SpeechRecognition.maxAlternatives

Experimental

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

The maxAlternatives property of the SpeechRecognition interface sets the maximum number of SpeechRecognitionAlternatives provided per SpeechRecognitionResult.

The default value is 1.

Syntax

var myMaxAlternativeNumber = mySpeechRecognition.maxAlternatives;
mySpeechRecognition.maxAlternatives = 2;

Value

A number representing the maximum returned alternatives for each result.

Examples

This code is excerpted from our Speech color changer example.

var grammar = '#JSGF V1.0; grammar colors; public <color> = aqua | azure | beige | bisque | black | blue | brown | chocolate | coral | crimson | cyan | fuchsia | ghostwhite | gold | goldenrod | gray | green | indigo | ivory | khaki | lavender | lime | linen | magenta | maroon | moccasin | navy | olive | orange | orchid | peru | pink | plum | purple | red | salmon | sienna | silver | snow | tan | teal | thistle | tomato | turquoise | violet | white | yellow ;'
var recognition = new SpeechRecognition();
var speechRecognitionList = new SpeechGrammarList();
speechRecognitionList.addFromString(grammar, 1);
recognition.grammars = speechRecognitionList;
//recognition.continuous = false;
recognition.lang = 'en-US';
recognition.interimResults = false;
recognition.maxAlternatives = 1;

...

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
Web Speech API
The definition of 'maxAlternatives' in that specification.		 Draft

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

Firefox OS permissions

To use speech recognition in an app, you need to specify the following permissions in your manifest:

"permissions": {
  "audio-capture" : {
    "description" : "Audio capture"
  },
  "speech-recognition" : {
    "description" : "Speech recognition"
  }
}

You also need a privileged app, so you need to include this as well:

  "type": "privileged"

See also