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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/45085
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/45085
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Inspired by this question: [Is there a need for better software for writers?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/45035/is-there-a-need-for-better-software-for-writers) I have an [IDE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_development_environment)¹ related question about software that can assist writers.

**Is there a tool to (easily) turn technical writing into a narration script?**

I'm making [DAISY](https://yourdolphin.com/en-gb/products/organisation/publisher)² documents from Word files. The text can contain multiple ugly sentences, and I often find myself marking them up oddly to create a human-pronounceable versions. The technical document and the audiobook/HTML version use the same words (except things like "e.g." becoming "for example"), but the mega-sentences are hard to parse. Some of my edits are standard, and I'm only noting them to be able to find-and-replace them later.

What I would like the software to be able to do:

- Mark text as belonging to a certain category. For example: 
  - This is an on-screen phrasing 
  - This is the 'noun' of the sentence 
- Apply special conditions for definable lists of keywords. For example:
  - Treat words in this list as 'end-noun-phrases' 
  - Treat words in this list as adjectival screen terminology.

I can visualize how I would like the software to work; dragging a phrase to a "resource" pane to mark it as a specific type that should then be highlighted/marked a certain way. I just have no idea how to do it, besides my manual mark-up.

I can see a tool like this being useful for anyone who creates online-learning from technical writing, not just my very specific scenario. (At my job we create the sync-able HTML using [Dolphin Publisher](https://yourdolphin.com/en-gb/products/organisation/publisher), we record the audio, and then they get synched.)

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¹ _Integrated Development Environment - Collective term for the editing software used by programmers. Common features include; keyword/syntax highlighting and auto-completion._

² _DAISY is a standard for multimedia books, often navigate-able audio books, created for accessibility purposes. Because text is highlighted as it is spoken, it's also great for dyslexics. It's a little more flexible than an audiobook, but for my purposes, it's basically an audiobook with a visible HTML side._

Original score: 5