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

[Rob Hill <robhill es co nz>]

Hello Joni and list,

I think it's a good idea.  The majority of replies to this thread seem
to indicate that it's not necessary, but bear in mind that the members
of this list are in the main computer-savvy.  There is a large
potential group, possibly most of whom were born before the age of the PC, who, with a
stretch, use their computer for email, and use talking books via a
separate machine.  Such a natural-sounding voice could increase the
take-up of Orca a great deal amongst these people, and hence with luck
amongst their representative bodies, such as the RNIB and the RNZFB.  

Rob 
is, in the main, 



Joanmarie Diggs writes:
> 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