Listen to course literature and texts
If you find reading and writing difficult, you could benefit from audio versions of your course literature, articles and compendiums or accessing them in another way.
Your course literature can be made available as a talking book, e-text or in braille. You also have access to the Tortalk speech synthesis software that can help you with reading articles, compendiums, websites and other digital texts.
Talking books and braille
If you have reading difficulties, you can download talking books free of charge from the Swedish Agency for Accessible Media (MTM). This may also apply even if you do not have a learning support decision. Contact SLU's librarians to find out what applies for you.
You are welcome to contact the SLU librarians to help you find, order, download or listen to talking books and get started with the service. Once you have an account you can download talking books from Legimus.
As soon as the reading list for your course is available, it is a good idea to find out which books are already available in recorded format, and what you need to order. It takes around 6-10 weeks to create a talking book, so it is important that you order in good time. The library will help you order new versions of talking books. Literature in braille (only available for Swedish and English) also needs to be ordered from the library.
To be able to listen to talking books, you need reader software:
- For PC, use Easy Reader which is available on the student computers at SLU. You can install the program on your personal computer by contacting IT-Support. You can also download EasyReader from the MTM website.
- If you use a Mac, download ReadHear Mac. For instructions, see the MTM website.
- If you would like to listen to talking books on your mobile and have an account that enables downloading you can also use the Legimus app from MTM. It is available for both Android and iPhone/iPad.
Read articles and compendiums using speech synthesis
You can listen to articles, reports, compendiums and all types of online texts using speech synthesis. If the text is only available in printed form, you must scan or take a picture of it before you can listen to it. You can use SLU's printers/photocopiers for this.
Tortalk
The speech synthesis softwareTortalk reads all the text you highlight on the screen, including PDF files and websites. Choose between different Swedish and English voices. Tortalk is installed on all SLU student computers. If you want to install it on your own computer, download it from SLU’s software share. Log in with your student account. If you need help, contact IT support.
Contact
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Studying with a disability
You are welcome to contact us to ask questions. We can explain how a disability might affect your studies and guide you through the application process.