Read Aloud Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

netTrekker's Read Aloud FAQs are designed to help you find answers to many of your questions.
If not, please use the Contact Us link that is found in the My Tools box at the right of every netTrekker page.

Q. Why does it take a long time to hear the text?

A. This is usually due to:

1. Trying to listen to too long a passage.
Select smaller amounts of text. If you receive the message, "You have selected a large amount of text," break down your request into smaller segments.

2. Limited bandwidth at the school or facility.
This may be due to too many users at your school using the same connection. Consider selecting smaller passages of text, or suggest limiting usage to ELL/special needs students.

3. High usage of the service
This will be alleviated over time as usage evens out.

Q. Why do I get the "Read Aloud Not Allowed Here" message?

A. This happens when the user tries to view a page that is not directly associated with netTrekker. This happens if you click on a link from a site you have been directed to by netTrekker and that link goes to a new site, instead of to another page within the original site. Use your browser's "Back" button to view the previous page or pages. Once you return to a netTrekker link, you will see "Highlight Text to Begin" in the status bar again and you can continue to use Read Aloud at that point.

Q. Why doesn't my favorite site work with Read Aloud? Why do I sometimes find broken links or images on Read Aloud enabled sites?

A. Although we strive to integrate Read Aloud with all of netTrekker's content, many resources include specialized types of content, e.g. flash, PDF or Word documents, which the Read Aloud feature cannot transmit. In these cases, we do our best to Read Aloud-enable as much of the content on the page as possible. Please use the Contact Us link that is found in the My Tools box at the right of every netTrekker page to tell us about pages on which you encounter problems.

Q. What systems are supported by Read Aloud?

A. Read Aloud is tested on the following systems:
* Windows OS: XP and Vista
* Apple Mcintosh OS: OS X 10.2 and above
* Browser: IE6 and above, Mozilla Firefox 1.5 and above Mac/Win, Safari 2.0+ Mac/Win
* Media Player: Quicktime 6+ Mac/Win, or Windows Media Player(IE)
Read Aloud may work in older versions of browsers listed, or on other browsers that are not listed, but these have not been verified.

Additional Troubleshooting Tips
  • In order for Read Aloud to work properly when linking to a netTrekker website from resource outside of netTrekker, you have to have netTrekker opened with Read Aloud activated.
  • You may have an "accelerator" toolbar associated with your browser. You may want to check to see if this is the case and remove it to see if it is preventing you from accessing the Read Aloud function.
  • All the speakers at the computers in question may not be turned on.
  • Your system may be blocking .wav files.
  • If you use a Mac computer, the Quick Time preferences need to be set to "play automatically" for Read Aloud to work. To enable Read Aloud with Firefox, we recommend that the user install Apple Quicktime.