Julie is the voice on my computer who reads everything to me and tells me what I’m typing. Because she sounds almost human, it occurred to me when I purchased this software that she might have a personality. This inspired the following poem from How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver. Click on the link below the poem to hear Julie read it. You’ll also hear a man, Paul, my alternate voice who reads page numbers, font attributes, and other announcements.
Dear Julie
I wonder what you think, as you read me my e-mail,
the Web pages I browse, other documents.
Is there something you’d rather not read to me,
something I don’t want read that interests you?
When you repeat what I type,
how do the words strike you?
When I shut down, are you relieved or disappointed?
When I boot up, do you sigh with resignation
or jump at the chance of helping me again?
Now, I’ll ask you to read this back to me.
Knowing it’s about you, will you blush?
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/15213189/julie.mp3
Abbie Johnson Taylor, Author of We Shall Overcome and How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver
My Corner 
Hi Abbie. I use the normal default eloquence voice with my jaws. I tried the more humanistic ones, but at my higher reading speeds, they are hard for me to understand. I am waiting for the new ones coming out with jaws 14. Hopefully they will be more understandable with the higher reading speeds. Nice post. Deon
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Hi Deon, when I got my PC seven years ago after marrying Bill, I used Eloquence with Window Eyes. When I switched to System Access, NeoSpeech Paul, Kate, and Julie were part of the package. After trying these voices, I discovered I liked Julie better than Eloquence Read. I don’t think NeoSpeech is available for use with Jaws, but I’m glad what you’re using works for you.
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Hi Abbie. I learned screen readers first with System Access, but only used it for eight or so months. I think I used the default voice for the same reasons. At higher reading speeds I had a hard time understanding the dialect. I was thinking about trying out a demo version of NVDA to see how it works. I keep hearing that it is steqadily improving with each new product update, and if it remains free, who knows. I also want to find out how Windows Eight’s Narrator works. I have heard that it’s supposed to be more improved, to the point of perhaps rivalling Apple’s voice over technology. We’ll see.
Deon
Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.
Vivian Green
_____
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