What is Immersive Reader?
The Immersive Reader is a tool to help students read and comprehend course content in a way that suits their learning ability and style.
Students have access to options such as:
- a reading tool with different voice speeds and voice selections (male or female),
- text preferences: text size, increased spacing, different fonts, background and text colors,
- reading preferences: a line focus tool, picture dictionary, a translator by word or for the whole document with hundreds of languages,
- grammar options: syllable division or a type of words highlighting tool (for nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs).
The Immersive Reader is available in Brightspace and web-based Microsoft 365 apps such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Teams, Forms, or the Edge web browser.
Open Immersive Reader in Brightspace
1. Log into your UFV online course at brightspace.ufv.ca.
2. Navigate to your course in Brightspace.
3. Click on Content in the green navigation bar at the top of the page and then select a Unit and Page you want to read.
4. If an alternative format is available for that content, the Ally Alternative formats icon will be visible in the menu above the content.
The icon resembles the upper case letter A with a downward pointing arrow to symbolize download.
Click the Alternative formats icon to view your options.
5. Select the Immersive Reader from the list by clicking on its radio button
6. Click Download.
Note: Depending on the type of format chosen it will either download to your device or open in Brightspace.
7. If a message saying an Alternative Formats is disabled, check with your instructor as they may have turned off this option for the course.
To Open Immersive Reader in a Microsoft App online
Open the application you would like to use (Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, Forms, Teams) on the web (either by clicking on a link to the document, or by going to the Microsoft 365 login page and opening your application)
Click the View tab in the application and then click on Immersive Reader.
Word document on the web
PowerPoint document on the web
To Close the Immersive Reader
Click the back arrow in the top left corner.
To close the Alternative Format window
Click Cancel.
How to use Immersive Reader
Below are some of the common functions of the Immersive Reader:
Control start and stop of the player
- Click the green play button to automatically start reading text.
- Pause the Reader at anytime and continue reading by clicking the green play button again.
Change voice settings
Change the speed of the voice and select between a female or male voice by clicking the speaker setting icon near the play button.
Change text preferences
Click AA Text Preferences icon in the top right corner.
Use the menu to:
- Change the text size
- Increase the spacing between words and lines
- Select a different font
- Select a different background and text color
- You can also show the formatting of the original file or hide it.
Grammar options
To show grammar options, click the magic wand over text lines icon.
Using this menu you can:
- Visualize syllables by turning on the toggle switch. Every word will be separated in its syllables by dots.
- Highlight specific parts of the text in different colors, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs.
Reading options
To change the reading preferences, click the open book icon.
Choose to focus on one line at a time, 3 lines or 5 lines at a time by selecting the corresponding icon.
The rest of the text is greyed out.
To return to the full text, uncheck the toggle switch near Line Focus.
Picture Dictionary options
The Picture Dictionary is turned on by default.
If the toggle switch is turned on:
- Click ONCE on a word to select it, and an image representing the meaning of that word appears.
- You can also get the device to read the word again for you.
The picture Dictionary can be turned on or off by clicking on the toggle switch near the picture dictionary option.
Translate options
You can translate either a single word or the whole document into many languages and compare them to the original language of the document.
First click on choose a language and select the language you would like the text to be translated to. There are hundreds of languages to choose from.
To translate just one word, make sure the toggle button near "By Word" is on (green).
Click ONCE on the word in the document to see and hear the translation.
To translate the entire document, make sure the toggle button near "Document" is turned on (green).
- You can easily switch between the original language and the translated text by clicking at the top between original and the language chosen (in this example: French)
- You can then have immersive reader read the text in the language specified by clicking on the play icon.
