<story><title>Software development and screen readers at 450 words per minute</title><url>https://www.vincit.fi/en/blog/software-development-450-words-per-minute/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>seanwilson</author><text>&amp;gt; A screen reader intercepts what&amp;#x27;s happening on the screen and presents that information via braille (through a separate braille display) or synthetic speech. And it&amp;#x27;s not the kind of synthetic speech you hear in today&amp;#x27;s smart assistants. I use a robotic-sounding voice which speaks at around 450 words per minute.&lt;p&gt;After listening to the English sample....maybe I&amp;#x27;m being naive but is it typical to be able to understand computer speech at that rate? I could barely make out a handful of words and probably wouldn&amp;#x27;t have believed there was a text to understand in there if the words weren&amp;#x27;t above it.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>torgoguys</author><text>You work your way up to it. Open up a podcast app and start listening at 1.5x. After a while (days to weeks), that becomes comfortable. Then work your way up to 2.0x. Once you&amp;#x27;re at that point, listening to familiar shows (familiar people&amp;#x2F;voices), at 1.0x makes them sound drunk. They seem. to. speak. so. slooow.&lt;p&gt;Some podcasts I listen at 3x which feels near my limit of comfort (comprehension drops off at speeds higher than that), but I suspect nearly any normal person can get used to 2x speed. When you are, you can absorb twice as much information in the same amount of time.&lt;p&gt;(The above applies to talk type podcasts. Music is best at 1x, and  dramatizations and such are often best left at 1x to get correct pacing).</text></comment>
<story><title>Software development and screen readers at 450 words per minute</title><url>https://www.vincit.fi/en/blog/software-development-450-words-per-minute/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>seanwilson</author><text>&amp;gt; A screen reader intercepts what&amp;#x27;s happening on the screen and presents that information via braille (through a separate braille display) or synthetic speech. And it&amp;#x27;s not the kind of synthetic speech you hear in today&amp;#x27;s smart assistants. I use a robotic-sounding voice which speaks at around 450 words per minute.&lt;p&gt;After listening to the English sample....maybe I&amp;#x27;m being naive but is it typical to be able to understand computer speech at that rate? I could barely make out a handful of words and probably wouldn&amp;#x27;t have believed there was a text to understand in there if the words weren&amp;#x27;t above it.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Isofarro</author><text>You are comparing your first time trying to digest rapid speech, compared to someone who has done it for years. Yes, it&amp;#x27;s typical.&lt;p&gt;A new screen-reader user would start such an endeavour at normal speed, then gradually increase the speed. It&amp;#x27;s not much more different to people listening to podcasts and audiobooks at 1.5x speed. The robotic voice is more of a help than a hinderance because of it&amp;#x27;s consistency.</text></comment>