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🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca
4mo
The State of Modern AI Text To Speech Systems for Screen Reader Users: The past year has seen an explosion in new text to speech engines based on neural networks, large language models, and machine learning. But has any of this advancement offered anything to those using screen readers? stuff.interfree.ca/2026/01/05/ai-tts-for-screenreaders.html
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🏳️‍⚧️PepperTheVixen🇵🇸 @PepperTheVixen@meow.social
4mo
@fastfinge I've started using eSpeak-ng. It's grating, but I can crank the speed up way higher than any other TTS I've ever used, especially the fancy AI shit that simulates breath draws and lip movement
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🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca
4mo
@PepperTheVixen The reason it's grating is because unlike Eloquence and dectalk, Espeak only uses formant synthesis for the vowel sounds. For consonants and plosives, it instead uses concatenative recordings based on human speech. That's why even when you switch to a voice that sounds less sharp, the "t", "b", "p", and other sounds are still too sharp. This seems to be the primary cause of the fatigue most people experience while using ESpeak.
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