A big part of accessibility is comfort. Catering to the needs of users with impairments and accessibility needs is not a business of simply providing the bare minimum in order to get the job done.

Speech synthesis apps for voice recognition are becoming must-haves in the mobile phone market. Products that use the same sort of technology can be applied for visual disability solutions as well, and they require the same amount of customizable content as the general consumer public. Tools as unique as we are that make life simple: this is standard today.

Infovox4, the newest version of a speech synthesis program, exists to provide visually impaired users with the same high standard of customization and ease of use with its toolbox of a package now available for Windows 8 PCs.

The program uses Acapella speech synthesis to transform written text on multiple platforms into spoken word in real time. The personalized experience comes in the form of 62 different voices, spread over 26 available languages from which the Infovox4 user can choose. Not happy with the tone of Tyler (the new Australian English voice)? Feel free to select from one of his many peers.

Infovox4 also comes packaged with a suite of compatible products. Users can fine-tune the pronunciation of certain words, manage and download different voices, create and listen to personal MP3s, as well as use the NVDA Screen Reader.

This is a nice service to have on your own computer, but many, if not most, PCs on the move are not equipped with a local installation of this sort of software. The solution: all of this is portable. Infovox4 is contained on a USB key so that the service can be available on foreign computers. Up to three computers may have local installations, however, which won’t require USB connectivity, and which can be transferred, settings and all, to other computers using the included key.