ConnSENSE Review: TextHELP Gold Version 6

Read & Write Gold for Mac

Texthelp Systems, Inc.
545 Bolyston Street, 3rd Floor
Boston, MA 02116
888-248-0652

E-mail: u.s.info@texthelp.com

System Requirements:
OS 10.2.8 or later
Read & Write Gold for MAC can be purchased for single users at $645; contact company for multiple license costs.

Reviewed by Margaret Kardos OTR/L, ATP; muncie@connsensebulletin.com

Rating: A

I am using Read and Write Gold for Mac to write this review of this dynamic and innovative program. For those of you who may not be familiar with Texthelp products please see reviews posted previously on our website at www.connsensebulletin.com/texthelpg.html and www.connsensebulletin.com/textmac.html. This new version of Read and Write Gold for Mac enables students who may need assistance in reading and writing to succeed in accessing a variety of curriculum materials. The program works alongside word processing, spreadsheets, data bases and Internet and email.

As a word processing program R&WG has a number of features that make text development more student friendly, contributing to the likelihood of a successful experience. The program has spell check, word prediction, homophone assistance, a talking dictionary and a voice output read back capability that is a screen reader as well. The screen reader feature can provide auditory support to students who may not be able to recognize the names of the icons on the toolbar. The word prediction program sits to the right of the screen in a fixed placement; the homophone feature displays it's text there also. The homophone feature, when activated, highlights all of the homophones in a document in blue; to see alternate spellings of the homophone, you simply highlight the word and choices appear to the right. Both features can be turned off if students find them distracting or if the writing task calls for it.

It is easy to transfer text from another word processing application into R&WG for editing. Once complete, the text can be easily returned to the original program for printing, ensuring that all students’ finished products look exactly the same. The program has a built in dictionary feature that is easy to access; it can be set up to give a full range of definitions or only those that may be applicable to the text such as the noun or adjective definition only. The read back feature reads the definition when desired supporting learners with reading difficulties.

Fact Finder is a convenient feature that allows a student to highlight a topic and to access additional information via an Internet search engine without having to leave the R&WG program. This feature is just too good to be true as it eliminates having kids get off track trying to close out of a program, remember what they are wanting to look up, and then going onto the Internet to initiate a search. It also cuts down on the "random browsing" that kids manage to engage in when going on the web.

The reading capabilities of R&WG are comprehensive; the program can read both scanned and original PDF and HTML files. The text can be highlighted in a choice of colors as it is read back. When used with a scanner, text can be scanned into PDF, HTML, RTF or directly into R&WG. The program has a Daisy reader making it possible for Daisy books to be read aloud. Safari Reader enables web pages to be read aloud simply by rolling the mouse over it. Speech Maker further extends the utility of the program by having the capability to convert any text into a sound file such as MP3 or AIFF. With that capability, students can make and take a recording of text to support their reading in any environment, eliminating the inconvenience of only being able to "read" at the computer.

The program comes with a CD that has a great tutorial. The tutorial can be accessed by topic and feature using the handy tabs that are easy to use and clearly labeled. You can also access the help feature built into the program itself if you need assistance when working directly in the program.

The synthesized speech has that synthesized speech quality; there is, however, the capability to adjust the pitch and speed of all of the voices and the user should really try out the settings to try and get the best results possible. Making these adjustments really made a difference in making the voice more natural sounding. Overall, this is an excellent piece of software designed to provide support to students who struggle with reading and writing.

Grade: A.