Read&Write vs. WhiteSmoke

It works very well at home. For exams and homework the text to speech function is really useful. In lessons is good too. The text to speech is more complicated to use because the candidates/ students need a different room. We also need more training on how to use this function.

Incentivized

WhiteSmoke provides a plagiarism checker to aid in data processing with other online databases that may have similar content. WhiteSmoke supports the use of a style checker that includes grammar, punctuation, and other aspects that work together to create a grammar checker.

Incentivized

• Creates vocabulary lists for students that include symbols, definitions, and space to add additional notes or images (a staff favorite)
• Intuitive word prediction that supports spelling, grammar, and reduces the number of keystrokes needed
• Text-to-speech on any digital text using the regular reader or screenshot reader, making almost any content accessible

Incentivized

• Detection and correction of the misspelled word, as well as the correct word but with an incorrect context.
• Its grammar checker will make your writing free of awkward grammar mistakes.
• Your copyeditor will improve the quality and impression of your writing, which will be widely accepted by your writing.
• It also serves as a plagiarism checker.
• It can translate up to 50 languages, etc.

Incentivized

• Setting the speech to text up on different devices that do not have the internet speed to function smoothly or if it is in Exam mode and the user is not constantly using the speech to text mode.
• Grouping the voices on their style such as harsh, clipped or soft would enable to pick their preference quicker rather than going through all of the different countries.

Incentivized

• The WhiteSmoke Windows application is limited to 10,000 characters at a time. That is not 10,000 words. It's 10,000 characters, which means each letter, punctuation mark, and space. However, this problem does not apply to your web-based application.
• No free version.
• Slow customer service.
• The lowest price level only works within the browser.
• Provides some false positives.
• You need internet access to work.
• The translator function uses Google Translate.

Incentivized

I'm just really impressed with the software and the access it gives to learners who are used to coming up against barriers in education. It's a quick-fix for a learner - something they can access usefully and productively with very little training. I also love that learners can access Read&Write on their devices at home - that really is a game changer.

Incentivized

I am giving this an 9. Not a perfect score because working on PDFs is better but not yet as easy as I need for it to be. Working with many students who have executive function challenges, I need a smooth simplistic access method. We are not quite there yet for writing on PDFs. Overall the toolbar on Read&Write is super easy to access and I love that the suite includes several tools on the toolbar providing a solution to many accessibility challenges.

Incentivized

Seems to be available when Internet is working.

Incentivized

Worked quick and easy, except sometimes with adobe

Incentivized

The support team at Texthelp is excellent. They're all super helpful and open to feedback and new ideas. Still, more importantly, they are ultimately fully committed to aligning with us and ensuring they help us provide the best education possible. Furthermore, they're open to new features and always communicate this incredibly well.

Incentivized

It was easy to learn to use

Incentivized

It took a solid 2 weeks for R&W to work on our students chromebooks even after reaching out to tech support. The toolbar was greyed out and not accessible to students. Took a long time before tech support helped us solve this problem.

Incentivized

We still utilize Microsoft Immersive Reader as our Tier2 / UDL support tool. However, the word prediction is barely functional and there are confusing limitations to when certain tools are available (the picture dictionary is available in Word Online but not in Edge). We still utilize the Windows-based speech-to-text (windows+h) because it is available natively in Windows even in desktop applications other than a web browser. It is good for people to know one tool that works everywhere. However, Read&Write offers the most complete set of ELA support features all in one place, without burdening the user with extra software or a confusing interface.

Incentivized

I highly appreciate the software for its awesome features for writing perfection. Here one can easily find the writing accurately in a short time. [The] translator function of [the] software is just awesome to use. And the features of the software [are] perfect to find grammatical mistakes, [the] pronunciation of the writing. Overall the software is just cool to me[.]

Incentivized

The pricing is reasonable. A lower tier with just screen reading and basic functions would be nice, but not a deal-breaker.

Incentivized

The product can be used on as many devices at once as needed

Incentivized

• Improved access to text: Text to speech was used 66,000 times this school year.
• Increased student written responses: Word prediction was used 56,000 times this school year.
• Increased student written responses: Speech to text was used 12,000 times this school year.

Incentivized

• This software offers excellent functionalities, including a spell and grammar checker and a translator. With the ability to correct and translate each word between 55 different languages.

Incentivized