Recite Me user guide

From the section: Accessibility statement for www.solihull.gov.uk

In this section:

Recite Me user guide

The Recite Me accessibility and language toolbar lets you use our website in a way that works best for you. 

How Recite Me can help you use our website 

The Recite Me toolbar has a range of different options to allow you to customise how our website looks and how you interact with it. You can use it to: 

  • read text aloud (including PDFs and other documents) 
  • change font size, style and colour  
  • translate text into more than 100 languages  
  • change the background colour 
  • focus on a section of the webpage using screen masks 
  • download text as an MP3 file to listen to when it suits you 
  • access a dictionary and thesaurus  

How to access the Recite Me toolbar 

You can open the Recite Me toolbar by selecting the accessibility button in the bottom right corner of every page on the website. 

Button with accessibility icon and wording

The toolbar will automatically turn on text to speech. If you don’t want this, select the green ‘text to speech’ button and untick ‘text to speech (on/off)’. 

You can turn off the toolbar anytime by selecting ‘X’.

How to use Recite Me’s features 

Find out how to use each of Recite Me’s features. 

Text to speech

This feature lets you listen to our website to help your reading experience. 

  • Text to speech: turn ‘text to speech’ on or off, choose between a male and female voice, and adjust the reading speed  
  • Rewind: go back to the previous paragraph of text 
  • Back: go back to the start of the sentence 
  • Play: read the text aloud 
  • Forward: skip forward to the end of the sentence 
  • Fast forward: skip forward to the next paragraph of text 
Recite Me toolbar icons: text to speech, rewind, back, play, forward, fast forward

 

Text options 

These buttons let you change the text on the page. 

  • Decrease: make the text smaller 
  • Font (Aa): change the font of the text 
  • Focus text (FT): emphasise the most important part of the words to improve reading experience  
  • Increase: make the text bigger 
  • Translation: translate the text into a different language 
Recite Me toolbar icons: decrease font, font type, focus text, increase font, translation

 

Page appearance 

Use these buttons to change the way our website looks. 

  • Colour wheel: change the colour of the background, text and links  
  • Ruler: enable the reading ruler to help you follow the text 
  • Cursor: change the size and colour of the cursor  
  • Screen mask: focus on the section you’re reading by blocking out the rest of the page 
  • Page options: choose to hide images and videos, view image descriptions, and turn on text-only mode 
  • Page structure: see an overview of the webpage’s layout including headings and links to allow you to jump to certain sections 
Recite Me toolbar icons: colour wheel, ruler, cursor, screen mask, page options, page structure

 

Dictionary and audio tools 

You can use these buttons to help you understand the text. 

  • Dictionary: highlight a word to view the definition 
  • Download audio: highlight the text to download as an audio file 
Recite Me toolbar icons: dictionary and download audio

 

Settings 

Change the settings of the toolbar and view the user guide. 

Recite Me toolbar icons: user guide and reset

 

Frequently asked questions 

Find the answers to some of the most common questions. 

Do I need to download anything to enable Recite Me?

No, you do not need to install anything on your device. Unless you clear your history, the toolbar will open each time you visit our website.

How do I disable text to speech?

To disable text to speech, click the green ‘text to speech’ button. This will give you a list of options. Untick the first option ‘text to speech (on/off)’.

Does Recite Me work on different devices?

Yes. Recite Me works on lots of devices and operating systems including Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, and Windows. 

Can I save my settings?

Yes. The Recite Me toolbar uses cookies to save user settings. 

How do I change the language?

To change the language of our website, open the Recite Me toolbar and select the button marked ‘translation’. This will produce a drop-down list of all the languages Recite Me offers. Select the language you want from the list, and the site will use your chosen language. 

How do I turn off the toolbar?

To turn off and close the toolbar, click the 'X' on the right of the toolbar.