Many of our databases and e-book platforms conform to accessibility standards. For read aloud functionality, most e-books can be read aloud with a screen reader or by utilizing tools within the database itself. Specific accessibility tools and tips are listed below.

Read Aloud in the Database

Some of the library's databases allow you to read articles aloud within the platform itself. To locate this tool, you must first click on the HTML article in your results list. Then, find the audio player or Listen link on the toolbar. Examples of read aloud buttons from EBSCO and NewsBank are below.

Read Aloud with Screen Readers and Text-to-Speech

Read and Write Gold is available to Evergreen students, faculty, and staff through the Assistive Technology webpage. You will find a variety of other assistive technology through the AT Lab like magnification, Speech-to-Text, and CCTV.

There are also some free text-to-speech readers available online, like:

Immersive Reader for Microsoft programs and Edge browser: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/educator-center/product-guides/immersive-reader/

TTS Reader: ttsreader.com

Natural Reader: naturalreaders.com

Closed Captions

All our platforms (except Movie Discovery) have closed captioning available. Look for the CC button or menu on the bottom-right of the video player to turn captions on or off. We recommend you turn on captions for all films screened in the classroom.

Full Transcripts

Academic Video Online, Films on Demand, and Kanopy all have full transcripts available for all films. You can search, translate, or download the transcripts as well.

Audio Description

Check out the Audio-Described Films on Academic Video Online (AVON). We can also request that other films available through Academic Video Online be audio-described. Reach out to the Electronic Resources Librarian for more information.

The Evergreen Library has some audiobooks on CD available through our library catalog. We do not currently offer online audiobooks through the library. For full-length online audiobooks, check out the links below or visit your local public library. Timberland Regional Library in Olympia and Tacoma Public Library both have audiobooks available.