Overview

Welcome to lesson 18 of 19 in the Trainer's Course. This lesson will provide you with an overview of the EasyReader App, which is part of the SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader package.

Lesson objectives

After studying this lesson, you will be able to:

• Correctly describe the purpose of EasyReader App and a minimum of two major features available with this program.
• Correctly state at least three benefits of the EasyReader Premium service and accurately explain the eligibility criteria to access this service.
• Correctly name three platforms that support EasyReader App and state where you may go to download and install the EasyReader App on each platform.

This lesson should take no more than fifteen minutes to complete.

This lesson applies to:

• SuperNova Magnifier.
• SuperNova Magnifier & Speech.
• SuperNova Magnifier & Screen Reader.
• Dolphin ScreenReader.

EasyReader App – Open a world of accessible books

EasyReader App is a free, multi-platform, accessible eBook reader developed by Dolphin and is part of the SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader installation.

EasyReader App key Features include:

• Direct access to the world’s largest collection of accessible libraries and talking newspaper services. Download and read books and newspapers direct from over forty library partners including RNIB Bookshare and Reading Services (UK), Bookshare (USA) and CELA (Canada).
• Adjust Text size, font type, foreground, and background colours plus letter and line spacing to ensure a comfortable reading experience.
• Adjust Audio playback speed and volume to ensure a comfortable listening experience plus seamless integration with SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader speech functionality when reading text-only books. With the release of version 21.02, when you are reading text-only books SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader manages the reading experience, enabling you to continue to use your preferred speech settings.
• Skip forward or back through text and audio. Navigate the content of accessible books by chapters, headings, and pages. Search for keywords to find important passages in the text.
• Add bookmarks and study notes to important passages of text to aid with your studies.
• Open a range of external file formats, including DAISY V2, DAISY V3, TXT and DOCX files.
• Save and read text you copy to the Clipboard.

A shortcut to the EasyReader for Windows App is placed on your desktop following the installation of SuperNova or Dolphin ScreenReader. You can also download EasyReader App free-of-charge as a stand-alone program from supporting App Stores and from the Dolphin website.

EasyReader App is available in the following editions:

• EasyReader App for Android.
• EasyReader App for iOS.
• EasyReader App for Kindle Fire.
• EasyReader App for Windows.
• EasyReader App for Mac (only available with an EasyReader Premium Subscription).

And, if you have an active Software Maintenance Agreement (SMA) or are part of the SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader Upgrade Plan (SUP), you are entitled to use the EasyReader Premium Service free-of-charge.

To benefit from EasyReader Premium, simply link the EasyReader App to SuperNova or Dolphin ScreenReader through the following steps:

1. Open the SuperNova or Dolphin ScreenReader Control Panel.
2. Open the ‘Media’ menu or 'Media' tab.
3. Open the ‘Books’ item and choose 'My Books'. The EasyReader App for Windows will open. If this is your first time running EasyReader, login to the EasyReader App with a Dolphin or Google Account.

If the SuperNova licence has an active SMA or SUP, a free subscription to EasyReader Premium will be enabled for your Dolphin Account. If you do not have an active SMA or SUP, you will still be able to enjoy all the benefits of the free EasyReader App.

EasyReader Premium

The EasyReader Premium Service gives you all the benefits of the free EasyReader App plus the synchronisation of your books and key settings across multiple devices.

EasyReader Premium synchronises:

• Downloaded Books.
  Download a book on one device and it is instantly added to your My Books list on any device. Simply tap the book, and EasyReader will download the book and open it where you left off. EasyReader Premium remembers and synchronises the last ten books you download to your device.
• Reading Positions.
  Never lose your place again. If you have read a book before in EasyReader, you can pick up exactly where you left off on any supported device.
• Bookmarks and Study Notes.
  Any bookmarks you add to a book will automatically be available when you open the same book on a different device. This includes notes you add to a bookmark.
• Clipboard Text.
  If you find something interesting online, or in an email, copy the text into EasyReader App and it is available to read with your accessibility settings on any other device you sign into.
• Preferred Libraries and Credentials.
  There is no need to remember library passwords. Sign into your talking book services once and EasyReader remembers the login credentials across all devices.
• Reading Preferences.
  Settings of preferred text size, fonts, colours and more are synchronised on the first run after a clean install. This ensures you get up and running with EasyReader Premium as smoothly as possible.

The EasyReader Premium Service is also available to schools, colleges and universities who wish to support their students with a visual or print impairment as a separate stand-alone service. As well as gaining access to all the Premium features above, the Service enables Educators to create and manage their student logins and monitor their usage of the App.

If you work in an educational establishment and you would like to learn more, then please visit the EasyReader Premium Service for Educators section of the Dolphin website.

SuperNova and EasyReader App integration

Dolphin have developed EasyReader App and SuperNova to work more seamlessly together. You can expect the following experience when using the following editions:

SuperNova Magnifier

• EasyReader App functionality is unchanged.

SuperNova Magnifier & Speech, SuperNova Magnifier & Screen Reader and Dolphin ScreenReader

• Audio-only books.
  EasyReader App functionality is unchanged.
• Text-and-audio books.
  SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader will control highlighting. This is managed through the Dolphin Cursor and Read From Here features within these editions. All related EasyReader App options are disabled in the "Text settings" dialog box.
• Text-only books.
  SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader will control both highlighting and the reading of the text. This is managed through the Dolphin Cursor and Read From Here features. You will find all related EasyReader App options disabled in the "Text settings" and "Audio settings" dialog boxes.

Conflicting hotkeys

You may encounter some situations where a SuperNova or Dolphin ScreenReader hotkey is conflicting with an EasyReader hotkey. Typically, such conflicts will occur in text based books, where you will be using the Dolphin Cursor to navigate the content.

Examples include:

• The HOME key.
  In EasyReader the HOME key moves you to the beginning of the book. In SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader the HOME key moves the Dolphin cursor to the start of the current line.
• The END key.
  In EasyReader the END key moves you to the end of the book. In SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader the END key moves the Dolphin cursor to the end of the current line.
• The B key.
  In EasyReader the B key adds a bookmark at the current reading position. In SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader the B key moves the Dolphin Cursor to the next button within HTML content.

To resolve such conflicts, you can:

• Use the EasyReader App menu item to perform the action, for example, the "Navigation" menu includes the Home and End options, while the EasyReader context menu includes an "Add" option to add a bookmark at your current position.
• Use the "Pass next key to application" hotkey. This hotkey tells SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader to ignore your next keypress and pass it through to your application.

Exercises

Please complete Exercise 16 in the SuperNova for Trainers Workbook.

If you have not downloaded this supplementary document, please click here to download the SuperNova for Trainers Workbook. 

Summary

In this lesson you reviewed the EasyReader App and learnt about the additional functionality available with the Premium Service. You also learnt that EasyReader Premium is available as a separate package for schools wishing to support their VI students, which includes the ability for teachers or administrators to create and manage student logins.

Quiz

Below are three sample quiz questions based on this lesson. Please spend no more than five minutes considering the answers to these questions.

1. You must purchase EasyReader App if you wish to use this program to read accessible content. Is this statement true?
2. EasyReader App provides you with direct access to over forty Talking Book libraries. Is this statement true?
3. EasyReader App includes text and audio settings designed to ensure you have a comfortable reading experience. Is this statement true?

End of lesson

Thank you for completing this lesson. Please select 'Next Lesson' below to continue to the next part of this course.

To revisit a previous lesson, please scroll to the top of this page and choose the lesson from the Course Outline menu.

But before you move on, here are the answers to the quiz questions:

1. False.
2. True.
3. True.