Many people think speech synthesis is of use only in primary education and for people with certain difficulties such as impaired vision or dyslexia. This is certainly `not the case. !Speak is of use to everyone.
Proof Reading
How often do you make silly mistakes when writing letters, emails or news postings? Missed out words, wrong words, duplicate words; these are errors that a Spelling Checker can't detect. You often miss them when looking through your text too! You read what you think is there, not what actually `is. How embarrassing it is when your mistakes are there in the newsgroup for everyone to see. But when you `hear your text being spoken, these errors stand out clearly. !Speak allows you to make corrections to your text while it speaks it.
Talk as you Type
People use spelling checkers which check words as you type. !Speak includes a Talk-as-you-Type module which speaks words as you type them. You can hear your mistakes, not just spelling errors, but missed words and wrong words too. Talk-as-you-Type works by looking at the keyboard, so it will work with any application whether or not it supports speech.
Text Reading
Do you have difficulty reading long text files carefully? `Instruction files, `ReadMe files, information from the Web? Read them while they are being spoken, and it forces you to read them carefully, at a steady pace. It may take longer, but you're sure you have read them thoroughly. Or do you want to read a file while you are doing some other job? Set the text speaking, and so long as your other activity doesn't take too much mental effort, you can listen at the same time. Can't be bothered to read the ReadMe files on this month's magazine cover disk? Just listen to them instead.
What is SPEAK?
SPEAK is a software text to speech system for Acorn computers. No additional hardware is needed. The SPEAK system consists of:
A text to speech module, which provides *commands and SWI calls.
The !Speak talking text editor.
A Phonetic Based Spelling Checker.
The Talk-as-you-Type module.
The !PhonEdit pronunciation editor.
SPEAK works on any Acorn computer with RiscOS 3.0 or later (although those with ARM2 processors will need to run with low-resolution graphics).
Text to Speech Module.
This produces the best quality synthesised speech on Acorn computers. It sounds more natural, is easier to listen to, and has more accurate pronunciation, than previous Acorn based speech synthesis systems. It speaks British English (not American) and talks with an English accent which is hopefully neither overly Southern or Northern. You can call it from your own programs by passing it an English text string either as a *command, or by an SWI call. The speech module and its data files total about 250 k.bytes of memory, which is far less than most PC systems. The speech module applies suitable intonation and cadence over each clause, taking note of punctuation such as commas, brackets, quotes, and question marks to vary this.
!SpeakTalking Text Editor.
Drop text files into it or import/export text from other applications. It can speak text continuously (at various speeds), or a word or a clause at a time. It provides a number of different talk-as-you-type options, and you can click on any word to hear it spoken. For ease of use, it has a button bar at the top of the window. Text can be edited (in a similar way to in !Edit) while it is being spoken, making it ideal for `proof-reading. The cursor can follow the text as it speaks, and the window scrolls automatically. The speaking can be easily paused and continued at any point by simply pressing the `escape key. This is not a full word-processor, but you can use it to prepare text for a word processor, or to speak text from one. Or you can use it by itself if you don't need text layout features.
Phonetic `Spelling Checker.
The !Speak talking text editor now includes a phonetic based `spelling checker. This differs from conventional spelling checkers in that it produces its list of suggested words based on the sound of the given word. For example for "plays" it will suggest "place" and "plaice" even though the latter is several letters different. "sizer" will give "seizure" and "scissor". This makes it especially useful for people with spelling difficulties. It compares very favourably with the popular hand-held Franklin spellmaster range in that its list of suggestions includes fewer false-positives (words which could not possibly be intended). It also has a conventional "typo" option for suggesting words, which behaves similarly to the Impression `spell-checker. An additional feature is as a crossword puzzle solving aid. It can list the words which match a template of known and unknown letters.
Talk-As-You-Type Module.
This looks at words as you type them on the keyboard. It can be used to speak text which you type into any application, whether or not that application supports speech.
Pronunciation Editor.
SPEAK is surprisingly accurate in its pronunciation considering its compact size and the extremely poor design of English spelling. A lot of work has gone into compiling the rule set and exceptions list. However, in case it gets a word wrong, for example a place name or a word of foreign origin, you can teach it the correct pronunciation and stress pattern. Pronunciations can be specified either by giving a "Sounds like" word, or by using the International Phonetic Alphabet. The pronunciation editor has buttons for the various phonemes, each of which can speak its sound, with an example word.
