SpeechSynthesis.speak()

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

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

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.

var synth = window.speechSynthesis;

  ...

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();
}

Specifications

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

Browser compatibility

DesktopMobile
ChromeEdgeFirefoxInternet ExplorerOperaSafariAndroid webviewChrome for AndroidFirefox for AndroidOpera for AndroidSafari on iOSSamsung Internet
speak
Experimental
Chrome Full support 33Edge Full support 14Firefox Full support 49IE No support NoOpera Full support 21Safari Full support 7WebView Android Full support 4.4.3Chrome Android Full support 33Firefox 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 NoSafari iOS Full support 7Samsung 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.
User must explicitly enable this feature.
User must explicitly enable this feature.

See also