Dictator is designed as an easy-to-use and handy software for on-screen reading of text files.
It was developed with the intention of making it easier to read some of the fine electronic texts available on the net, such as those produced by The Gutenberg Project.
The problem with these texts is that reading them on-screen the conventional way is a drag and printing them out is time-consuming, costly, and wasteful.
Dictator provides an alternative approach called Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) in which words are displayed consecutively in the same place at a user-controllable rate.
This method prevents unconscious re-reading of adjacent text and decreases the tendency of the reader to oralise the text, allowing for increased reading speeds.
RSVP also permits the use of larger fonts for text display which improves text clarity. While it does take some getting used to, with a little practise you may find that reading with Dictator becomes faster and easier than reading from a book.
Here are some key features of "Dictator":
· Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) text file reading.
· Single word and multiword displays.
· Unicode support (with Unicode versions of wxPython only).
· Variable reading rate.
· Easy keyboard controls.
· Bookmark manager with automatic recall of last position in text.
· Dynamic text flow (rate related to word length, punctuation).
· Paragraph cues.
· Adjustable fonts and colors.
· Fullscreen mode.
· Text search.
· Customizable text filters allow scraping from PDF/html/Microsoft Word Documents.
· Customizable web queries on current word (e.g. look up definition).
· Open from clipboard.
· Open URL (via text filter only).
Requirements:
· Python
What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]
· Added option to disable highlighting in text window
· Added tutorial option to help menu
· Increased margins in text window
· Improved tutorial
· Minor fixes
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