Overview:

• Talking Pointer, or Hover Speech, is a software that allows you to hear text spoken aloud by hovering over a sentence with your mouse (Texthelp Ltd., 2016).

• Talking Pointer software needs to be installed or downloaded on your device (ex. Laptop, tablet) and can be turned on and off as needed.

• A Talking Pointer can be helpful for weak readers, allowing them to quickly search for an important point in a document or have text audibly presented to them (Learning & Leading with Technology, 2004; Premier Literacy, 2012).

To see Talking Pointers in action, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-vIdDpJnJk

Research:

Due to pairing with TTS and lack of peer reviewed research, Talking Pointers have not been independently studied. However, TTS as a whole is a reliable and well validated technology.

Research Quick Facts

Advantages

• Effective in circumventing problems for students with learning disabilities affecting reading

• Can be used by individuals with any level of vision or visual impairment

• Can assist writers in editing and proofreading texts

• Can be used to translate text into different languages

Disadvantages

• May not highlight the text as it is being read; bimodal reading ability (Montali & Lewandowski, 1996)

To Consider

• Choose the correct text-to-speech voice to aid in improved comprehension (Cunningham, 2011)

• Choosing the correct delay time is important, especially if the pointer does not highlight the text as it is reading. The user does not want the tech to begin reading every time their cursor becomes momentarily idle, however they also don't want to wait unnecessarily long wait times for the cursor to begin reading.

For more information about Text-to-Speech technologies, check out our TTS page.

Insights from Practice

Talking pointer is helpful for browsing through a text, especially an unfamiliar text structure. One can listen to each header or the beginning of each paragraph to help navigate the document.