Read aloud not working on browsers missing voices

[sezanzeb]

Description

What problem are we solving? What does the experience look like today? What are the symptoms? How can one reproduce the problem?

Clicking on the headphones icon highlights the first sentence on the open page, and then does nothing. Tried in firefox on linux, brave on linux and in firefox on android.

Evidence / Screenshot (if possible)

Include evidence of the problem or provide a screenshot.

it just hangs there forever

Expectation

What should be happening? What will it look like / how will it behave when fixed?

I guess a voice should start reading the book

Context

What operating system? What browser type and version?

Mozilla Firefox 107.0

Brave Browser 107.1.45.127

5.15.78-1-MANJARO

Proposal & Constraints

What is the proposed solution / implementation? Is there a precedent of this approach succeeding elsewhere?

Stakeholders

@-tag any stakeholders of this bug

[cdrini]

Hi @sezanzeb ! The voices available for read aloud depend heavily on your browser and operating system. Firefox does not come with any voices, and can only use voices available on the Operating System. On Linux devices, adding voices is a bit difficult; this page has more info: https://askubuntu.com/questions/953509/how-can-i-change-the-voice-used-by-firefox-reader-view-narrator-in-ubuntu .

Regardless we should display an error or fallback to festival when no voices are present on WebTTSEngine.

[cdrini]

I can't reproduce this issue on Firefox Mobile + Android.

[sezanzeb]

I can't reproduce this issue on Firefox Mobile + Android.

I'm running /e/OS or something, using microg instead of any google apps

Regardless we should display an error

yes please