Assistive Technology Toolbar

Embracing technology to expand library resources is one way we provide access for all. To better serve the community, we’ve added the Recite Me web assistive technology toolbar to our website. The goal is to improve the accessibility of content and services for individuals with disabilities who require additional access support as part of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

To begin, open the Recite Me assistive technology toolbar by clicking the accessibility icon at the bottom left of any library webpage.

To exit the toolbar, click the red “X” on the top right corner. The Recite Me toolbar provides text-to-speech functionality, fully customizable styling features, translation tool with over 100 languages as well as many other features, including:

  • Reading the website text aloud (including PDFs)
  • Downloading text as an MP3 file
  • Change font sizes, colors and spacing
  • Customize background-color
  • Zooming up to 200% without text spilling off the screen
  • Translate text into more than 100 different languages
  • Access a fully integrated dictionary and thesaurus

Navigating the Recite Me Toolbar Buttons

Playing Audio

Icons to rewind text, play text aloud and skip forward.

Back: Rewind to the previous paragraph of text.
Play: Click the Play button to read the text aloud.
Forward: Skip forward to the next paragraph of text.

Text Options

Icons to decrease font size, change font, focus text, increase font

Decrease: This will decrease the text size.
Font: You can change the font that displays on the page.
Focus Text: Emphasize the most critical parts of words, to guide the eyes smoothly through the text.
Increase: This will increase the text size.

Change Language

Icon to change language of text.

Translation: Translate text into a different language.

Color, Ruler and Cursor Options

Icons to change background color, enable ruler function, and change cursor size.

Color: Change the background, text, and link colors.
Ruler: Click to enable the reading ruler.
Cursor: Customize the cursor size and color to help focus on page location.

Screen Mask and Plain Text Modes

Icons to create a screen mask and remove images from text.

Screen Mask: Will create a letterbox for focused viewing of a section of the page.
Text Mode: Remove images to view content in plain text mode.

Dictionary, Magnifier and Download Audio

Icons for dictionary, magnify and download text..

Dictionary: Highlight and click on this to view the definition of the word.
Magnifier: Click and drag the magnifying glass to magnify text on the screen.
Download Audio: Highlight the text then click the button to download the text as an audio file.

Settings and Toolbar Reset

Icons to change settings and reset.

Settings: Adjust your Recite Me toolbar settings.
Reset: This will restore the default settings.


Learn more about the Recite Me toolbar by reviewing the user guide