About Text-to-Speech

Students testing with Text-to-Speech (TTS) can listen to test content. A test may include text that is not permitted to be read aloud. This text will be skipped when using TTS. TTS is not available on Safari browsers.

If a student is using Text-to-Speech Tracking, the words and the surrounding line of text in passages and questions are highlighted as they are read aloud.

For information about setting up TTS, see the Technology Guide on the OSAS Portal.

To listen to content with the Text-to-Speech tool:

• To listen to an entire passage, students can right-click in the passage section of the page or select the TTS button next to the passage's context menu. Then they can select a Speak option.
• To listen to a portion of a passage, such as a word or phrase, students can select the text, right-click on the selection, or select the TTS button next to the passage's context menu. Then they can select Speak Selection.
Alert: When listening to passages, students can pause TTS and then resume it at the point where it was paused. While this functionality is available on Windows, macOS, and iPadOS, it is not available on ChromeOS. Students testing on a ChromeOS can resume a paused TTS passage by selecting the remaining text to be read aloud and selecting Speak Selection from the TTS button next to the passage's context menu.
• To listen to a question or answer options, students select one of the following Speak options from the TTS button next to the context menu:
  • To listen only to the question, students select Speak Question.
  • To listen only to an answer option, students select Speak Option and then select the answer option. Students can also right-click on the answer option and select Speak Option.
• To listen to Text-to-Speech read from anywhere in a passage or item to the end of that passage or item, students can right-click where TTS should begin reading and select Start Speaking From Here.
• If any Text-to-Speech feature is enabled on their test, students can listen to warnings, such as the warning that pops up when they have not answered one or more questions in a test section, by selecting the TTS button in the warning pop-up window.
• Depending on their accessibility supports, students may also be able to use Text-to-Speech to listen to their responses to constructed-response items. Students can select the TTS button in the formatting toolbar of the text-response area to listen to the text as entered. Students with this accommodation can also listen to any notes they take in the notepad for constructed-response items by selecting the TTS button in the notepad.