I have a confession to make, I am the kind of person that benefits from hearing text. I am an auditory learner. On top of that I have some vision challenges. Thankfully, through advances in artificial intelligence (AI) I now have access to services that support my needs. I now even use this feature to have what I have written read back to me, helping me check for errors and content logic, before I publish.

Microsoft has built into its tools a feature that helps me with my problems. It is called Read Aloud. When I enable it, a voice goes through web pages, word documents, and other files, reading them to me on my computer. Below I share with you how to access this feature in the Microsoft Edge browser and in Word, but there are plenty of other places where Read Aloud also works.

In the Microsoft Edge browser, choose the ellipses [ … ] at the top right of the window and select the Read Aloud option.

Once you enable Read Aloud, it will start reading from the top of the page. You will see the line highlighted in blue, with a yellow highlight for the current word.

You will also notice a play/pause button, along with options to use other voices and to slow down or speed up the reading.

To use this feature in Word, go to the review Menu and choose Read Aloud.

This is just an example of the collection of learning and working tools available to you in support of alternative needs. To find out more, visit Microsoft’s page on using learning tools.

Dr. Carlos Solís is Associate Vice President of the Technology Innovation Office.