Now you can listen to articles on the Collegian!

Dear readers,

I’m Gift Homsaen, Seattle Collegian’s Web Manager. I’m glad to announce that now you can listen to articles on our website!

As a podcast listener myself, I find it easy and fun to receive information by listening. I also like any news websites that include this option. I think it’s a great alternative for those who enjoy listening rather than reading and is also helpful for those who need accessibility. Therefore, we decided to offer this experience at the Collegian website. 

How can it help you? 

• You can listen to any article on any device by clicking on the “Listen to this article” button. Try it on this page if you haven’t done it already. We tested and agreed to use a female voice because it soothes our ears. It will read the text of the content only, unlike other built-in speech functions or browser extensions that may read other attributes on the page such as a bullet point. 
• You can adjust audio speed and volume to your preference. These options are available on laptop devices only. 

If you’re a fast reader and don’t care much about this feature, it can still help you when you’re tired from staring at the screen. Have it read the article out loud for you while you’re turning away and rest your eyes. Another thing I love most about this option is it humanizes the article overall and gives our website a personality.

Note: you may encounter a few flaws while clicking on the play button. Just refresh the page a couple times or give it a few more clicks on the button, then it will work just fine. If you find other major issues about this feature or other website related issues, feel free to message me directly at gift.homsaen@seattlecollegian.com.

I hope you enjoy it and don’t forget to share this article with your friends and family!