ChromeVox is a Chrome extension used to hear the web content via screen reader to experience the power of web applications in your Chrome browser. You can use this screen reader Chrome extension when your eyes are tired of viewing the monitor and you wish to listen to the browser content.
ChromeVox screen reader extension is mainly designed for visually impaired web users to bring speed, versatility and security to Chrome and to provide rich desktop-like experience. It offers simple and powerful navigation and allows you to listen to the web contents by quickly receiving sound feedback by keeping your eyes free. It offers you multiple keyboard shortcuts and at the same time it provides you fully customizable keyboard map to access and go through the web contents without touching your mouse.
How to Hear The Web Using Screen Reader?
ChromeVox provides a screen reader that can be grabbed from the link provided to you at the end of this article. From there you need to click on “Add To Chrome” and the extension gets downloaded and installed in your Chrome browser and you are set to use this ultimate screen reader.
You will notice as soon as ChromeVox gets installed in your Chrome browser it reflects an orange color box and the sound feedback begins. You just need to hover your mouse over the text and simply click it once and it automatically forms an orange box and covers up the text with in the box. Soon after that it begins to read the contents of the webpage and the voice in which it reads out the content is robotic. It reads out all that you access on your web browser.
You can simply select the entire content and take rest and listen to the contents until the audio feedback is over. ChromeVox can be used in your Chrome browser to read out certain articles and not only that it works for buttons, headlines, ads and other elements and read out them as well. This screen reader extension offers you a fully customizable keyboard map in order to access and navigate the various web contents even without using your mouse.
ChromeVox provides you options to customize the keyboard map and assign short keys according to your choice. It provides you various options to navigate and access the web content according to your preferences. It allows you to increase or decrease the rate of speech and allows you to change the “keyboard shortcut” option as it provides you three options that can be preferred according to your choice.
You can customize and view the entire keyboard map simply by clicking on the “wrench” icon present on the topmost right corner of your browser window. From there you need to click on the “Settings”, then “Extension”, and then choose “Options” against the ChromeVox’s entry.
ChromeVox offers you multiple number of options that involves “Modifier Keys”, “Controlling Speech”, “ChromeVox Navigation”, “Overview”, “Jump Commands” and much more, you can easily customize them all and set your own preferences.
You may also like NaturalReader, Balabolka, SpeakIt! and From Text To Speech reviewed earlier by us.
Features of ChromeVox:
- Hear the web contents via screen reader with sound feedback
- Offers simple and powerful navigation
- Designed for visually impaired web users
- Provide rich desktop-like experience
- Offers you multiple keyboard shortcuts
- Provides you fully customizable keyboard map
- Lets you assign Short-keys.
My Verdict For ChromeVox:
ChromeVox is an impressive gift for visually impaired users as it reads out the web content according to their priorities but there are some issues with the pronunciation feature of this add-on. Sometimes it does not pronounce the names properly and same issue was with mine as well. For normal users it may be a bit annoying and frustrating because the robotic voice is unbearable. Moreover, it should provide a switch button to enable/disable the sound as I was not able to stand its voice all the time when I am doing some other work on my desktop.
