[real-eyes] Fw: Like an audible Instapaper, SpokenLayer lets you listen to the Web

  • From: "Reginald George" <adapt@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Adaptive technology information and support." <ati@xxxxxxxxxxx>, <accesscomp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <nutkc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 22 May 2012 11:38:08 -0500

This is an FYI I found from the Blind Technologists group on Linked In. 
After trying the app myself I can say it’s very accessible and interesting 
because these articles are read by humans and it’s free.  However, I wish 
there was a speed up button.

Like an audible Instapaper, SpokenLayer lets you listen to the Web


By Ki Mae Heussner
Plenty of startups give you new and different ways to read content on the 
Web, but NY-based SpokenLayer wants to give you a way to hear it.

Launched Monday as an iPhone app, SpokenLayer takes text articles online and 
either gives them to a human to read and record, or it uses text-to-speech 
synthesis to meet instant demand in a matter of seconds.

Founder and CEO Will Mayo said he created the app to address his own 
difficulties growing up with dyslexia.

“It was a real problem for me,” he said. “I could  never learn by reading. I 
had to learn by listening.”  Access to audible versions of books and 
textbooks, he added, helped him get through college and complete a graduate 
degree in engineering.

On stage at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York, he announced the 
app’s launch, as well as partnerships with publishers including The 
Atlantic, National Journal, TechCrunch and Endgadget. Later, he told me that 
he’s also been in touch with the International Dyslexia Association and a 
major K-12 publisher about applying it in educational contexts.

While about half a dozen other companies provide RSS to speech services, he 
said, SpokenLayer is distinguished by the involvement of authors and 
professional readers who give it an emotional layer.

Mayo plans to monetize the app with advertising, analyzing the content it’s 
serving to appropriately target listeners. It’s raised about $80,000 in seed 
funding so far.


Article can be found at
http://gigaom.com/2012/05/21/like-an-audible-instapaper-spokenlayer-lets-you-listen-to-the-web/?utm_source=%23frankguillen&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=FrankGuillen+Buzz&goback=%2Egde_2796139_member_117488269
 

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