What you can expect from the best text to speech APIs?Īny text to speech API will return an audio file. Users with disabilities also have higher expectations than in the past, and developers are better off meeting their needs with a robust, established text to speech API rather than using a homegrown solution. Using an API for text to speech can make programs much more effective.Įspecially because speech synthesis is such a specialized and complex field, an API can free up developers to focus on the unique strengths of their own program. For example, a sighted user following a recipe on their phone could have it read aloud to them instead of constantly having to clean their hands to check the next step.

There are many use cases for text to speech, including safer use of an app or program in situations where looking at a screen might be dangerous, distracting or just inconvenient. Text-to-speech APIs can also help nondisabled users, however. It’s almost always better to provide a native text-to-speech solution within your program or app. While screen readers and other types of adaptive hardware and software exist to allow users with disabilities to use inaccessible programs, these can be complicated and expensive. Users with vision problems may be unable to read text and interpret figures that rely on sight alone, so the ability to have content spoken to them instead of reading can mean the difference between an unusable program and a usable one. Text to speech is crucial for some users with disabilities. The best text to speech APIs also allow selection of accent and gender, as well as other options. This object can then be integrated into the program which made the request and played for the user. Once the API receives the request, it will return the equivalent audio object.

Optionally, text can often be formatted using SSML, a type of markup language created to improve the efficiency of speech synthesis programs. How does a text-to-speech API work?įirst, a program sends text to the API as a request, typically in JSON format. In most cases, text to speech refers specifically to text on a computer or other device. Text to speech (TTS), also known as speech synthesis, is the process of converting written text to spoken audio. TTS APIs (text to speech APIs) can be used to enable speech-based text output in an app or program in addition to providing text on a screen.

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