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Notes on free text to speech, voice readers, and the Web Speech API.

• How computer voices went from robotic to nearly human

  The voice reading this article to you sounds nothing like the computer voices of twenty years ago. Here is the chain of ideas that closed the gap.

  2026-07-18 · 6 min read

• The hidden costs of 'free' AI voice generators

  Most AI voice tools advertise a free tier, then meter it. Here is what 'free' usually means, what you trade for it, and when the paid version is genuinely worth it.

  2026-07-14 · 6 min read

• Text-to-speech reading tools are not screen readers

  A reading tool voices an article you chose. A screen reader narrates the whole interface so a blind user can navigate it. They sound alike and are not the same thing.

  2026-07-09 · 5 min read

• How to read EPUB ebooks aloud in your browser

  An EPUB is a ZIP of chapters your browser can parse locally. Here is how read-aloud works for ebooks, and the one thing it cannot do.

  2026-07-04 · 6 min read

• How to listen to any web article aloud, cleanly

  A raw web page is full of junk your browser will happily read out loud. Here is how to strip an article down to its text first, and why URL reading has a real limit.

  2026-06-30 · 6 min read

• How to train yourself to listen at 1.5x and 2x speed

  Comprehending text-to-speech at 1.5x or 2x is a trainable skill, not a talent. Here is the practical routine, the voice tricks, and the honest limits.

  2026-06-23 · 6 min read

• Fix an empty voice list: no voices available in your browser

  The voice dropdown is empty and nothing reads aloud. Here is how to tell whether the fault is the site, the browser, or your operating system, and how to fix each one.

  2026-06-16 · 6 min read

• Using your browser's foreign voices to learn a language

  Your browser can already speak Spanish, Japanese, and German in the right accent. Here is how to use its foreign-language voices to practice listening and pronunciation.

  2026-06-09 · 6 min read

• The Web Speech API: a developer's guide to the gotchas

  The SpeechSynthesis API is three lines of code that mostly work, plus a handful of gotchas that will waste your afternoon. Here is the short list, in order.

  2026-06-02 · 6 min read

• The best free text-to-speech voices on Windows, explained

  Windows ships two very different sets of voices: old robotic SAPI5 ones and much better neural Natural voices. Here is how to find them and turn them on.

  2026-05-27 · 6 min read

• Which browser voices stay on your device, and which do not

  Some Web Speech API voices report local synthesis. Others use a network service. Here is the property that helps you compare them, and how to check it yourself.

  2026-05-20 · 5 min read

• Why Chrome stops reading out loud after 15 seconds

  Desktop Chrome silently cuts off text-to-speech after about 15 seconds on long text. Here is the Chromium bug behind it, and the two ways to work around it.

  2026-05-14 · 5 min read

• How browser-native text-to-speech actually works

  A tested explanation of the Web Speech API, where browser voices come from, what localService means, and which parts may still use a network.

  2026-05-08 · 5 min read

• Best free text-to-speech for Chrome: what to use and why

  A tested decision guide to free Chrome text-to-speech, including browser voices, extensions, privacy limits, and when a paid tool is actually necessary.

  2026-05-05 · 5 min read