Would you be interested in having natural sounding TTS voices by Readspeaker on Linux? demo link included

Fri Apr 16 17:58:56 UTC 2021

I'm curious, how are the eSpeak voices physically dangerous?

--
Christopher (AKA CJ)
Chaltain at Outlook

-----Original Message-----
From: blinux-list-bounces at redhat.com <blinux-list-bounces at redhat.com> On Behalf Of Linux for blind general discussion
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2021 12:52 PM
To: Linux for blind general discussion <blinux-list at redhat.com>
Subject: Re: Would you be interested in having natural sounding TTS voices by Readspeaker on Linux? demo link included

Speaking to the remind below.
what interests me here is the possibility that, if made available, one could  select these voices at the start  or near the start of installing Linux.
for me this is critical, because as it stands, the default Linux voices are  potentially physically dangerous.
So, knowing that a choice I can safely use is an option might be the difference between not using Linux in a stand alone form at all,  and using the platform.
So, yes I am interested.
I believe though you  might wish to expand your research sample, other populations use screen readers,  and if the voices work in say terminal form, they may be viable options for mac terminal users, perhaps even the new Linux incorporated in some windows systems.

On Fri, 16 Apr 2021, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:

> Hi,
> First, small remind: so far 2 high quality are available for Linux
> (non-free): Voxygen (via Hypra) and Nuance (via Voxin). These new 
> voices seem interesting to me. Linux needs high quality voices (to be 
> honest I am not fully convinced by Voxygen in other languages than 
> French). The medium price is about 20 euros per voice in the existing products.
>
> So would be happy to have this new product.
>
> regards
>
>
>
> Jean-Philippe MENGUAL
> Debian Developer non uploading
> Community team member
> Accessibility team member
> debian-l10n-french team member
> President of Debian France non-profit organization Le 16/04/2021 à 
> 06:46, Linux for blind general discussion a écrit :
>>
>>  Hi everyone,
>>  This is SL.
>>  Some of you may remember that lastmonth, Chime and I were trying to 
>> find a  way to legally port Ivonavoices to Linux.
>>  We have been in communications withReadspeaker, a company which 
>> creates  its own quality TTS voices andis also an official distributor of Ivona.
>>  Unfortunately, due torestrictions and incompatibility, we are unable 
>> to  bring Ivona toLinux at this time.
>>  However, Readspeaker is willing to considerthe possibility of 
>> working with  us to bring their own high fidelityReadspeaker brand 
>> voices to Linux as a  TTS option to use with Linuxscreenreaders if 
>> there is enough interest in  the community and if theventure would be commercially viable.
>>  Right now, we are onlysending this to the Blinux list, so please do 
>> not  forward it, as thisis not an official survey.
>>  If there is confirmed interest withinthe Blinux list as a baseline 
>> sample  group, then we would send anofficial survey which would be 
>> reviewed by  Readspeaker beforehand,and widely dispersed amongst 
>> multiple blind  Linux/tech groups to gageinterest, pricing, language 
>> preferences,  screenreader preferencesetc.
>>  Right now, we simply want to know if anyone else on thislist would 
>> want to  have Readspeaker voices to use as a TTS option forLinux 
>> screenreaders  before engaging in any further outreachefforts.
>>  We first need to know that we are not the only ones whothink it 
>> would be  worth it to have Readspeaker's high fidelity voiceson Linux.
>>  If there is enough interest in this potential project,it would 
>> likely be a  model similar to Voxin, where the consumer paysa 
>> yet-to-be-determined fee  to have their choice of Readspeaker voicefor their Linux screenreader.
>>  We can refine those particulardetails later.
>>  For now, we just want to know if anyone on thisBlinux list would be  
>> interested in having Readspeaker voices on Linuxfor a more natural  
>> sounding TTS experience.
>>  If so, then we wouldknow whether to confirm interest with 
>> Readspeaker and  work on anofficial survey which would help us 
>> determine price range and  whichlanguages to focus on etc.
>>  So, in this email we are including adirect link where you can listen 
>> to  demos of Readspeaker voices andwe ask that you let us know if you 
>> would be  interested in havingReadspeaker TTS on Linux.
>>  Please abide by Readspeaker's termsand conditions which prohibit the  
>> recording of said demos.
>>  Inthis email there is a direct link to Readspeaker's official demo 
>> pageon  their website which features a variety of voices to sample. 
>> Justselect  which voice you want to hear in the combo box, then press"listen".
>>  This link is preferable as you can accessmultiple voices which can 
>> be  included in a Linux compatibleSDK.
>>    However, you will need to use Firefox in Graphical toaccess it. If you
>>   have the ability to use graphical Firefox, pleasedo as this will give you
>>   the largest variety of choices.
>>  Weunderstand that some users may be accustomed to only using  
>> Consolebrowsers, and some multi media websites that work just fine  
>> withGraphical Firefox will not render on Lynx.
>>  If you areexclusively a Console user and cannot use Graphical 
>> Firefox to  access the link below in this email,Readspeaker sent us 
>> two mp3 files, one  with a sample of a US Englishvoice, and the other 
>> with a sample of a UK  English voice for Consoleusers to listen to if 
>> they cannot switch to  Graphical and use Firefoxto access 
>> Readspeaker's official demo page on  their website.
>>
>>  It is ourunderstanding that mp3 files cannot be posted to this  
>> mailinglist. (If this is incorrect, I can send a second email with 
>> the mp3  files if mp3 files are allowed on the Blinux list). 
>> Otherwise, if anyone  on this list is exclusively a Console user and 
>> cannotaccess the link to  Readspeaker's demo page included in this 
>> message,please feel free to email  me, SL, at my email address which 
>> I willpost at the bottom of this message  and I can send the two mp3 filesto you.
>>
>>
>>  However, the mp3files are only one sample of a US English voice, and 
>> one  sample of aUK English voice. They are created for Console users 
>> who  cannotaccess Readspeaker's official demo page which has the full 
>> variety  ofvoices.
>>
>>    Even if you are a graphical user, you may still want to listen tothe two
>>    mp3 files because even though they are only a sample of two select
>>    voices as compared to the variety on the demo web page, they read a very
>>    long sample of text and itcan help you get a feel for the flow. So
>>    anyone who wants to listento the mp3 files, just email me.
>>
>>  If you have theability to use Graphical Firefox on your setup, 
>> please use  Graphicalto click on the direct link to Readspeaker's 
>> demo page included  belowin this email, which offers the full variety 
>> of voices, multiple  options for US English, multiple options for 
>> UKEnglish, as well as other  languages. If you would like to hear 
>> longertext read in two select voices,  email me for the mp3 files.
>>  Graphicalusers please click this link to Readspeaker's official demo 
>> web  page,select any voice from the combobox list and press"listen":
>>
>>  https://www.readspeaker.com/text-to-speech-demo/
>>
>>  Consoleusers, if you cannot access Readspeaker's official demo page  
>> andwould like to listen to two mp3 samples, also to graphical users  
>> whowould just like to listen to the mp3 files which read a rather  
>> longpiece of text where you can really get acquainted with the flow,  
>> feelfree to contact SL at:
>>
>>
>>  software.liberators at slmail.me
>>
>>
>>
>>  Thanks for your timeand we look forward to your feedback,  SL and 
>> Chime  _______________________________________________
>>  Blinux-list mailing list
>>  Blinux-list at redhat.com
>>  https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list
>> 
>
>
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