At some point we did not have time to read a text while we had other tasks to do and we needed a program to convert text to speech . For this, there are many tools available that can help us read text while doing other tasks at the same time. There are very good free tools, others for payment and many websites that do not require the installation of programs and are ready to use just by visiting the website.
TTS or text-to-speech programs are those that we use to convert text to audio, so that they can read any type of text in our language. These programs and websites help millions of people with eye problems or who have some type of dyslexia that makes it difficult for them to read texts on the screens.
Programs to convert text to speech
Balabolka
It is a program that allows us to read texts, in addition to having different voice configuration options and having support for Microsoft Word DOC files, Adobe PDF or HTML to read web pages. It has support SAPI 4 (Microsoft Speech API) with eight different voices to choose from and SAPI 5 , with two different voices or you can directly use the integrated narrator in Microsoft Windows. You can adjust the tonality, speed and volume to create a voice that adapts to our needs.
Apart from reading you can also save narrations in audio files in a wide format of options such as MP3 and WAV and for very long documents you can create bookmarks to make it easy to jump to the different sections of a text and it has tools to help you personalize the pronunciations of the words to the taste of each one. In addition, it has a spell checker for the text and supports multiple languages, including Spanish.
You can download Balabolka completely free from its website, being compatible with Windows computers, from XP to Windows 10.
NaturalReader
This text-to-speech converter has integrated OCR functions, allows you to change the interface, has an integrated browser, as well as typography specified for dyslexics. It also includes a library to load documents , so that we can sort them and have them all stored. In addition, it supports a large number of file types including the ePub format for you to read our electronic books. It has integrated OCR that allows us to upload a photo or a scanned text and the program will take care of reading it.
NaturalReader has a free version that we can download from its official website . It has free unlimited voices, allows reading text in other applications, includes a pronunciation editor and works with PDF, DOCX, TXT and ePub files. It also has several paid versions that we can buy from 90 euros, with additional functions, such as converting text to MP3 or up to 5000 images per year for OCR scanning.
Panopreter Basic
We are dealing with a program that accepts both plain text, Word documents and web pages and with which we can export the results in WAV and MP3 format. With the default settings it works very well for quick tasks, but if you spend a little time configuring it, it allows you to change the language, the location where the audio files are saved or change the interface color, among other options. Also, it allows you to play a piece of music when you have just read a text, which is a very nice functionality that other free text-to-speech readers do not integrate.
Panopreter Basic is a free application that can be downloaded from the developer’s website . Additionally, if more advanced options are needed, a Premium version is available for about 25 euros that offer tools that integrate with Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer to be able to select text and also includes extra voices.
Wordtalk
This program is developed by the University of Edinburgh and integrates with Microsoft Word as a toolbar, being compatible with all editions of Word since 97. Wordtalk offers very basic functionality, although it supports SAPI 4 and 5 voices and they can be configured to our liking. It is a valid tool for all those who need keyboard shortcuts to access functionalities that it offers simply and quickly.
It has support to read entire documents, paragraphs or words , allowing the underlining of the text as you read. It also allows you to adjust the underline, change the type of voice and its reading speed, as well as convert text to WAV or MP3 files. Wordtalk is free to download from its website and is exclusively compatible with Microsoft Word running on the Windows operating system.
Capti Voice
We are before an application that allows us to read texts changing their appearance, and listen to them with a natural sound and voice that we can customize to our liking. It can be used on any web page to listen to selected texts with an extension for Firefox, Brave / Chrome and Safari, it supports Google Docs, Office 365 and PDF documents and it also allows saving web articles and will only keep the important text. We will also be able to write, annotate and underline documents and translate into more than 100 languages, of which approximately thirty offer text-to-speech capabilities. In addition, being focused on students, it allows us to share content, send a playlist, monitor progress, share notes, and review student annotations.
Capti Voice has a free version , which has all the text-to-speech features, and which can be downloaded from the website . Additionally, it has a Pro version and an Educational version with which we can unlock additional functionalities.
eSpeak
It is a free and free software that uses the “formant” voice synthesis that allows you to reproduce multiple languages in a small space with clear sound. It can be used at high speeds, but it is not as natural or fluid as recording-based synthesizers for larger people. It includes different voices that can be customized to our liking and save voice files in WAV format . It also allows you to convert text to phonemes with pitch and length information, allowing it to be adapted as an interface for other speech synthesis engines.
If you want to try eSpeak you can download it for free from the developer’s website, offering compatibility with Linux, RISC OS, Mac OS and Windows computers.
NextUp TextAloud
This application is responsible for converting text from documents, web pages and PDF to natural sound. TextAloud is responsible for helping people with dyslexia, reading problems or vision problems, as it allows you to underline words while reading them . It has extensive integration with Internet Explorer, Outlook, Firefox, Word, Windows Explorer and Chrome browser. In addition, it allows us to save texts in different audio formats to be able to listen to them anywhere.
TextAloud is a paid application, and in order to use it we must buy its license, which costs 33 euros. If we want to test it before deciding on its purchase, we can download a free 20-day trial version from its official website.
Integrated Windows Narrator
Windows defaults to a narrator who reads all the actions we perform and also reads everything we write. It is perfect for blind people since it narrates absolutely all the actions that are carried out, making it the ideal companion. Although it does not work as perfect as it should when reading what we write letter by letter and it does not have a function to save the texts or paragraphs that we want in an audio file.
We can also use the integrated Windows Narrator in case we need it for physical reasons, since it will help us simplify various tasks or, at least, make them more comfortable. To start running the application, all you have to do is type Narrator in the Windows 10 Start bar and select the application.
Web pages to convert text to speech
For all those people who are looking for no more programs on their computer, there are many web pages available that do the basic functions of converting text to speech and we are going to analyze the main ones.
NaturalReader Online
This application is the same one that we have previously analyzed as a program and is available for free in web format. This web format is the best of all the online options for converting text to speech, both written text and documents. It has direct reading of what we write, it has typography for dyslexics and it allows uploading all types of documents online. It has more than 100 natural sounding voices, available in 16 different languages.
To be able to perform text-to-speech conversion with NaturalReader Online, all you have to do is access its website .
text speech
It is a web page with which we can convert any text to speech in MP3 audio format and allows us to download it for free. It supports eight languages, including Spanish, and has five voices to choose from (three male and two female) to adapt to each case. We can also choose the reading speed between slow, medium, fast and very fast. In addition, it supports up to 500,000 read characters.
We can convert text to speech with text speech for free by accessing its official website .
ReadSpeaker
It is a web page oriented to the professional sector that allows us to listen online to the text that we paste or that we write in the section personalize your message on the web. It has compatibility with multiple languages , including Spanish, where we will have female and male voices to choose from. ReadSpeaker is optimized for different sectors or industries (Automotive, Entertainment, healthcare, etc). The website includes a synthesis of voice and reading aloud for our company.
If we access the ReadSpeaker website we can perform a demo as a test to see how the service works. If we want to access their services, we must contact them.
iSpeech
This page allows us to read the texts and convert them to voice in more than 27 languages , including Spanish. It has 3 different reading speeds to adapt the reading to the speed that suits us best. In addition, with the registration you can download the audio in multiple formats, among which are: WAV, MP3, OGG, WMA, AIFF, ALAW, ULAW, VOX and MP4.
We can access the iSpeech page and do a free trial of their service. We can also hire your text to audio conversion services, from $ 100 for 900 words.
