Calibre ebook-viewer support for NVDA / text-to-speech & assistive software

jobsagoodun · 04-04-2016, 06:14 AM

Hi,

Apologies if this has already been discussed (I couldn't find anything immediately obviously following a quick search), but I'm trying to confirm if there are any plans to add support for text-to-speech readers (e.g. NVDA, JAWS, Dolphin Supernova) on Windows for the ebook-viewer application within Calibre.

I know that the main Calibre application was updated last year, and I can now use that succesfully with NVDA and hear the names of the ebooks in my library etc read aloud.

However when I open an ebook (in EPUB format, not tried other formats), the ebook-viewer doesn't seem to support any kind of integration for the text in the body of the book.

At the moment I am resorting to using EPUB Reader extension in Firefox for this functionality, but would prefer to use the Calibre ebook-viewer if possible!

Any information would be very appreciated

kovidgoyal · 04-04-2016, 06:21 AM

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=272674

jobsagoodun · 04-08-2016, 02:04 PM

Thanks Kovid, I'll take a look at the plugin suggested. That particular plugin seems to be a TTS engine in itself though - are there any plans to make the ebook-viewer natively support the hooks required for other standalone TTS software (such as NVDA & Dolphin Supernova) to read the content in the ebook being read?

Many thanks for your work on developing Calibre by the way - it's a fantastic application!

BetterRed · 04-08-2016, 05:14 PM

@jobsagoodun - the Text to Speech plugin uses Microsoft's Speech API (SAPI), which has been around since Win95. TTS is a generic name for a capability not a specific technology, so SAPI is MS's implementation of TTS.

A number of people have integrated Balabolka into calibre via the 'Open With' feature (built in or plugin). If you search the Calibre forum for 'Balabolka' you should find some posts. I use the built-in 'Open With' which I access via the View Specific format option (the kb shortcuts are assigned via Preferences->Keyboard):

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Maybe you could integrate one or more of the TTS programs you mentioned in a similar way. Of course, you must attach the programs to formats they can 'read'

BR

kovidgoyal · 04-08-2016, 09:48 PM

I have no plans to do that -- the viewer uses a library called Qt WebKit, so whether it works with external TTS software is upto that library. That said, the calibre content server will soon have an in-browser ebook viewer, so assuming your favorite browser works with your tts software, you could just use that.

04-04-2016, 06:14 AM	#1
jobsagoodun Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2016 Device: none	Calibre ebook-viewer support for NVDA / text-to-speech & assistive software Hi, Apologies if this has already been discussed (I couldn't find anything immediately obviously following a quick search), but I'm trying to confirm if there are any plans to add support for text-to-speech readers (e.g. NVDA, JAWS, Dolphin Supernova) on Windows for the ebook-viewer application within Calibre. I know that the main Calibre application was updated last year, and I can now use that succesfully with NVDA and hear the names of the ebooks in my library etc read aloud. However when I open an ebook (in EPUB format, not tried other formats), the ebook-viewer doesn't seem to support any kind of integration for the text in the body of the book. At the moment I am resorting to using EPUB Reader extension in Firefox for this functionality, but would prefer to use the Calibre ebook-viewer if possible! Any information would be very appreciated

04-08-2016, 05:14 PM	#4
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,575 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	@jobsagoodun - the Text to Speech plugin uses Microsoft's Speech API (SAPI), which has been around since Win95. TTS is a generic name for a capability not a specific technology, so SAPI is MS's implementation of TTS. A number of people have integrated Balabolka into calibre via the 'Open With' feature (built in or plugin). If you search the Calibre forum for 'Balabolka' you should find some posts. I use the built-in 'Open With' which I access via the View Specific format option (the kb shortcuts are assigned via Preferences->Keyboard): Maybe you could integrate one or more of the TTS programs you mentioned in a similar way. Of course, you must attach the programs to formats they can 'read' BR

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04-04-2016, 06:21 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=272674

04-08-2016, 02:04 PM	#3
jobsagoodun Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2016 Device: none	Thanks Kovid, I'll take a look at the plugin suggested. That particular plugin seems to be a TTS engine in itself though - are there any plans to make the ebook-viewer natively support the hooks required for other standalone TTS software (such as NVDA & Dolphin Supernova) to read the content in the ebook being read? Many thanks for your work on developing Calibre by the way - it's a fantastic application!

04-08-2016, 09:48 PM	#5
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	I have no plans to do that -- the viewer uses a library called Qt WebKit, so whether it works with external TTS software is upto that library. That said, the calibre content server will soon have an in-browser ebook viewer, so assuming your favorite browser works with your tts software, you could just use that.

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