When looking for a tablet for someone with dyslexia, there are a number of important factors that must be considered to make sure you get the features that are most important to the user, and get the best value for your needs. First, you want to consider what the tablet will be used for. Will it be used primarily for reading books and browsing the web, or will it be used to type documents, read email, and edit movies. Generally, for people with dyslexia, it is important that the tablet have built in text-to-speech with a high quality voice. All three of these tablets have text-to-speech, but the way text-to-speech is implemented is different from tablet to tablet. The iPad allows text-to-speech to be activated in a few taps when reading webpages and text in apps including Safari, Mail and many third party apps including The New York Times. The other tablets require a more time consuming process to activate text-to-speech in all apps.
Next, app quality and quantity is also an important consideration. Currently, the iPad is ahead in terms of app support, but the Nexus 7 is not too shabby in terms of third party app selection either. Apple's lead in terms of third party app selection continues to narrow. See the ecosystem and apps section below for more information about app selection. If the person with dyslexia uses Bookshare or Learning Ally, it is important to make sure that the tablet has apps to support those services. Bookshare is a service that provides accessible e-books for people with print disabilities and Learning Ally provides audio books – some with text - for people with print disabilities. Both the Nexus 7 and iPad mini have Bookshare and Learning Ally apps. The iPad does have better Bookshare support than the Nexus 7.
he software that runs on the tablet is far more important than the shell on the outside, but you still have to be happy with the way your tablet looks and feels. The iPad mini is the largest of the tablets, but it is still easy to hold in one hand, but not as easy as the smaller Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HDX 7". The iPad mini has an all metal and glass design that makes it feel worthy of its higher price tag. Both the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HDX have plastic backs that feel nice in the hand, but feel slightly less classy then the iPad. The look and feel of the back may not matter much for many users who use cases for protection. The look and feel of the back may not matter much for many users who use cases for protection. All of the tablets are remarkably light, so holding them for long periods of time should not be an issue for most people. For people who plan to use the tablets for text-to-speech and audio books, speaker quality, and where the speaker is positioned are other important considerations. For their size, all three of these tablets have good speakers. They all include dual speakers and have good sound quality. The Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire both have speakers at opposite ends of the device to make it difficult to block the sound with your hands while you are holding it, but the iPad speakers are both at the bottom of the device, making it possible, although not likely that you could block the speakers depending on where you position your hands. While the placement of the speakers may not be an issue for you, the differences are worth noting.
Operating System:
All three tablets have different operating systems meaning their software behaves differently. The iPad mini runs iOS 7 which easy to use and smooth. iOS has the best built in accessibility features of the bunch with a well polished screen reader called VoiceOver that can read almost anything on screen aloud using text-to-speech. iOS also includes Speak Selection which allows users to highlight text and have it read aloud using text-to-speech.
Android 4.4 KitKat which runs the Nexus 7 is another solid operating system. Without getting too much into the iOS vs. Android debate, the Android is a little less intuitive to use, but allows for more customization than iOS. iOS has a simple user interface that is easy to use, while Android allows for home screen widgets which can be useful but can also clutter the home screen and make it more confusing to use. Android also includes a screen reader called TalkBack, but it is not as polished as VoiceOver. One of Apple’s VoiceOver's biggest advantages is that it works with more apps than TalkBack..
The Nexus 7 also includes reading features that can benefit people with dyslexia. Google Play Books, which is Google’s e-book store, allows you to read books with text-to-speech with synchronized highlighting. The default voice isn't as good as the Kindle's default voice, but you can download higher quality voices. For users of Bookshare and Learning Ally, the Nexus 7 has Android apps for both of these services. Unfortunately, the Bookshare app for Android (GoRead) is not as good as the Read2Go app for iOS or Voice Dream Reader, another app that can read Bookshare books. The iOS apps generally have more polished user interfaces and more advanced annotations options.
The iPad has the best third party app support for reading. Users of Bookshare and Learning Ally can read their books with great iPad optimized apps. The iPad app Voice Dream Reader lets you read many documents and books, including Bookshare books, using text-to-speech. Voice Dream is the best text-to-speech app for mobile devices right now and is only available for the iPad and iPhone. The iPad can access Kindle books using the Kindle app and they can be read aloud with text-to-speech using VoiceOver. However, VoiceOver does not highlight the words as they are spoken. Apple's own iBooks app underwhelms in terms of accessibility features for people with dyslexia. iBooks can be read with text-to-speech using VoiceOver, but VoiceOver does not highlight as it reads and it takes time to learn how to use it properly.
The iPad's Speak Selection feature makes it easy to read webpages, emails, and documents using text-to-speech. To use Speak Selection, just highlight the words you want read aloud and press speak. Speak Selection can also highlight words as they are spoken so you won’t lose your place in the text..
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