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Text2Speech
http://sourceforge.net/projects/text2speech/
* Very clean and simple gui, easy text to speech application
* It is open source, under GPL
Very easy text to speech app to use
Simple notepad style gui
Very fun to use, but can be helpful as an accessibility app
I think PortableApps.com can do a lot for the hearing/visual impaired. This would be a great addition to the existing magnifying glass and on-screen keyboard.
but it uses Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 which most computers don't have(i think so correct me if i am wrong) so it might have a little objections to getting it added. I think i saw it happen with another program that depends on Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
Never curse the alligator till you done cross the bridge. 
It's .NET, which isn't applicable to portable apps for a number of reasons.
I have already written off .NET applications generally in normal usage long ago, just because the incompatibility and the large sizes. Seeing that even .NET 3 and higher is not even available for OS just encourages the decision.
It's just another try to get apps locked into certain windows platforms, and once started using eventually means your apps aren't working anymore on as much systems as you otherwise would have had. I steer away from software (even open source) that relies on .NET. As if the apps could not be made without it.
.NET is for lazy developers anyway.
I had tried this one, but it is .NET, and I was thinking it's kinda pointless cause it doesn't have a custom voice, it relys on the MS one, but I guess it does make it easier.
What a shame. I know most computers don't have .Net installed. At first I did not believed it, since all my computers have it. Then I came to realize that a program that I use (for productivity) uses it and installs it on my computers. But regardless of, it's still a shame that it can't be done.
oh man, didn't realize that, will look for alternative.
I have used a freeware alternative. I know it is not open-source, however the author claims that it is already portable.
http://dimio.altervista.org/eng/
Scroll about halfway down the page.
Unfortunately it does require voices to be installed (links included on that page).
. . .upon the voices in the Win voice engine & thus can no longer be truly called portable if you want anything more than the pitiful default voices.
Open source, sounds good, Java Runtime based, meant to run on Windows, Linux, Solaris, or OSX - so might be easier to portablize...
edit: fixed the link - embarrassing typo!
Since version 3.5.0, there is an additional stand-alone version, of which the installer(in java) can download voices while installing. See(as the link above is broken): The MARY Text-to-Speech System: Download — MARY Text-to-Speech The license of MARY permits the modification, but to create a PortableApps-version, it must provide the source(be opensource), for which case you find OpenMary.
and it's pretty good. It has a number of free voices, and the ability to use voices from some other providers.
It requires Java to run, so I guess you'll need to have Portablized Java on your stick.
In order to run it, you need to start the Mary Server component (took up to a minute) and then the Mary Client. After that, you can run EmoSpeak that adds inflection to the speech.
Apparently there are also tools for building your own voices, but I haven't go that far.
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