Using BrowseAloud speech software on the V&A website
All our websites are speech-enabled using a free software download called BrowseAloud. By following simple instructions, you can install BrowseAloud on to your computer and have this site (and others that are speech enabled, such as the BBC, Google and many local authority sites) read aloud to you.
Visit the BrowseAloud website to download the latest version
Why we have speech enabled our site
The V&A is committed to making all our websites accessible to as many people as possible. By speech enabling our sites, we can extend our content to people who find it hard to read online, such as those who have limited English proficiency, mild visual impairment, whose primary language is not English or those with Dyslexia or a similar learning disability. It is not designed to replace other screen readers.
How BrowseAloud works and how to download it
BrowseAloud works by installing software on to your computer. It is free to website users with the cost of the software being covered by the website owner. It is a Windows application designed for use on a PC or Mac.
For BrowseAloud to work on a computer running Windows it will need the following:
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Operating Systems: Windows 7, Vista or XP
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Recommended Browsers: Internet Explorer 6, 7 or 8 or Firefox 3.6
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Adobe Reader 9 0r 10 and Microsoft Word 2002 or 2003
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Pentium 350MHz + upwards Processor
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Good quality sound card and speakers
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256 MB RAM (512MB recommended)
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20 MB Free Disk Space
View the BrowseAloud PC user guide for computers running Windows
For BrowseAloud to work on your Mac it will need the following:
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Operating System X 10.3.9 or later
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256 Mb RAM (512 Mb is preferable)
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Compatibility with Power PC or Intel processor
View the BrowseAloud Mac user guide
Creating MP3s with BrowseAloud
BrowseAloud allows you to save text as an MP3. The advantage of transferring text onto a portable player is that you can then listen to it on the move.
Reading PDFs with BrowseAloud
If you have Adobe Reader version 6.0 upwards, BrowseAloud will also read PDF documents to you.
A gift in your will
You may not have thought of including a gift to a museum in your will, but the V&A is a charity and legacies form an important source of funding for our work. It is not just the great collectors and the wealthy who leave legacies to the V&A. Legacies of all sizes, large and small, make a real difference to what we can do and your support can help ensure that future generations enjoy the V&A as much as you have.
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Ceramic Speech Bubble Notepad
This ceramic speech bubble notepad is the fun and funky way to leave yourself or others messages.
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