Web/API/SpeechSynthesis

From Get docs

This is an experimental technologyCheck the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.


The SpeechSynthesis interface of the Web Speech API is the controller interface for the speech service; this can be used to retrieve information about the synthesis voices available on the device, start and pause speech, and other commands besides.

Properties

SpeechSynthesis also inherits properties from its parent interface, EventTarget.

SpeechSynthesis.paused Read only
A Boolean that returns true if the SpeechSynthesis object is in a paused state.
SpeechSynthesis.pending Read only
A Boolean that returns true if the utterance queue contains as-yet-unspoken utterances.
SpeechSynthesis.speaking Read only
A Boolean that returns true if an utterance is currently in the process of being spoken — even if SpeechSynthesis is in a paused state.

Methods

SpeechSynthesis also inherits methods from its parent interface, EventTarget.

SpeechSynthesis.cancel()
Removes all utterances from the utterance queue.
SpeechSynthesis.getVoices()
Returns a list of SpeechSynthesisVoice objects representing all the available voices on the current device.
SpeechSynthesis.pause()
Puts the SpeechSynthesis object into a paused state.
SpeechSynthesis.resume()
Puts the SpeechSynthesis object into a non-paused state: resumes it if it was already paused.
SpeechSynthesis.speak()
Adds an utterance to the utterance queue; it will be spoken when any other utterances queued before it have been spoken.

Events

Listen to this event using addEventListener() or by assigning an event listener to the oneventname property of this interface.

voiceschanged
Fired when the list of SpeechSynthesisVoice objects that would be returned by the SpeechSynthesis.getVoices() method has changed. Also available via the onvoiceschanged property.

Examples

First, a simple example:

let utterance = new SpeechSynthesisUtterance("Hello world!");
speechSynthesis.speak(utterance);

Now we'll look at a more fully-fledged example. In our Speech synthesiser demo, we first grab a reference to the SpeechSynthesis controller using window.speechSynthesis. After defining some necessary variables, we retrieve a list of the voices available using SpeechSynthesis.getVoices() and populate a select menu with them so the user can choose what voice they want.

Inside the inputForm.onsubmit handler, we stop the form submitting with preventDefault(),  create a new SpeechSynthesisUtterance instance containing the text from the text <input>, set the utterance's voice to the voice selected in the <select> element, and start the utterance speaking via the SpeechSynthesis.speak() method.

var synth = window.speechSynthesis;

var inputForm = document.querySelector('form');
var inputTxt = document.querySelector('.txt');
var voiceSelect = document.querySelector('select');

var pitch = document.querySelector('#pitch');
var pitchValue = document.querySelector('.pitch-value');
var rate = document.querySelector('#rate');
var rateValue = document.querySelector('.rate-value');

var voices = [];

function populateVoiceList() {
  voices = synth.getVoices();

  for(var i = 0; i < voices.length ; i++) {
    var option = document.createElement('option');
    option.textContent = voices[i].name + ' (' + voices[i].lang + ')';
    
    if(voices[i].default) {
      option.textContent += ' -- DEFAULT';
    }

    option.setAttribute('data-lang', voices[i].lang);
    option.setAttribute('data-name', voices[i].name);
    voiceSelect.appendChild(option);
  }
}

populateVoiceList();
if (speechSynthesis.onvoiceschanged !== undefined) {
  speechSynthesis.onvoiceschanged = populateVoiceList;
}

inputForm.onsubmit = function(event) {
  event.preventDefault();

  var utterThis = new SpeechSynthesisUtterance(inputTxt.value);
  var selectedOption = voiceSelect.selectedOptions[0].getAttribute('data-name');
  for(var i = 0; i < voices.length ; i++) {
    if(voices[i].name === selectedOption) {
      utterThis.voice = voices[i];
    }
  }
  utterThis.pitch = pitch.value;
  utterThis.rate = rate.value;
  synth.speak(utterThis);

  inputTxt.blur();
}

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
Web Speech APIThe definition of 'SpeechSynthesis' in that specification. Draft

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari Android webview Chrome for Android Firefox for Android Opera for Android Safari on iOS Samsung Internet

SpeechSynthesis

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 33

Edge

Full support ≤18

Firefox

Full support 49

IE

No support No

Opera

Full support 21

Safari

Full support 7

WebView Android

Full support 4.4.3

Chrome Android

Full support 33

Firefox Android Full support 62


Full support 62


No support 61 — 62

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 61 until version 62 (exclusive): this feature is behind the media.webspeech.synth.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 7

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 3.0

cancel

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 33

Edge

Full support 14

Firefox

Full support 49

IE

No support No

Opera

Full support 21

Safari

Full support 7

WebView Android

Full support 4.4.3

Chrome Android

Full support 33

Firefox Android Full support 62


Full support 62


No support 61 — 62

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 61 until version 62 (exclusive): this feature is behind the media.webspeech.synth.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 7

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 3.0

getVoices

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 33

Edge

Full support 14

Firefox

Full support 49

IE

No support No

Opera

Full support 21

Safari

Full support 7

WebView Android

Full support 4.4.3

Chrome Android

Full support 33

Firefox Android Full support 62


Full support 62


No support 61 — 62

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 61 until version 62 (exclusive): this feature is behind the media.webspeech.synth.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 7

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 3.0

onvoiceschanged

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 33

Edge

Full support 14

Firefox

Full support 49

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari

No support No

WebView Android

Full support 4.4.3

Chrome Android

Full support 33

Firefox Android Full support 62


Full support 62


No support 61 — 62

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 61 until version 62 (exclusive): this feature is behind the media.webspeech.synth.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

No support No

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 3.0

pause

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 33

Edge

Full support 14

Firefox

Full support 49

IE

No support No

Opera

Full support 21

Safari

Full support 7

WebView Android Full support 4.4.3

Notes'

Full support 4.4.3

Notes'

Notes' In Android, pause() ends the current utterance. pause() behaves the same as cancel().

Chrome Android Full support 33

Notes'

Full support 33

Notes'

Notes' In Android, pause() ends the current utterance. pause() behaves the same as cancel().

Firefox Android Full support 62

Notes'

Full support 62

Notes'

Notes' In Android, pause() ends the current utterance. pause() behaves the same as cancel(). No support 61 — 62

Notes' Disabled'

Notes' In Android, pause() ends the current utterance. pause() behaves the same as cancel(). Disabled' From version 61 until version 62 (exclusive): this feature is behind the media.webspeech.synth.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 7

Samsung Internet Android Full support 3.0

Notes'

Full support 3.0

Notes'

Notes' In Android, pause() ends the current utterance. pause() behaves the same as cancel().

paused

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 33

Edge

Full support 14

Firefox

Full support 49

IE

No support No

Opera

Full support 21

Safari

Full support 7

WebView Android

Full support 4.4.3

Chrome Android

Full support 33

Firefox Android Full support 62


Full support 62


No support 61 — 62

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 61 until version 62 (exclusive): this feature is behind the media.webspeech.synth.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 7

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 3.0

pending

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 33

Edge

Full support 14

Firefox

Full support 49

IE

No support No

Opera

Full support 21

Safari

Full support 7

WebView Android

Full support 4.4.3

Chrome Android

Full support 33

Firefox Android Full support 62


Full support 62


No support 61 — 62

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 61 until version 62 (exclusive): this feature is behind the media.webspeech.synth.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 7

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 3.0

resume

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 33

Edge

Full support 14

Firefox

Full support 49

IE

No support No

Opera

Full support 21

Safari

Full support 7

WebView Android

Full support 4.4.3

Chrome Android

Full support 33

Firefox Android Full support 62


Full support 62


No support 61 — 62

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 61 until version 62 (exclusive): this feature is behind the media.webspeech.synth.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 7

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 3.0

speak

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 33

Edge

Full support 14

Firefox

Full support 49

IE

No support No

Opera

Full support 21

Safari

Full support 7

WebView Android

Full support 4.4.3

Chrome Android

Full support 33

Firefox Android Full support 62


Full support 62


No support 61 — 62

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 61 until version 62 (exclusive): this feature is behind the media.webspeech.synth.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 7

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 3.0

speaking

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 33

Edge

Full support 14

Firefox

Full support 49

IE

No support No

Opera

Full support 21

Safari

Full support 7

WebView Android

Full support 4.4.3

Chrome Android

Full support 33

Firefox Android Full support 62


Full support 62


No support 61 — 62

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 61 until version 62 (exclusive): this feature is behind the media.webspeech.synth.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 7

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 3.0

voiceschanged event

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 33

Edge

Full support 14

Firefox

Full support 49

IE

No support No

Opera

Full support 21

Safari

Full support 7

WebView Android

Full support 4.4.3

Chrome Android

Full support 33

Firefox Android Full support 62


Full support 62


No support 61 — 62

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 61 until version 62 (exclusive): this feature is behind the media.webspeech.synth.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 7

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 3.0

Legend

Full support  
Full support
No support  
No support
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.'
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
See implementation notes.'
See implementation notes.
User must explicitly enable this feature.'
User must explicitly enable this feature.


See also