SpeechSynthesis.getVoices()

Experimental

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

The getVoices() method of the SpeechSynthesis interface returns a list of SpeechSynthesisVoice objects representing all the available voices on the current device.

Syntax

speechSynthesisInstance.getVoices();

Parameters

None.

Return value

A list (array) of SpeechSynthesisVoice objects.

Note: The spec wrongly lists this method as returning as a SpeechSynthesisVoiceList object, but this was in fact removed from the spec.

Example

JavaScript

function populateVoiceList() {
  if(typeof speechSynthesis === 'undefined') {
    return;
  }

  var voices = speechSynthesis.getVoices();

  for(var i = 0; i < voices.length; i++) {
    var option = document.createElement('option');
    option.textContent = voices[i].name + ' (' + voices[i].lang + ')';

    if(voices[i].default) {
      option.textContent += ' -- DEFAULT';
    }

    option.setAttribute('data-lang', voices[i].lang);
    option.setAttribute('data-name', voices[i].name);
    document.getElementById("voiceSelect").appendChild(option);
  }
}

populateVoiceList();
if (typeof speechSynthesis !== 'undefined' && speechSynthesis.onvoiceschanged !== undefined) {
  speechSynthesis.onvoiceschanged = populateVoiceList;
}

HTML

<select id="voiceSelect"></select>

Specifications

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

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also