Speechify

{{Short description|Text-to-speech app}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Speechify

| logo = File:Speechify_Icon.png

| trading_name = Speechify Inc.

| industry = Technology, education

| founder = Cliff Weitzman

| services = Productivity software, dyslexia and accessibility software

| website = {{url|https://speechify.com}}

}}

Speechify is a mobile, Chrome extension and desktop app that reads text aloud using a computer-generated text to speech voice.{{Cite web|url=https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/cliff-weitzman-23/|title=36 under 36 -- Social Entrepreneurship. Empowering Others with the Power of Speech.|last=Ross|first=Tova|date=June 6, 2018|website=Jewish Week|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/cliff-weitzman/|title=Cliff Weitzman|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2019-08-30}}{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/providencemedia/docs/esm_0617|title=East Side Monthly June 2017|website=Issuu|date=June 2017 |language=en|access-date=2019-08-30}}

The app also uses optical character recognition technology to turn physical books or printed text into audio which can be played in your own voice or in that of a celebrity.{{Cite web |title=This AI Startup Wants You to Read Audiobooks to Yourself |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/this-ai-startup-wants-you-to-read-audiobooks-to-yourself/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=CNET |language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.inc.com/john-boitnott/how-one-founder-turned-his-dyslexia-into-an-app-th.html|title=This Immigrant Founder Taught Himself English--Then Made an App That Helps Others With His Disability (and Speed Readers)|last=Boitnott|first=John|date=2017-08-29|website=Inc.com|access-date=2019-08-30}}{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Ryan |date=2022-11-22 |title=Speechify Free VS Premium - Which One is Best? |url=https://ispbird.com/speechify-free-vs-premium/ |access-date=2022-12-03 |website=ISP Bird |language=en-US}} The app lets users take photos of text and then listen to it read out loud.{{Cite web|url=https://www.inc-asean.com/innovate/one-founder-turned-dyslexia-app-helps-people-disability-learn-faster/|title=How One Founder Turned His Dyslexia Into a App That Helps People With the Disability Learn Faster|last=Boitnott|first=John|date=30 August 2017|website=Inc. Southeast Asia|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-08-30}}

Speechify was founded by Cliff Weitzman, a dyslexic college student at Brown University{{Cite web|last=Barton|first=ByMerrilee|title=Cliff Weitzman|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/cliff-weitzman/|access-date=2020-05-06|website=Forbes|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Stabile|first=Lori|date=2017-02-15|title=Five Questions With: Cliff Weitzman|url=https://pbn.com/five-questions-with-cliff-weitzman120423/|access-date=2019-08-30|website=Providence Business News|language=en-US}} who built the first version of the tool himself to help him keep up with his class readings. Research has indicated that dyslexic students who utilized Speechify had better reading comprehension outcomes than students who only used traditional means.{{Cite book |title=Educational Broadcasting in Nigeria in the Age of Artificial Intelligence |date=2024 |publisher=Springer Nature Switzerland |isbn=978-3-031-68529-3 |editor-last=Akpan |editor-first=Unwana Samuel |edition=1st ed. 2024 |location=Cham |pages=234}}