Transition from Kurzweil 3000 to Read&Write: Feature guide

• Overview
• Feature comparisons
• Feature changes in Read&Write
• New features for Read&Write
• Additional resources

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Overview

This guide is intended for Kurzweil 3000 users who are transitioning to Read&Write. You will learn about comparable features in Read&Write, as well as new features and feature changes in Read&Write.

Feature comparisons

Not every feature from Kurzweil 3000 is available in Read&Write. The following table matches features in Kurzweil 3000 with their equivalents in Read&Write. If a tool you used in Kurzweil 3000 isn't listed here, contact your campus Support Center for additional information.

Feature changes in Read &Write

This section covers changes, including new functionality and functionality that has been removed, in Read&Write's feature set.

PDF Reader

• Reads PDFs that have underlying text immediately, without having to process first (Kurzweil 3000 requires all PDFs to be processed first)
• Image-only PDFs must be processed with the Scan feature first
• Has a "Click to Speak" option that lets you click on a word in your PDF to make the reader begin reading from that point in the document

Scan

• Gain the ability to process files in GIF, PCX, DCX, and JPEG format
• Gain the ability to save the processed files as an ePub (Windows only)
• No ability to insert scanned pages into an existing document

Audio Maker

• You will have to copy/paste text from documents or type text into this feature
• Gain the ability to preview the audio playback of the text
• Lose the option of picking a page range to convert into an audio file
• Lose WAV and DAISY2 audio format options
• Lose the option for adding to iTunes and Windows Media Player from the feature
• Lose options for audio quality

Read the Web

• No login needed for the browser extension
• No reading panel in the browser window; controls are accessed from the Read&Write toolbar
• Gain the ability to use highlighters with web content

Screenshot Reader

• Offers three output options vs one from Kurzweil 3000
  • Window: Creates a box over the text area with limited controls for playback (play, pause and stop); only plays back from beginning of text (you can't pick a location to start reading from with this option)
  • Microsoft Word: Transfers the text to a new Word document, with an additional option to add the text to an open Word document
  • Text Reader: Closest to the output option in Kurzweil 3000, as it opens in a new window and plays back the text
• Offers three options for selecting text to capture (versus only one in Kurzweil 3000)
  • Rectangle: As in Kurzweil 3000, you can draw a box around the content you want read on the screen
  • Freehand: For text that isn't linear (wraps around an image) and can't be captured in a single box, this option lets you draw around the text you want read
  • Hover: Captures the whole screen and reads back the text; make sure your document window is maximized when using this option

Dictionary

• Gain additional dictionary entries for the medical, engineering, and legal professions (Windows only)

Prediction

• Gain the ability to use word prediction across all applications as you type and read with Read&Write
• Lose visual highlighting of words that are homophones

Highlighters

• Gain the ability to highlight (and extract) content on web pages, and in PDFs and Word documents
• Gain the option of multiple formats for extracted highlights, including Harvard, APA, Chicago, and MLA (Windows only)
• Extracted highlights open in a new Word document
• Lose two colors of highlighters (orange and gray)
• Lose the outline style option from Kurzweil 3000

Voice Notes (Windows only)

• Maximum length of voice notes increases from two to five minutes
• You can insert voice notes into Word documents
• Gain the ability to save voice notes as MP3 files

Universal Library replacement

• To replace the cloud storage option built into Kurzweil 3000, use either your Microsoft OneDrive at IU or Google at IU My Drive.

Speech Highlighting Settings - Speak using one word display

• A series of settings in Read&Write that achieve functionality similar to that of Magnify Spoken Word in Kurzweil 3000
• Lose the ability to change the location where the enlarged text appears on the screen
• Lose the ability to resize the box in which the enlarged text appears on the screen

New features for Read&Write

Read&Write adds some features that weren't in Kurzweil 3000:

• Check It: Checks spelling, grammar, and frequently confused words as you type
• Verb Checker (macOS): Walks you through the process of verifying whether a chosen verb is using the correct tense
• Research Folder (macOS): Used to collect information from a wide range of resources, along with references
• Screen Masking: Reduces visual distractions and increases focus
• Talk&Type (Windows): Use speech recognition (speech-to-text) in Word and other applications
• Vocabulary List: Create custom word lists
• PDF Reader for Chrome: Read and highlight PDFs in Chrome
• Read&Write for Google Chrome: Provides access to Read&Write features for Google and apps
• ePub Reader: Chrome app for reading ePubs with Read&Write

Additional resources

For video tutorials and demonstrations, see TextHelp Video Tours.