Improve User Experience With Text To Speech

Improve user experience with text-to-speech using Speechify. Its UX design is focused on the end user's experience created for persons with disabilities.

Improve User Experience With Text To Speech

Have you ever downloaded a software that promised to make life easier but proved to be too much of a hassle to use? 

Iphone users know the frustration of activating the Siri voice assistant by accident during an important conversation. Multitasking home owners and parents alike know the pros and cons of owning a smart speaker that can be activated by any child’s voice or dog’s bark, leaving users questioning the built-in technology of speech recognition. And anyone who has called a customer service line only to be greeted by Interactive Voice Response (IVR) understands how difficult it is to dialog with AI. Modern conveniences can easily turn to frustration if the software or web design isn’t able to handle the unpredictable actions of a human agent. 

How to improve user experience is the dilemma software developers face when creating a voice user interface (VUI) or read-aloud TTS software that’s intended to make websites and digital content more accessible for users with disabilities like visual impairment, learning disabilities, ADHD, and other physical and mental impairments. 

Keep reading to learn how Speechify’s UX design uses ingenuity to improve user interface and enhance customer experience in its product design for tts mobile apps and web plugin. 

Improve user experience with text to speech 

The first step to improving user experience with any accessibility software is understanding the most common problems by performing user research.  

One problem with other TTS software options is that the voices available for real-time playback are robotic and do not imitate the accents, intonations or cadence of human voices. Speechify has solved this problem by revolutionizing speech synthesis. Modern speech technology allows users to listen back to any text in their native language or accent at the touch of a button. AI is able to change tone based on the formatting of the text so that voices sound more human-like to enhance user experience.  

Improving accessibility and the user interface

Another problem with other TTS or Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology is that playback is typically too slow and difficult to navigate. Speechify allows users to listen to any text at any speed. Users listening for work or school can playback the onscreen text, switch between devices without losing their place, and fast forward or rewind as necessary. 

Problematic voice user interface can be another difficulty for people with impairments. On an android smartphone, for example, the text-to-speech software, once activated, cannot easily be paused or turned off. The speech automation is triggered when users navigate to a new web page or open a different app on their phone. To turn it off, users have to locate settings and switch off the speech technology to make it stop. Users with visual impairment or physical disability may rate the phone’s built in API very low for usability and functionality. 

TTS readers for web pages 

Speechify’s TTS reader for web pages allows for a pleasant customer experience every time. The user interface on the web browser includes a floating widget that’s customizable and allows users to have easy access to the play/pause button, voice changer, bookmark option, and speed dial. Users never have to wonder how to make the playback stop. And, where supported, Speechify uses text highlighting so listeners can follow along and process the information both visibly and audibly. 

Most built-in text-to-speech options don’t allow users to create an audio file that syncs between devices and can be shared via email or Google Drive. Users are able to listen as long as the API has access to the digital text. Speechify, on the other hand, allows users to create and save audio files of whatever is on their screen for playback later. 

Speechify has its own API that does text-to-speech that other company’s can use to enhance user experience on their website. Newspaper websites may offer natural sounding text-to-speech powered by Speechify to the end user as a perk of membership. 

Speechify does it all

With an accessible user interface built specifically for users with disabilities, Speechify’s UX design truly is dedicated to the end user’s customer experience. Speechify’s mobile apps are designed for the active listener on the go. The web extension is enhanced by the user's ability to switch to the phone at any time. It’s no wonder the app is rated #1 in the App Store. 

Text to Speech helps maximize productivity  

Speechify’s TTS speech technology helps maximize user’s productivity by creating a customer experience that addresses the problems caused by impairments. Users with disabilities need mobile apps with more functionality and fewer glitches when it comes to voice recognition, product design, transcription, and usability. 

On both the web browser and mobile apps, users can pause, choose a variable playback speed, optimize their listening experience with interchangeable humanlike voices, and create files to listen to and share later. 

FAQs - See below

How can user experience be improved?

In order to improve user experience, UX design has to consider the user’s impairments and intents. If the user struggles with voice interaction, voice recognition software needs to anticipate the human agent and his or her inability to perform those functions so that they can create a workaround to enhance user experience. Interface design for speech technology that is truly accessible  should be based on user research, metrics, and studying use cases. Design teams should dialog with disabled users to determine the features that would be most helpful and improve user experience. 

What is text to speech?

Text-to-speech, simply put, reads speech aloud for the purposes of accessibility, increasing productivity, and enhancing consumer experience. 

What is the most realistic text to speech engine?

Speechify has the most realistic AI generated voices available for instant playback and file storage for later use. It’s available for iOS products like the iPhone, android products, and Chrome. Speechify understands the ways people consume information. By using Speechify’s mobile apps and Chrome extension, all users are invited to turn their digital content into an instant podcast.