Read Aloud from Microsoft Helped me with my Training and Career Progression. Use it!

At Microsoft our learning culture is an asset. Our leadership encourage us to learn, to seek out understanding and improve our personal capability. It’s these investments that make me proud to work at Microsoft. But while I am proud to be given this opportunity it’s one that always fills me with dread. At Microsoft we use varied learning content, written, video and knowledge tests all aimed at making the learning easier and interesting. But I am dyslexic and no matter how easy it may seem, the thought of reading and consuming a lot of information in a short space of time fills me with dread. I get the same instant reaction as I did sat in the class room at 14 knowing it will take me longer than everyone to get through, knowing that no one will understanding my handwriting and I will spell everything wrong, which often resulted in embarrassing moments. The world of Tech has helped me considerably, from my first computer at Uni (showing my age!) and the ability to record my lectures to consume at my pace, knowing that I learn differently. While I acknowledge my reaction, it doesn’t go away.

Recently @Hector Minto our accessibility tech evangelist introduced me to Microsoft Read Aloud, across Edge, Word, Outlook, OneNote and more. I didn’t immediately see how it fitted in to my daily routine but I knew I should keep an eye on it. Then, we were assigned our company wide ‘Technical Skills’ training to bolster our knowledge. I took one look at it and thought, “Wow, that’s a lot of information to take in.” So I gave Read Aloud a go and suddenly found a weight had been lifted, I could just listen, watch the videos, the added overhead of reading as a dyslexic was taken away and it saved me a load of time. I am not afraid to say I had to find the right ‘voice’ for me (sorry Hazel but I prefer George), and after some set up I found myself multi-tasking (preparing dinner and listening) which again was a gift not to be stuck at a machine reading (at my pace). Read Aloud made my training routinely more inclusive, allowing me to learn in a ways that suits me. Dyslexic or not, I would recommend this very powerful text-to-speech capability. Give your eyes a rest, reduce screen time and enjoy the time you get back. 

In fact, if you’re reading this in Edge, just right click and choose it now. Perhaps I should have put that at the start? 😃

I AM MADE BY DYSLEXIA- THINK DIFFERENTLY

http://madebydyslexia.org