Friday, July 15, 2005
Excel comes with a text-to-speech feature that you can use as an aid in proofreading your spreadsheet data. This tool is useful for the sight-impaired but can also help if you're entering a lot of data manually -- for example, from a printed sheet. While you're entering the data into the range, you can look at the printed sheet while Excel confirms each entry audibly. Or, if you've already entered the data, you can check the printed sheet while Excel speaks out each entry.
To use the text-to-speech feature, you need to display the Text to Speech toolbar. Follow these steps to display the toolbar and use its options:
Choose the Tools, Speech, Show Text To Speech Toolbar menu command. (You can also choose the View, Toolbars, Text To Speech menu command.)
Excel displays the Text To Speech Toolbar.
If you want Excel to speak a range, select the range and click the By Rows or By Columns button to make Excel speak the cells across rows or down columns.
Click the Speak Cells button for Excel to start speaking the cells.
Click the Stop Speaking button for Excel to stop speaking the cells.
If you want Excel to speak the cell every time that you enter data into a cell, click the Speak On Enter button.
Click the button again to cancel the feature.
Remember: Your PC must have the appropriate equipment for the text-to-speech feature to work. At minimum, you must have a sound card with speakers or a pair of headphones.
The Speak On Enter tool persists across Excel sessions -- that is, if you enable it during one session and shut down Excel, it's still enabled the next time that you start Excel.
To use the text-to-speech feature, you need to display the Text to Speech toolbar. Follow these steps to display the toolbar and use its options:
Choose the Tools, Speech, Show Text To Speech Toolbar menu command. (You can also choose the View, Toolbars, Text To Speech menu command.)
Excel displays the Text To Speech Toolbar.
If you want Excel to speak a range, select the range and click the By Rows or By Columns button to make Excel speak the cells across rows or down columns.
Click the Speak Cells button for Excel to start speaking the cells.
Click the Stop Speaking button for Excel to stop speaking the cells.
If you want Excel to speak the cell every time that you enter data into a cell, click the Speak On Enter button.
Click the button again to cancel the feature.
Remember: Your PC must have the appropriate equipment for the text-to-speech feature to work. At minimum, you must have a sound card with speakers or a pair of headphones.
The Speak On Enter tool persists across Excel sessions -- that is, if you enable it during one session and shut down Excel, it's still enabled the next time that you start Excel.
