Re: [orca-list] Should Orca have a separate "reading" voice? (was: audio demo of Neospeech and Svox-Pico with Orca/speakup)

[Bill Cox <waywardgeek gmail com>]

I believe the blind here fall into two camps, based on discussions on
the bookshare.org list.  The gruop I fall into prefers to hear all
text at a rapid rate, whether reading a novel or working in gnome
terminal.  I enjoy books much more when I can get them in my head
quickly.  Basically, I have no use for "natural" voices, other than to
impress friends.  I wouldn't switch voice modes back and forth.  This
group of people prefers to download e-books from bookshare.org or
other places, and to read them rapidly with a screen reader.

The second group, perhaps as large, enjoys books read at a natural
speed, at normal speaking rate.  This group prefers audio books from
Audible.com, and has has less use for bookshare.org.  Opinions are
strong on both sides.

So, while I have no desire for such a feature, I suspect there are
others who will love it.

Bill

On Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 12:43 PM, Joanmarie Diggs
<joanmarie diggs gmail com> wrote:
> Hi Willem, all.
>
> > I got a fifteen day trial license for Neospeech under Linux and tested it
> > with speakup and Orca through speech-dispatcher.
> >
> > I also recently did a similar test using the open-source Svox-Pico tts.
> >
> > I have recorded a demonstration of these two synthesizers which can be
> > found at:
> > ftp://ftp.csir.co.za/MI/National_Accessibility_Portal/wvdwalt/ttsdemo.mp3
>
> Willem, thanks for doing this! Ignoring the issues you found, the
> Neospeech voice does sound awfully nice.
>
> This raises a question in my mind: If we're potentially going to have
> access to speech synthesizers which are more human-sounding but perhaps
> less performant, should Orca have a separate reading voice or SayAll
> voice or some such thing? In other words, when you're typing, navigating
> in menus and dialogs, etc., Orca would use one voice. When you're
> reading text (and/or doing a SayAll), Orca would use another voice.
>
> Just a thought....
>
> Take care.
> --joanie
>
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