Read Along
A reader that keeps text and narration in sync. Press play below to try it.
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Read Along keeps a piece of writing and its narration together. As you listen, the words light up in time with the voice. You can follow the text, look away for a while, or pause to spend more time with a passage.
The text is also a way to move through the recording. Select any word to listen from there, or use the controls to change the playback speed. Instead of searching along a timeline for a sentence you remember, you can go straight to it on the page.
I built Read Along as a tool for listening to written material. This website uses the same approach for its project stories, so visitors can choose how they want to read them.
How it works
The narration comes with a start and end time for each word. The reader uses those timings for highlighting and seeking, keeping the audio and text together when you change speed or jump to another passage.
Read Along also has a standalone reader for turning written material into a listening library. The player here is adapted for the site. You can hear it in use on the Post Grad Project story.