Tools and Resources for Spell Checking

| Blogging Tips

There is nothing worse than an otherwise witty blog post marked by several spelling errors (especially if you are getting paid to write it…). Sure, people will still be able to understand the overall meaning of your words, but your credibility might get damaged along the way.

Luckily, technology comes at our aid. Below you will find a list of resources and tools that can be used to spell check your articles, emails, websites and more.

Browsers

• Firefox 2.0: Ever posted a comment on a blog only to find out that you had written “embarasment” instead of “embarrassment?” The latest release of the Mozilla house comes with an in-built spell checker that works inside web forms; very useful for active Internet users.
• Firefox 1.5: If you have a fetish with Firefox 1.5 and are reluctant to upgrade it to the newest version, no worries! There is an extension called SpellBound that will add the spell checking functionality to your browser.
• Internet Explorer: There is no reason to use Internet Explorer. Firefox is faster, more flexible and more reliable. But this is not the central topic of this article, so if you (still) are an Internet Explorer user, you can use an extension called IESpell.

Online Tools

• SpellChecker.net: The site is not so fast, but it gets the job done when it comes to spell checking. The service also includes a “Grammar Checker,” but I am not sure how reliable it is considering that it did not correct sentences like “He are my friend” and “I go there last year.”
• Orangoo: The site is pretty fast and the corrections are done in the same window (as opposed to being displayed in pop-ups like with SpellChecker.net). Another advantage is that it supports 28 different languages.

Website Spell Checkers

• Spell checking your website could be a good idea. If you don’t have time or patience to carry it out on your own, you can use an online service.TextTrust.com is a company that will spell check your website for you. It offers a free trial version where results are emailed to you within one business day. Additional services are charged.

Open Source Software

• OpenOffice.org: Microsoft Word comes with a nice spell checker, but this certainly doesn’t justify the hundred bucks that you’ll need to spend for it. OpenOffice.org is one of the best alternatives around. While the spreadsheet utility might not be as good as Excel, the word processor offers virtually all the features you’ll ever need.
• AbiWord: If you want to use only a word processor and not the complete Office suite you can try AbiWord. It is a light software, and apart from the spell checker it also comes with a grammar checker.
• LanguageTool: This is an open source grammar checker. Basically it will catch grammar errors that would pass the spell checker, like repeating two words or using “a” before a word starting with a vowel sound. The interesting thing is that you can add custom “rules” for special mistakes that you are looking for.

Paid Software

• As-U-Type: This spell checker apparently works at Operational System level, meaning that once you install it you will be able to use it inside all applications. Apart from functioning as a real time spell checker, the software will also learn your typing habits and automatically correct common mistakes. There is a free trial version which works for 30 days, and the full software costs $39.