Read Out Loud from the digital edition

I was sad about this as well and I hope what I figured out will help others. If your issue is that your library only gives you an ACSM file which can't be opened in other applications besides Adobe Digital Editions, you can use https://www.acsmconverter.com/ to convert to a Epub file and then open that in a different e-reader that is actually helpful and can read out loud such as Natural Reader. If you're on an iPhone you can use Settings-Accessibility-Speech Controller to read the screen in Adobe Digital Editions, but it won't turn the page for you, you have to ask it to speak each page, so you may want to do this even if you have an iPhone and open in Apple Books app instead. 

I'm having the same issue. Due to DRM I'm not able to utilize any other software to read the textbook and not having a screen reading option has made the book pretty worthless. I found the help section where they recommend compatible software for screen reading, but they cost money. The built in screen reading for windows does not seem to be compatible.

If you can open your book in CALIBRE, after opening, RIGHT CLICK and selecct <Read Aloud> It will highlight each word as it is spoken. You can adjust reading speed and font size.

I have same problem 😞

It sucks so bad. I have a lot of reading from my school coursework. The books are .scam protected. The digital edition reader seems to be the only way to open the books and it doesn't have read aloud feature. Such a hindrance, annoying, and inefficient way. I'm a good listener so read aloud helps me a lot. It's unbelievable that in 21 century; when we want to go to Mars [cursing removed], we can get the little things like this sorted out, that would make actually life easier, simpler, more effective, and i guarantee you you would have less copyright problems. Having said that, I've been here before years ago, and still no progress in this matter from adobe. add the feature [cursing removed]. How hard can it be 😞 So frustrating!

Solution: Use Microsoft Edge browser to go to the website you bought the book or the link you have to read it online. Then use the build in "read aloud" funciton of Microsoft Edge. If it doesnt work just highlight the text and let the reader read it for you. (click the 3 dots on the right and Read aloud)

I have read most of the replies to this request for help with using the Adobe Digital Editions 2.0 or 3.0 software to read documents aloud.  I use a PC and have a few text to speech programs installed on my computer as well as Adobe Acrobat Pro 9.  However, despite being pretty accomplished using these programs, I haven't figured a way to read Adobe Digital Editions books aloud, or how to copy the text and create my own PDF documents of the books I've bought.  This is exceedingly frustrating!

Though I can see pretty well, in my work, I interact with blind people frequently and this drawback is tremendously inhibiting the effectiveness and sales of documents that could be read using the Adobe Digital Editions software.  I know that because of these drawbacks in the Adobe Digital Editions software, I will not ever use this software or by a ebook that does.  Personally, I have had experience investigating and prosecuting violations of the ADA and I believe that it wouldn't take a genius to somehow find grounds to file suit for violations of the ADA committed by the programmers of Adobe's Digital Editions software!  Even if being negligent of the consumers call for a text aloud option is not prosecutable as a violation of the ADA, such inaction looks very, very bad by consumers of Adobe products and shareholders as well!

The solution to this problem can't be techological:  it must be that Adobe doesn't concern itself with people who are visually impaird or blind.  I am very dissapointed by this conclusion!

If I am incorrect and there is a way to open the Adobe Digital Editions documents using Naturally Speaking or Adobe Acrobat Pro, please reply to this complaint. 

If I am correct and the Adobe programmers are working on a solution, please ask them to hurry up with their work!  It would seem that this would be a rather easy problem for the programmers at Adobe to overcome.  Your organization disappoints me greatly!

Here is a 'backdoor' technique to have Digital Edition 'Read Out Loud'

-Take a screen capture (or screen shot) of the page in Digital Edition.

-Open the screen capture in a program that does OCR (I use Acrobat Pro)

-OCR finds the outline of text and allows you to highlight that text.

-Play highlighted text through a 'text to speech' program.

-Repeat, per page

It may sound like a pain, but I do this technique on my Mac, in a matter of seconds.

Sadly, you can't just do the 'play selected text' option on the Mac.

This is because the Mac processes the "speech" command as "copying/pasting," which is disabled on many ebooks.

I have an annoying case of dyslexia so this 'backdoor' approach is kind of my only option.

I guess you're not having Digital Edition do anything but present the text so you can take a screen capture of it... but whatever.

Hope this helps.

please see my new post re this