Is There a Text-to-Speech Option in Windows 10?
The Windows 10 Text to Speech option is called Narrator. You have to turn this Ease of Access feature on from Settings or the Control Panel. Narrator is a screen reader designed for the visually impaired, but anyone can use it to give their eyes a rest. With the Text-to-Speech features, you can navigate Windows screens, apps, and web pages. For instance, the Text-to-Speech option can read entire web pages, spreadsheet tables and describe formatting attributes like font types and font colors to help you work with any content. Key features of Narrator:
Change the Narrator’s voice and install other text-to-speech voices.Personalize the speaking rate, pitch, and volume of the voice. Use Narrator’s Scan mode to navigate apps and web pages faster with keyboard shortcuts and arrow keys.
How Do I Turn on Text-to-Speech on My Computer?
Narrator is switched off by default in Windows. Follow these steps to enable it.
How Do I Turn On Text-to-Speech on My Computer?
After you enable Narrator, you can quickly launch it to use text-to-speech for anything on the screen.
How Do I Use Text-to-Speech in Windows?
Read text from any location on the screen or page with modifier key combinations. Then, control what you want to read by page, paragraph, line, sentence, word, and character. Here are the main methods to navigate a screen with Narrator.
Select the Windows logo key + Ctrl + Enter together to start Narrator. Press them again to stop Narrator.Select the Windows logo key + Ctrl + N to open Narrator settings. Then enable the Use Narrator switch.
Narrator + Ctrl + Plus sign (+) to increase Text-to-Speech volume.Narrator + Ctrl + Minus sign (-) to decrease Text-to-Speech volume.Narrator + Plus sign (+) or Narrator + Minus sign (-) to speed up or slow down voice playback.
Reading Text on the Screen With Narrator
Narrator can read any text on the screen. Navigate across the content with the arrow keys or use the Scan Mode for more precise control over what you want to read. Use the Narrator modifier key with the correct shortcut to read text by page, paragraph, line, sentence, word, or character. For instance,
To read the current page: Narrator + Ctrl + ITo read text from the current location: Narrator + TabTo read the current paragraph: Narrator + Ctrl + KTo read the current line: Narrator + ITo read the current sentence: Narrator + Ctrl + CommaTo read the current word: Narrator + KTo read the current character: Narrator + CommaTo stop reading: CtrlTo navigate out of the content: Select the Tab key or use an application shortcut.
Basic Navigation With Tab Key, Arrow Keys, and Keyboard Shortcuts
With Tab and the arrow keys, you can jump between interactive controls like buttons, checkboxes, and links.
To open a hyperlink on a web page, go to it with the tab and arrow keys. Then, press Enter to open the page.To find out more about a link, press Narrator + Ctrl + D and Narrator can tell you the page title behind the link.To find out more about an image, press Narrator + Ctrl + D and Narrator will read a description of the image.
Advanced Navigation With Scan Mode
Scan Mode in Narrator will help you work through page content like paragraphs using just the Up and Down Arrow keys. Turn it on or off with Caps Lock + Space and then use keyboard commands like H to jump forward through headings, B for buttons, or D for landmarks. There are many Scan Mode commands. Refer to the Microsoft Support’s Narrator Guide to learn more about them. Narrator has an exhaustive list of commands to help navigate a screen with the help of sound and shortcuts. Remember these two keyboard shortcuts
Narrator + F1: Display the entire commands list.Narrator + F2: Display commands for the current item.
