Folha's New Audio Version Available in Portuguese, English and Spanish

11/12/2013 - 09h18

Those who read Folha online now have the option of listening to audio versions of material published on the website. There are also English and Spanish versions available for readers of Folha International.

This new resource is ideal for busy people who prefer to listen to the news while they get on with other tasks. It will also be invaluable to those who suffer from problems with their sight.

The 'Listen to text' icons which now appear above articles have been clicked more than 400,000 times since August, when the installation of the audio versions began. Three out of every ten clicks are for texts written by Folha columnists.

The resource, which has been used in 47 countries and uses 100 different voices, works on any operating system and is also available for handheld devices such as tablets and smartphones.

The retired civil servant Leonor Carneiro Quirino, 71, praised the audio version. She has subscribed to Folha for 40 years.

"I loved it. My sight isn't great, and the audio versions work very well on my computer, helping me keep up to date with the news. The voice is slow, pleasant, without any accent, making the text easy to understand. Congratulations to Folha for this new development."

The lawyer Ana Luiz Alves Lima, 44, started to use the audio version out of curiosity.

"I saw the icon and I wanted to try it out. I still think the pauses in the audio are strange, but it's interesting to listen to the news when I'm doing something in the kitchen, or when I'm driving, for instance."

The program which reads the texts was developed in Sweden by the company Readspeaker, which has been working on it since 1999.

"The company's aim is to provide equal access to all those who need to keep themselves informed," says Roy Lindemann, Readspeaker's co-founder and marketing director. "We're trying to reduce the digital divide, which prevents people who have difficulties with reading from having access to online content."

The voices are generated from the combination of thousands of phrases which were previously recorded by actors. The software searches for the correct pronunciation in a digital dictionary and the spoken text is generated.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

Read the article in the original language

	Reprodução
	Those who read Folha online now have the option of listening to audio versions of material published on the website. There are also English and Spanish versions available