisable size, colour and transparency for readers who work one line at a time.
Teachers create exam documents and share them with single-login exam accounts.
Schools whitelist only the exam URL so students cannot open other tabs. Accommodations are configured per exam: calculator, print, dictation, spell check, translation, dictionary, writing assistance and the exam timer.
Save any document to a personal library and access it from any browser or device.
Upload PDF, Word, EPUB, PowerPoint, OpenOffice and RTF documents, or scanned images via OCR. Import from Bookshare, Google Drive or OneDrive.
Highlight passages in four colours and collect them as a summary that can be edited, printed or downloaded as PDF, Word or MP3.
Annotate uploaded documents in twenty-two colours with sticky notes and shapes, then print or email with or without annotations.
Select any word or passage to listen to only that section, look it up in the dictionary or on Wikipedia, or perform a web search on Google.
Translate selected text into any licensed language with Google Translate or DeepL, then listen to the translation.
Save an audio version of any text as MP3 to any device or to Dropbox, and access it at any time, even while offline.
Choose the voice and reading speed before download, so the audio matches how the student likes to listen.
Customise TextAid for more comfortable reading.
Choose from five text colours, five background colours, six fonts including OpenDyslexic, six sizes, five line spacings and seven highlighting colours. Settings save to the account and follow the student across devices.
Dictate any text in the text editor: it is written out as you speak with speech-to-text technology, powered by Google Cloud Speech-to-Text.
Available for many languages. Mix typing and dictation, then use Text Read Back to verify each sentence.
Also included
Automatic page flip
TextAid turns the next page on its own when the current page has been read, so the student can stay listening hands-free.
TextAid Bookmarklet
Add a one-click web reading tool to the browser's bookmarks bar to listen to text selected on any web page, with the same highlighting as in TextAid.
Calculator with TTS
Built-in calculator that reads digits, operators and results aloud, available as an exam accommodation.
Print with or without annotations
Print text editor content or document viewer pages, with the option to include or exclude annotations on the print.
Pause between words
Choose between very short, short, medium, long or very long pauses between spoken words, to help understanding and following along.
Reading speed 5 to 200%
Adjust the speaking rate in 5% steps. Slow down complex passages, speed through familiar ones. Settings save to the account.
Audiences
One product that meets the student where they read and write, and the IT lead who rolls it out across the school.
For the student
Everything a student needs to make a school day, a homework session or a revision week feel less heavy.
Reading speed from 5% to 200%, pause between words, and synchronised word and sentence highlighting as the voice reads.
Five text colours, five background colours, six fonts, six sizes and five line spacings, all ergonomically chosen and saved to the student's account.
Dictionary lookup on any word, translation powered by Google Translate or DeepL, web search and Wikipedia lookup, and dictation in the text editor through Google Cloud Speech-to-Text.
Highlighter in four colours with export to PDF, Word or MP3, annotations in twenty-two colours, OCR for scanned images, calculator and print, all from one personal library.
For the school
An admin console built for IT leads, accessibility coordinators and exam officers.
LTI 1.3 for Blackboard, Brightspace, Canvas and Moodle, SSO with Google, Office 365, MOO, Skolon and VIDIS, and automatic account creation. No software to install on student devices.
Hierarchical user groups with sub-groups, coordinator and teacher roles, group owners who share documents, and feature controls activated or deactivated per group.
Usage statistics by user, voice, month or year. Notifications when new users are added through LTI or SSO, and when an exam is handed in.
Data hosted in the EU, USA or Canada by country of account, double-redundant infrastructure, 24/7 surveillance with server monitoring every three seconds, daily backups, and full keyboard accessibility.
Compliance
TextAid meets all Level A and AA success criteria of WCAG 2.2, per the Statement of Accessibility (January 2022, signed by Roy Lindemann, audit on TextAid 4.11.0). The latest VPAT 2.5 Accessibility Conformance Report (August 2025, covering TextAid 4.18.0) documents WCAG 2.0 Level A & AA plus Revised Section 508. Hand the report straight to your accessibility or procurement team.
WCAG 2.2 AA (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
Level A and AA criteria met
VPAT 2.5 (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template)
Public ACR available
Section 508 (Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act)
Covered in VPAT 2.5 ACR
Keyboard accessible (Full keyboard operation)
Full keyboard operation
ISO/IEC 27001:2022 (International Organization for Standardization / International Electrotechnical Commission)
Information security certified
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
EU privacy compliant
Keyboard accessible, with partial support on rare elements per the VPAT 2.5 ACR.
United Kingdom
ReadSpeaker's UK education team supports learners from secondary all the way to higher education. TextAid is listed on the BESA LendED procurement catalogue, used by UK schools and colleges to trial vetted edtech before they buy.
Either SEN support or an EHC plan, DfE statistics, England 2024/25.
Source: UK Department for Education, Special educational needs in England.
See the DfE statisticsUK Edtech procurement catalogue.
The British Educational Suppliers Association programme that lets UK schools and colleges trial vetted edtech before they buy.
Pricing
TextAid is sold two ways: an individual monthly subscription you can start yourself, and an institutional license for schools, colleges and universities. Anyone can start with a free trial — no credit card, nothing to download.
Institutional pricing is quoted per organisation — talk to the ReadSpeaker education team.
From $9 / monthper individual user — cancel or pause at any time
The individual subscription
Institutional licensing depends on
Our education team helps you scope a deployment that fits your learners, your LMS and your accessibility goals.
ReadSpeaker TextAid is a web-based literacy support software that helps learners read, write and study with text-to-speech. It speech-enables documents, web pages, emails, Google Docs and PDFs, with synchronised word and sentence highlighting, writing assistance, an Exam Module and focus reading tools. Available as a browser extension (Chrome, Opera, Edge, Firefox), an LTI 1.3 tool for Blackboard, Brightspace, Canvas and Moodle, and a standalone web app at textaid.readspeaker.com.
TextAid reads PDF, Microsoft Word (.doc and .docx), EPUB (epub2), OpenDocument and Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt and .pptx). Scanned documents and images are converted via the built-in OCR feature. Files can be uploaded from the device, from Google Drive, OneDrive or a Bookshare account, up to 160 MB per file and 100 uploads per user per month by default.
TextAid reads in 20+ languages, with multiple voices available per language, including American, Australian, British and Indian English. The default licence includes 5 voices, expandable on request. Translation between licensed languages is powered by Google Translate or DeepL, then the translation can be listened to with the matching voice.
Yes. TextAid includes a dedicated Exam Module that gives approved learners reading and writing accommodations under controlled conditions. Teachers and coordinators create exam documents and share them with single-login exam accounts. Schools can whitelist only the exam URL so learners cannot open other tabs or their personal TextAid account. Allowed accommodations are configured per exam: calculator, print, dictation, spell check, translation, dictionary, writing assistance and the exam timer.
TextAid is widely used as a literacy support tool for learners with dyslexia, ADHD and other reading differences. The product includes Page Mask and Reading Ruler to focus on one line at a time, six fonts, five text colours, five background colours, six text sizes and five line spacings, an ergonomically determined set of reading settings. As Jenny Cromey, Special Educational Needs (SEN) Coordinator at Stafford Prep School, puts it: "ReadSpeaker TextAid just takes that load away from them so they are actually able to show the teacher what they are capable of." Read the Stafford Grammar School case study.
TextAid is an LTI 1.3 tool compatible with Blackboard Learn, Brightspace, Canvas and Moodle. Once added at the course or institution level, learners launch TextAid with a single click from inside the LMS. Accounts can be created automatically through LTI (v1.1 or v1.3) or single sign-on. Supported SSO providers: Google SSO, Office 365, MOO, Skolon and VIDIS.
TextAid satisfies all Level A and AA success criteria of WCAG 2.2 and is conformant with Revised Section 508. The official Statement of Accessibility (signed by Roy Lindemann, Director ReadSpeaker) and the VPAT 2.5 Accessibility Conformance Report are publicly available. Download the WCAG Compliance Statement · Download the VPAT 2.5 ACR.
TextAid is web-based and works on any modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari) on laptops, desktops and Chromebooks. On touchscreen mobile devices and tablets, the core reading experience works, but a few features that require mouse selection (Highlighter, Dictation, Web search, Dictionary, Zoom in document viewer) are not available. The browser extension itself is not supported on mobile devices.
TextAid is listed on the BESA LendED catalogue, the British Educational Suppliers Association programme that lets UK schools and colleges trial vetted edtech before they buy. UK higher education students with a learning difficulty can apply for a Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) to fund assistive technology identified during their DSA needs assessment.
Anyone can start a free trial of TextAid at /products/textaid/signup/. Schools and universities should contact the ReadSpeaker education team for a tailored licence (per-user or institution-wide) that includes the Exam Module, the admin console, LTI 1.3 deployment and the SSO providers your stack already uses.
