When working in Microsoft Word with Sensory Readable, the Word Check button on the Readable toolbar gives you one-click access to Word's spelling, dictionary, thesaurus, and homophone tools — with Sensory Readable's speech and underline highlighting added on top. The button appears only when Microsoft Word is the active application.

The Word Check dropdown menu in Sensory Readable showing five options: Check Next, Look Up, Thesaurus, Homophones: Show, and Homophones: Hide.
The Word Check dropdown menu — five options for spelling, lookup, and homophone tools inside Word.

Menu options

  1. Check Next — step through the next spelling or grammar query in the document. The query opens in Word's right-hand Editor pane. Move the cursor onto a suggestion and press Ctrl to have Sensory Readable speak the suggestion and any meaning text.
  2. Look Up — opens Readable's built-in offline dictionary for the word the cursor is on, showing the definition, speech, and where applicable a visual symbol. This is the same dictionary as the Ctrl+Shift hover popup used elsewhere on screen — just one click away while you're writing in Word.
  3. Thesaurus — find synonyms and alternative word choices for the word the cursor is on.
  4. Homophones: Show — highlight any words in the document that have known homophones (words that sound the same but mean different things), so you can check the right one is in use.
  5. Homophones: Hide — clear any homophone highlighting.
Microsoft Word with the Readable Word Check menu open (Check Next, Look Up, Thesaurus, Homophones: Show/Hide). Homophones in the document are highlighted in blue, and Word's built-in Thesaurus pane is open on the right showing synonyms for the word 'new'.
The Word Check menu in action — homophones highlighted in blue, with Microsoft Word's built-in Thesaurus pane open on the right. Readable adds speech on top, so pressing Ctrl reads the entry aloud.

How to use

  1. Open your Word document.
  2. Position the cursor in the document — for Look Up and Thesaurus, on the word you want to check.
  3. Click the Word Check button on the Readable toolbar.
  4. Choose an option from the menu.

Thesaurus uses Microsoft Word's own thesaurus — Readable adds speech support on top, so pressing the Ctrl key reads the suggestion or thesaurus entry aloud. Look Up uses Readable's built-in offline dictionary directly.

For lookup outside Microsoft Word — in browsers, email, PDF readers, and any other Windows application — Sensory Readable v3 includes its own built-in offline dictionary and thesaurus, accessed by holding Ctrl+Shift and hovering over a word. See Dictionary & Thesaurus for the full description.

Video help

A walkthrough of Text Check & Lookup in Microsoft Word with Readable. The video only contacts Vimeo once you press play.

Using Text Check & Lookup in Microsoft Word with Readable