In the course, we will discuss two products, webReader and docReader.  The information below will provide clarity as you move through the course. Brightspace has three primary views - Classic, New Content Experience, and New Learner Experience. In the Classic and the New Content Experience, you can have your table of contents on the left side of the page and in the New Learner Experience the content down the center of the page. The View names are the ones we are using to help you determine which set of instructions to use.

webReader is the product that is used to read most of Brightspace. You will see the "Listen" player at the top of the pages with the exception of documents. Let's look at webReader and docReader.

ReadSpeaker webReader:

Here is an image of the ReadSpeaker webReader. As described above, it is displayed at the top left side of the files.

ReadSpeaker docReader:

docReader is the product used to read documents. docReader reads PDFS, ePubs, Office-type files, rich text files, and the Open-office versions of these same file types. Depending on your view in Brightspace, it may appear differently.

Below is the image of docReader with the various tools labeled and a brief explanation of each. Instructions for launching the docReader are provided for each view below this image.

ReadSpeaker docReader for the Brightspace Classic View: 

• Begin by clicking on the document's name in Content. 
• Click on the    for a drop-down menu to the right of the document heading.
• Select “Open with docReader.” The document is now open in docReader.

• • NOTE: The “Open with docReader” button at the bottom of all Content items can yield an error message if the item is not a document.  Use the rule of thumb at the bottom of this file to avoid confusion.

Brightspace New Content Experience:

• Click on the document's name
• Click on the speaker, , in the upper right-hand corner of the document, and the document will open in docReader.

• To see the additional tools in docReader in the New Content Experience view, click on the hamburger, , the three horizontal lines in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. The new view of docReader in Brightspace, with the lower toolbar expanded, is shown in the image below.

Brightspace New Leaner Experience for ReadSpeaker docReader:

• Click on the document's name
• Click on the "Open docReader" () tool in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

Rule of Thumb

• • Eyes to the top of the page.
  • Look for the listen button.
  • If you don't have a listen button, look for the docReader icon.
    • Classic View has the "V", , dropdown menu to the right of the title.  Click on the "V" , and then click on "Open with docReader."
    • New Content Experience: Click on the speaker icon, , which is on the right-hand side of the title.
    • New New Learner Experience: Click on the "Open DocReader" () button on the right-hand side of the title. 

Lesson 1 Checklist