Microsoft immersive reader installation

[mbuonato]

Anyone know how the microsoft immersive reader works with Canvas?

Saw this press release posted on twitter

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-microsoft-immersive-reader-comes-to-instructure-canvas-...

[crafte]

After enabling the feature, you will see the Immersive Reader button on the upper right on Canvas pages. Students can click the button and it will open a new page. Students can click a play button and hear the content being read while each word is highlighted as it is being read. There are a few settings available to customize the experience.

[mbuonato]

Thanks. This is an amazing tool. I can't wait to put it in production.

[crafte]

It seems to be working well but the button only appears on Canvas wiki pages. It is not available on assignments, discussions, announcements etc. 

[leavoj]

I really hope this gets integrated into with assignments and quizzes!  I would love for students to be able to get this option in other assignments.  

[MissWarnerDubin]

I do not see this option on the home page, the most important page for it. Help?

[dcerrato]

How did you enable this feature in canvas?  I don't see it anywhere when I create a new assignment.

[Chris_Hofer]

It is listed in the Canvas Deploy Notes (2019-10-23) document, and based on the information provided there, I suspect we will hear more about this in November.

[kmeeusen]

Love, love, love this, and have already invited our ESL/ABE faculty to come see a demo!

[mbuonato]

Our customer support told us this would probably be in production by December. 

[kate_h]

Hi - Do we have a date when the immersive reader will be available in production?

[acapstick]

It's available now .... in production as of the weekend gone if you get your canvas rep to switch it on for you. 

However, I haven't seen any help guides to assist students or staff yet.

I presume it can only read the written word and alt text too - it doesn't seem to recognise web links?

[dave_barber]

Agreed, it does not recognise urls or links to documents etc, This limits the utility of the tool I feel. It does not make any linked or embedded content more accessible and it does not assist if the page contains navigation. In fact, because of the way text is rendered and chunked it can break up links but maybe I am missing the purpose of the tool. We have a wider set of concerns about the accessibility of canvas pages, particularly those containing tables so perhaps I am hoping for too much

[ryan_corris]

 @acapstick ‌ I am currently looking into getting this turned on for our account.  Does the #microsoft immersive reader‌ read the entire page or can you select specific text to read?

[acapstick]

Yes it reads the entire page but only the text - doesn't recognise links, images or video it seems. It basically treats a page like it is microsoft word doc. It also doesn't appear on the front page of sites - only content pages. 

To my mind it it is a reading aid - it isn't a total screen reader solution which is what I was hoping it would be given the browser unpredictability of screen readers and how they work with Canvas.

It will aid accessibility but it won't solve all for everyone.

[ryan_corris]

Thanks  @acapstick ‌!  Interesting are the idiosyncrasies. (Channeling my inner Yoda there.)  We are 1 to 1 Chromebooks with our students.  The Chromebook operating system has an accessibility feature called Select to Speak, which as it sounds allows selected text to be spoken.  It has worked really well, except that it does not currently work with our lockdown browser.  Can't wait to find one thing that works with everything.  A guy can dream, right?

[schalespaula]

The Immersive Reader button does not appear on the home page. Also, is it available on mobile devices?

[kkirk]

Is this available for the free accounts? I don't see how to enable it as an app nor in the settings. 

[lbarratt1]

I really like the Immersive Reader.

Is there going to be an additional charge for it? Or, will it be included in an update?

[mbuonato]

It sounded like just part of an update. 

[Griet]

Hi all,

Does anyone know whether this reader is available on Canvas quizzes? 

Tnx,

Griet 

[mbuonato]

To my knowledge it is currently only available on pages.

[siren_vegusdal]

It does not appear on pages in the app - it does appear if you use the browser