Text to Speech
Providing accommodations for students with special needs is top of mind at Formative. Teachers on a School & District license can provide accommodations to students at the global level, setting up the accommodation once and have it applied for every formative.
Once set up, the Text to Speech accommodation will go into effect whenever a formative is assigned to the student with the accommodation. The student with the accommodation will have access to the Text to Speech play icon on all items* that support the feature, when opening the formative.
*Text to Speech Compatible Items:
Question prompts in all question types, with the exception of:
* Drag and Drop
* Fill In the Blank
* Inline ChoiceAnswer choices for the following question types only:
* Multiple Choice
* Multiple Selection
* True/FalseHints
Text to Speech can pick up and read aloud the following elements:
Text input
Math input (typed in or entered using the in-app math keyboard)
Hyperlink Text
LaTex
Subscripts and Superscripts
Note: Files such as PDF or Image, Video, Emoji, or embedded content are incompatible with Text to Speech.
When creating a formative, teachers will be able to see which items are compatible with Text to Speech in their Preview mode.
🙋🏽 What happens if my formative has items that are incompatible with Text to Speech?
Items that are incompatible with Text to Speech will not have the play icon next to them. These items will require a different method to read aloud such as the teacher recording themselves reading, or an aid reading to the student in real-time.
When assigning a formative to a class that has students with a Text to Speech accommodation, a message will pop-up prompting you to re-check the formative for compatibility with the Text to Speech feature.
Set a global accommodation of Text to Speech
Student Management Page Pathway
Go to your "Classes" tab
Click on the title of the class the student is a member of, to open the "Student Management" page
Click the "eye" icon next to "Accommodations"
Next to the student's name click on the blue highlighted status (this can read "None" or showcase a different accommodation)
In the pop-up window, toggle on the Text to Speech button
Click "Update" to confirm the accommodation
Once the Text to Speech accommodation has been set for a student, the status under "Accommodations" will change to show it:
Student Profile Page Pathway
Go to your "Classes" tab
Click on the title of the class the student is a member of, to open the "Student Management" page
Locate the student and click the carat next to their name, to navigate to the "Student Profile" page
Click on the blue highlighted status next to "Accommodations" at the top of the page (this may read "None" or showcase a different accommodation)
In the pop-up window, toggle-on the Text to Speech button
Click "Update" to confirm the accommodation
Once a Text to Speech accommodation has been set for a student, the status next to "Accommodations" at the top of the page will change to show it.
Set up accommodations in bulk
If you need to set up the same accommodation for multiple students, you can take this action in-bulk:
From your "Student Management" page - check mark the boxes next to all the students you'd like to set up the accommodation for
Choose "Set Accommodations" from the menu at the bottom of the screen
In the pop-up window, toggle-on the Text-to-Speech button
Click "Update" to confirm the accommodation
Once a Text-to-Speech accommodation has been set for the students, the status under "Accommodations" will change to show it.
Note: only setting up accommodations in currently available for bulk action. If you need to change or remove accommodations for students, you will need to do so for each student individually
Remove the accommodation
Student Management Page Pathway
Go to your "Classes" tab
Click on the title of the class the student is a member of, to open the Student Management page
Click on the eye icon next to "Accommodations"
Next to the student's name click on the blue highlighted status (this will now indicate the Text to Speech accommodation)
Un-toggle the Text to Speech button
Click "Update" to save
Student Profile Page Pathway
Go to your "Classes" tab
Click on the title of the class the student is a member of, to open the Student Management page
On the "Student Management" page locate the student and click the carat next to their name, to navigate to the "Student Profile" page
Click on the blue highlighted status next to "Accommodations" at the top of the page (this will now indicate the Text to Speech accommodation)
Un-toggle the Text to Speech button
Click "Update" to save
NOTE:
Accommodations are set globally on the student level. This means that once accommodations have been set for a student, they will apply for that student across the board: on all formatives and in all classes!
If a teacher changes or removes an accommodation from the "Student Management" page or from the "Student Profile" page - it will effect the student's accommodations for all classes and other teachers as well.
FAQ & Troubleshooting
🙋🏽 The student's Global Text to Speech accommodation doesn't apply to my class / subject - What do I do?
If a student has a text to speech accommodation and a teacher assigns a formative to their class, the teacher can remove the text to speech accommodation for that student for that specific formative, without affecting the accommodation on other formatives or classes.
When assigning a formative, if there are any students in your class with accommodations (in general), you will see an indication of the number of students with accommodations next to the "Accommodations" setting.
Remove Text to Speech for students with a global accommodation:
Click the carat next to "Accommodations" to reveal the list of students and their accommodations (if applicable)
Click the blue-highlighted accommodation status next to a student's name
Toggle off the Text to Speech button
Click "Update" to save the changes for this specific formative
🙋🏽♀️ I want to give a Time Limit Extension on my formative to students without the Global accommodation, can I do that?
Yes! Teachers can grant a one-time, formative-specific Text-to-Speech access to students even if they do not have a global accommodation set on their accounts.
When you access the assign settings window, you will see the number of students with accommodations (in general) next to the "Accommodations" setting. Click on the carat to reveal the list of students in your class. Students that have the global accommodation will be listed there along with their specific accommodations. You can add the Text-to-Speech accommodation to additional students at this time and they will have access to it for this formative only.
Add the formative-specific Text-to-Speech to students:
Click the carat next to "Accommodations" to reveal the list of students along with their respective global accommodations (if applicable)
Click on the blue-highlighted accommodation status next to a student's name
Toggle ON the Text-to-Speech button for the student
Click "Update" to save the changes for this specific formative
You can then proceed to assign the formative to the class
The Student's View
When students with a Text to Speech accommodation in place open a formative, they will see the menu of Global Learning Tools on the right side of their screen, and the Text-to-speech icon will appear within this menu:
Students will click the Text-to-speech icon to turn the capability on, and expand the Text to Speech control bar. Then they will proceed to click on the text they wish to have read out loud. The reader will be able to read aloud all text items that are compatible.
When the reader is on, students will be able to use the Text to Speech control bar to pause and unpause, as well as stop the reader on the go.
To adjust the speed of the reader, students will clicking the speed adjustment button within the control bar and select their preferred speed from the dropdown:
