Web/CSS/@counter-style/speak-as

The speak-as descriptor specifies how a counter symbol constructed with a given @counter-style will be represented in the spoken form. For example, an author can specify a counter symbol to be either spoken as its numerical value or just represented with an audio cue.

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
speak-as: auto;
speak-as: bullets;
speak-as: numbers;
speak-as: words;
speak-as: spell-out;

/* @counter-style name value */
speak-as: <counter-style-name>;

Values

auto: If the value of speak-as is specified as auto, then the effective value of speak-as will be determined based on the value of the system descriptor:

If the value of system is alphabetic, the effective value of speak-as will be spell-out. If system is cyclic, the effective value of speak-as will be bullets. If system is extends, the value of speak-as will be the same as if speak-as: auto is specified on the extended style. For all other cases, specifying auto has the same effect as specifying speak-as: numbers.

bullets: A phrase or an audio cue defined by the user agent for representing an unordered list item will be read out.
numbers: The numerical value of the counter will be read out in the document language.
words: The user agent will generate a counter value as normal and read it out as a word in the document language.
spell-out: The user agent will generate a counter representation as normal and would read it out letter by letter. If the user agent doesn't know how to read out a partiular counter symbol, the user agent might read it out as if the value of speak-as was numbers.
<counter-style-name>: The name of another counter style, specified as a <custom-ident>. If included, the counter will be spoken out in the form specified in that counter style, kind of like specifying the fallback descriptor. If the specified style does not exist, speak-as defaults to auto.

Accessibility concerns

Assistive technology support is very limited for the speak-as property. Do not rely on it to convey information critical to understanding the page's purpose.

Let's Talk About Speech CSS | CSS Tricks

Formal definition

Related at-rule	`@counter-style`
Initial value	`auto`
Computed value	as specified

Formal syntax

auto | bullets | numbers | words | spell-out | <counter-style-name>where <counter-style-name> = <custom-ident>

Examples

Setting the spoken form for a counter

HTML

<ul class="list">
  <li>One</li>
  <li>Two</li>
  <li>Three</li>
  <li>Four</li>
  <li>Five</li>
</ul>

CSS

@counter-style speak-as-example {
  system: fixed;
  symbols:     ;
  suffix: " ";
  speak-as: numbers;
}

.list {
  list-style: speak-as-example;    
}

Result

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Counter Styles Level 3The definition of 'speak-as' in that specification.	Candidate Recommendation	Initial definition.

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
`speak-as`	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 33	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 33	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support