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How can I the computer to audibly read what I have typed out to me? (self.linux4noobs)

submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by BackOnMyBS to c/linux4noobs

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I use Linux Mint 21.1. I make considerable typing errors when I write but I don't see them, so it would be helpful if the machine could read out loud my writings back to me. How can I get this to happen?

I would really prefer to not have to go through an extensive set of disability accommodation steps every single time nor hear the computer tell me everything that is happening on the screen, but I will do it if necessary. I'm hoping there's an app or a LibreOffice button I can push to read only my selected text.

Here's an example of the accessibility screen reader not being helpful for me: https://imgur.com/7QvU9y4

Edit:

So at the advice of @[email protected], I searched for apps using "text-to-speech" and found an app in the software manager called VoiceGen that seems helpful!

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[–] BackOnMyBS 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

That looks promising! Unfortunately, the client link sends me to an insecure site, which I have been taught is something I should avoid, so I don't know what that link it to since I don't go to it.

The stuff in the 2nd link looks good! But in-keeping with this community's purpose, I don't know what a docker is. If you don't mind, could you explain?

[–] omawarisan 2 points 2 years ago

Oh yeah, and sorry, i didn't realize this was linux4noobs, i should have suggested simpler solutions from the get go :)

[–] omawarisan 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

You do well not trusting insecure sites - i think the maintainers of marytts just misconfigured their server.

If you don't use it already, maybe you should skip it for now - it's a bit of a can of worms - but in simple terms docker is a technology that bundles a software program with all of the other software that application needs to run, such as an operating system, third-party software libraries, etc.

You could give espeak-ng a try. You can install it via mint's software manager. You can then run it from the terminal like so

$ espeak-ng hello!

The problem with espeak is that the voices are very, very robotic. You could try different voices by using the -v command (espeak-ng -ven-us hello!). You can also list available voices for a language like so: espeak-ng --voices=en.

[–] BackOnMyBS 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

That sounds fun to try out even if just for the experience. Thanks for your help :)

[–] Freesoftwareenjoyer 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I found an article that describes different ways you can use it and how to easily paste text into it: https://www.baeldung.com/linux/command-line-text-to-speech

[–] BackOnMyBS 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

That's awesome! I really like Google's voice. I'm gonna search around and see if there's a way to get it to work on GUI. Let me know if you know of a way!

[–] Freesoftwareenjoyer 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I don't know of any, but wouldn't that be the same as what you do with google translate?

[–] omawarisan 1 points 2 years ago

have fun!