Reviewer:
Laura Langlois, Special Education Teacher, AT Specialist
llanglois@eastonps.org
Easton, Redding and Regional District #9, Connecticut

Texthelp Systems, Inc.
Boston, MA
Phone: 888-248-0652
http://www.Texthelp.com

Price: $645
School License $4,495
System Requirements: Windows Computer with Pentium 350
256 MBs of RAM
400 MBs of available disk space for the application
MS WINDOWS 98 SE, 2000, ME, NT & XP
Sound card, Good quality speakers
Scanner (optional), Microphone (optional)

Rating: A+

In between all the much needed, typical summer relaxation activities I had the pleasure of exploring the most recent edition of Read and Write Gold 7.1E by Texthelp Systems, Inc  For those of you who appreciate an all-in-one program this is well worth a look.  As with the other Windows editions of Read and Write my favorite feature is its transparency.  When opened it presents itself as an added tool bar to any text based program that is selected, (i.e., Word, WordPad, Inspiration, email, etc.).  This is a strong preference and a draw for the middle and high school age users. 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Read and Write Gold, it is a literacy support program that can be used in combination with other text-based programs to support students who have learning disabilities and cognitive challenges with reading and writing tasks.  It provides text-to-speech, word prediction, vocabulary, spelling and editing, translation and computation support, which can be accessed through a single tool bar.  Read and Write Gold provides the added support feature of scanning and voice recognition.  The newest edition to the Read and Write Gold family offers not only added features but also notable accuracy and quality performance improvements on the carried over features on the original. 

The following is a summary of what is now available to the Texthelp Read and Write Gold users. The spell check feature is especially useful for the individual who benefits from a multisensory approach to spelling.  When misspelled words are presented in the dialogue box the word is read out loud and dragging the arrow over each word can access a brief description of the word.  As Read and Write is used an error log for spelling is maintained for future access allowing for better spell checking. Advanced spelling options offer the user many spelling supports including phonemic cues. The homophone icon on the tool bar also helps support users who struggle with spelling.  It allows the user to choose to have all homophones identified with color-coding and it provides a description of each of the identified homophones.  Again, using the text to speech option if needed, an individual can run over the identified homophone with the cursor and determine which word he/she intended to use.

As the reader is likely aware, word prediction allows the user to decrease the number of keystrokes needed to get the most text output.  It does not necessarily increase keyboarding rates but for those individuals who struggle with the motor aspects of keyboarding, it can be a lifesaver.  The selection of a desired word can be completed with the F-keys or with the mouse.  An added feature with Read and Write 7,1 word prediction are the use of homophones.  A user could type fone for phone and word prediction would provide both ph and f words in the word prediction box.  When a homophone is used, running the arrow over each word can access descriptions of the varied meanings. 

Read and Write Gold continues to offer powerful and abundant dictionary options.  It can be accessed in all windows applications and again definitions can be read aloud.  Expanded components of and alternative word definitions can be accessed through multiple dictionaries.  It also provides the user with grammatical information such as parts of speech. 

Texthelp Systems added a translation module to Read and Write Gold in April of 2005. This feature is available on the tool bar and translates English words into Spanish when selected.  The company is planning to add more languages in the future. This accounts for the "E" for ELL in 7.1E.

The scanning feature offered in Read and Write Gold 7.1E is outstanding.  I only had an opportunity to scan single pages at a time but results were quick and highly accurate.  It provides an option for grayscale, color and monochrome scanning in one program.  Those of you who are used to other scan and read programs where it is necessary to purchase black/white and color scanning programs separately will find this all-in-one feature convenient and cost effective.  Text can be easily scanned and saved as a Word document, HTML or a PDF file.  Multi-page scanning is a choice with or without a prompt needed for the next page to scan. 

How often do students find information on the Internet or in a document on the computer and fail to note where they located it? Often they struggle to locate it for later reference.  Read and Write Gold provides a tool to help store and locate information in a logical and organized fashion. Research and bibliographical information can be stored in the fact folder for future access. The categorization feature helps to organize the information collected into logical groups.  Fact finder is a powerful Internet research tool where found information can be saved and easily accessed into the fact folder.  

An additional feature available in Read and Write Gold 7.1E is Voice Recognition, where a user can input text via voice.  After an approximate 20-minute voice-training mode, I was able to begin speaking text with good accuracy.  Given the limited time devoted to this feature to date, I was impressed with its productivity and ease of use. 

A final feature available on the Read and Write tool bar is both a standard and a scientific calculator which, like the rest of the program is speech supported.  It also offers measurement conversions. 

In sum, Text Help, Read and Write Gold 7.1E are an outstanding addition to your tech library.  Its powerful supports for both reading and writing can be helpful to all students.  Its transparent appearance makes it acceptable to use for even the most self-conscious middle or high school student.  It should also be noted that the tech support staff at Texthelp is an additional bonus to this program.  Although the program is truly easy to use, initial set up required some minimal support.  The tech team at Texthelp was easy to access, responsive, knowledgeable, and friendly.  I highly recommend that school district technology teams take a look at this new version of Read and Write Gold and strongly consider having it as part of their technology libraries.

*Note: Texthelp anticipates having an updated version of Read and Write for Mac shipping by November, 2005.