SpeechSynthesis.speak()

This is an experimental technology
Because this technology's specification has not stabilized, check the compatibility table for usage in various browsers. Also note that the syntax and behavior of an experimental technology is subject to change in future versions of browsers as the specification changes.

The speak() method of the SpeechSynthesis interface adds an utterance to the utterance queue; it will be spoken when any other utterances queued before it have been spoken.

Syntax

JavaScript
speechSynthesisInstance.speak(utterance);

Returns

Void.

Parameters

utterance
A SpeechSynthesisUtterance object.

Examples

This snippet is excerpted from our Speech synthesiser demo. When a form containing the text we want to speak is submitted, we (amongst other things) create a new utterance containing this text, then speak it by passing it into speak() as a parameter.

JavaScript
var synth = window.speechSynthesis;

  ...

<code class="language-js">inputForm.onsubmit = function(event) {
  event.preventDefault();

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

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
Web Speech API
The definition of 'speak()' in that specification.		 Draft  

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari (WebKit)
Basic support 33 49 (49) No support ? 7
Feature Android Chrome Firefox Mobile (Gecko) Firefox OS IE Phone Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support (Yes) (Yes) No support 2.0 No support No support 7.1

See also

License

© 2016 Mozilla Contributors
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-us/docs/web/api/speechsynthesis/speak

API Experimental Method Reference speak speech SpeechSynthesis synthesis Web Speech API