Dolphin EasyReader

What is Dolphin EasyReader app?

Dolphin EasyReader is an app for users who might otherwise find it difficult to access the written word. It grants access to a wide range of library and newspaper services worldwide, and you can import text files downloaded from elsewhere. You can even access the content of your device's clipboard with its tools.

The many features and options with Dolphin EasyReader let its users adjust the presentation of the on-screen text to make it as clear as possible. These tools, used alone or in combination, let users display on-screen text in a way that minimises their difficulties. Alternatively, they can utilise the app's text-to-speech functionality to hear the text.

We'll go into more detail in this review about these tools as we discuss how people might use them.

This review of Dolphin EasyReader was carried out using the Premium Education version in conjunction with access to RNIB Bookshare, one of the supported libraries.

What we love about Dolphin EasyReader app.

Research can unlock strategies to help people who struggle to access text, but we must remember they are individuals who won't all conform to the 'typical.' Dolphin EasyReader lets its users tweak everything about the reading experience.

Format: Users can access library-provided documents and those from other sources in various formats including: DAISY 2 and DAISY 3, ePub, MathML, PDF, Microsoft Word documents, HTML and text files. They can also have the app display or read the clipboard's contents for quick-and-easy access.

Colours: Not just fonts and pages, but word and sentence highlights have adjustable colours. Readers can choose a built-in theme or create their own.

Fonts: It varies a little across devices, but users can choose the font they like the best. You can also adjust the size of the text. The Open Dyslexia font is embedded in all of the apps.

Layout: Change spacing between lines, words and how much text shows on the screen.

Speech: All users can use the built-in speech synthesis of their device, but Premium

Education users can select from a much larger number of synthesised voices giving each user a better chance of finding the one that suits their tastes.

Library Integration: Partnerships between Dolphin EasyReader and libraries make a huge amount of material available to learners. Some libraries have membership requirements, such as RNIB Bookshare, but are available for those who genuinely need them.

A person without visual impairments or other difficulties in accessing text, might not realise the value of some of these options, but any single one could make a world of difference to somebody with them. Having so many options maximises the number of people who can benefit from this app and the gains that it can offer.

Users of multiple devices won't want to go through the customisation process repeatedly, so the Premium version of Dolphin EasyReader synchronises the setting across each device. The only exception is the font size, which is understandable as the user's choice will depend on their current screen size.

What skills does it teach?

Dolphin Easy Reader makes information from books, newspapers, journals, and magazines available to its users. The libraries and services will determine what users get from the app, including educational, entertainment, fiction, non-fiction and current affairs services, which can suit many needs.

What age is it appropriate for?

Dolphin EasyReader makes written material available to readers but does not dictate what this might be. As users choose the written material through library services or their personal documents, the content of those services determines the age suitability.

Is Dolphin EasyReader app easy to use?

Dolphin Easyreader has an excellent support section on its website to help all its users understand it. However, the app is intuitive and easy to get going without any extra learning.

The Dolphin Easyreader team offers a demo to all Easyreader Premium Education subscribers. We recommend teachers take advantage of this, not because the app is difficult to use but because this demo highlights app features and ways to use them that you might not consider.

How will students benefit?

Difficulties in reading or accessing text holds learners back more than anything else. These obstacles prevent independent learning in all subjects, which has resulted in kids who might be gifted in, for example, math, seemingly struggling with it. 

Without support to access text, these students struggle to read and understand assignments and test questions. They then perform at a level below their capability. Together, this leads to falling confidence, a feeling of academic inability, and the loss of life chances for those students.

Dolphin EasyReader does a great job of helping kids access texts. It doesn't require publishers to address the difficulties of these kids. Instead, its tools take those books, newspapers and documents and makes them accessible.

EasyReader puts the choice of easy access versus security in the hands of the users or teachers who administer them. Students can access their EasyReader account with an email or user name. EasyReader does not enforce having to protect this with a password which feels unusual, but it is a sensible choice as for some users of this app, it will be one less obstacle blocking them from accessing their reading material.

How will parents benefit?

No parent wants to see their kids struggle needlessly. Every parent wants to see their kids achieve their full potential and enjoy the chances that life offers them. Kids with visual impairments or other text-accessibility difficulties already have to work harder than others to make the same achievements. Dolphin EasyReader gives parents a practical way to help their kids enjoy a learning experience closer to that of their classmates.

Dolphin EasyReader's price per year is reasonable, allowing either schools to provide it to kids or, if parents need to pay, they shouldn't feel their parental responsibility is being held for ransom.

How will teachers benefit?

All of the benefits for students are also benefits for their teachers as those kids will have greater access to written material for independent learning, revision, and developing a love of books.

However, the tools and features of Dolphin EasyReader also offer extra options for teachers analysing texts with kids.

The text isolation and highlight options are great for focusing on extracts from books while displaying them to a class on a shared display. Increase the spacing between the lines, adjust the text size to match the screen size, and quickly move on to subsequent sentences using the standard EasyReader tools.

Dolphin Easyreader is compatible with Microsoft Education and Google Classroom to help fit in with your teaching workflow. Students can access the documents uploaded to these platforms from within Dolphin Easyreader.

What can Dolphin EasyReader app improve on?

We like educational apps not to ask for more personal information than necessary, and we feel that requiring a telephone number to download the Windows app is unnecessary on top of an email address. It also insists you agree to receive marketing material which many companies have now moved past letting you opt in only if you want it.

We have to separate Dolphin EasyReader from its content to consider any areas for improvement. The app itself worked superbly, and we had no issues with it. The only areas where we'd have liked improvement are beyond the app's control. It is the nature of PDF documents that they are not easily accessible. This is the case in all apps which read them as PDFs' underlying structure does not sit well with accessibility aids.

The fixed format and layout do not allow for easy adjustment. The flow of the text is not always apparent to a text-to-speech reader. Dolphin EasyReader does as good a job as we could hope for with PDFs, but when you see how much better it handles an ePub file, you'll wish all books were accessible in this way.

However, the choice of format is not EasyReader's choice to make. It can only access what publishers produce and offer to libraries. We mention this here to ensure you understand the limitations of the different formats and recognise that the shortcomings are not EasyReader's.

Development of Dolphin EasyReader is very active, and the developers have indicated that future changes will address the above points raised in this review.

They have further refinements to the PDF reading experience in the pipeline to overcome as many of the format's limitations as possible.

How much does Dolphin EasyReader app cost?

The free version of Dolphin EasyReader is a fully functional reading app with most features permanently available. A premium subscription unlocks some convenient extras, such as device synchronisation but is not obligatory to get an excellent reading experience.

Readers can access their documents and files or use a library. Some students will be eligible for free access to one or more of these libraries and may already be members.

Schools and other educational establishments in the UK, USA, Canada and Sweden can choose the EasyReader Premium Subscription. The cost is determined by the number of students each establishment wants to grant access to the EasyReader app. It is not an all-or-nothing subscription, so schools can choose to make EasyReader available to the kids they think will benefit from it. 

EasyReader is available for individuals on a personal subscription. This is a worldwide service and costs a single low price for a year's use of the app's features.

Is Dolphin EasyReader app safe to use?

Dolphin Easy Reader does not display advertisements in its free or premium versions. The type of content users can access will result from the library services chosen, which parents and teachers can determine.

Overall rating of the app.

Dolphin EasyReader works exactly as we'd hope for an app that makes written material accessible to more people. Its design is thoughtful, its features useful, and its price reasonable. Parents and teachers should look closely at this app to ensure that young learners with difficulties have every opportunity to access the same educational material as their peers. We have awarded Dolphin Easy Reader five stars in this review.