Two important components of any speed reading program are increased speed and increased comprehension.  Ultimate Speed Reader by Knowledge Adventure gives users a chance to improve both of these components.  It is designed for users age 8 and up.

There are many problems and issues that people find prevent them from reading quickly.  Ultimate Speed Reader is designed to help overcome some of these issues.  Users of the program will find out they can effectively move their eyes across a page of text, improve their peripheral vision to read more than one word at a time, and improve their rate of perception.

Ultimate Speed Reader is compatible with Windows and Macintosh.

Overview

The program is based from a home page.  As the user clicks on each exercise of Ultimate Speed Reader a voice will explain what the exercise does and how to begin it.

Ultimate Speed Reader can be somewhat frustrating to navigate.  There is no menu bar or back and forward buttons for easy navigation.  Less experienced computer users and younger children might find this a difficult program to use. If a user wants to change the settings of an exercise after they begin they must return to the home page and begin the exercise again.

One other quirk of this program has to do with the selection of reading passages.  Ultimate Speed Reader chooses the reading passage for the user.  In other speed reading programs the user has the chance to easily select the text to be read.  If the user wants to change the reading selection he/she must click on “New Passage” to find a suitable one.  There is no list from which a user can select what he/she wants to read.

Features

Ultimate Speed Reader has six types of exercises and more than 200 reading passages for users to improve their speed reading ability.  Each section starts with a warm up and then the reading section.  At the end of each section there is a comprehension test to measure the user’s understanding and retention of the material.  Exercises that you can choose from include Eye Movement, Newspaper Reading, Paced Reading and Timed Reading exercises.

The Eye Max game is a great tool to help users improve their peripheral vision.  The user stares at the center of the screen while words are letters are flashed in the periphery.  The user is also able to measure improvement made in peripheral vision by using this exercise.

There are more than 200 reading passages for practice, but some of this content is a bit advanced.  Knowledge Adventure states that children can use this program, but they might become frustrated if the content of the practice material is too advanced for them.

Help and Support

Knowledge Adventure has a section on their website called the “Top Ten Answer Finder.”  This information is not specific to any software program (they sell several different ones) and instead deals with problems and technical difficulties encountered when installing the software.

Technical support is provided via telephone (normal business hours during the week) and by email.

There is no free trial offered on the website for the Ultimate Speed Reader software programs, and returns are not accepted.  Software may only be exchanged and not returned.

Conclusion

Ultimate Speed Reader doesn’t have all the bells and whistles you will find in other speed reading software programs.  It is best suited for an older user.  The software program is designed for users age 8 and up, but a younger child might find the text provided too challenging for their age and ability.

The company does not offer a free trial.  However, Ultimate Speed Reader is reasonably priced ($39.99 at the time of this review) and it does deliver on its promises to help you become proficient at speed reading.

Screen Shots | Compare Speed Reading Courses