Skip to content

Text-to-speech Reader

About the Text-to-Speech Reader

The Text-to-Speech Reader is a dedicated audio playback interface that converts written text into spoken words. It opens as an independent window when launched from the Document Editor, allowing simultaneous editing and listening. The reader provides precise navigation controls and visual feedback through sentence highlighting during playback.

Automatic Playback

Initial Reading

When the Text-to-Speech Reader first opens:

  • Automatic Start: Speech begins immediately from the cursor position in the Document Editor
  • Position Accuracy: Playback starts precisely where the cursor was located when text-to-speech was activated

Interactive Navigation

Sentence-Level Control

Navigate through the document by interacting directly with the text:

  • Click on Any Sentence: Jump reading position to that specific sentence

Clicking provides immediate repositioning within the document, allowing quick access to any section during playback.

  • Alt + Home: Jump the reading sentence to the first sentence in the document

Playback Controls

Speech Control

Manage audio playback with dedicated keyboard shortcuts:

  • Alt + S: Pause current reading
  • Alt + S (again): Resume reading from paused position

Sentence Navigation

Move through individual sentences with precision:

  • Alt + Comma: Jump to previous sentence
  • Alt + Period: Jump to next sentence

Paragraph Navigation

Navigate by paragraph boundaries for larger content blocks:

  • Alt + Left Bracket [ : Jump to beginning of previous paragraph
  • Alt + Right Bracket ] : Jump to beginning of next paragraph

Heading Navigation

Move between document sections using heading structure:

  • Alt + Page Up: Jump to previous heading
  • Alt + Page Down: Jump to next heading

Page Navigation (PDF-Linked Documents)

For documents extracted from PDF sources:

  • Shift + Alt + Page Up: Jump to previous page
  • Shift + Alt + Page Down: Jump to next page

Page navigation maintains correspondence with the original PDF page structure.

Visual Feedback

Sentence Highlighting

During playback, the Text-to-Speech Reader provides clear visual indicators:

  • Active Sentence: Currently spoken sentence is highlighted
  • Real-Time Updates: Highlighting moves automatically as reading progresses
  • Visual Synchronization: Text display matches audio position precisely

PDF Integration

Linked PDF Viewing

When the current document is associated with a source PDF:

  • Alt + O: Open PDF viewer to the page currently being read

This feature provides immediate access to original source materials, displaying the exact page that corresponds to the current reading position in the text-to-speech playback.

Closing the Reader

  • Escape: Close the Text-to-Speech Reader window

Pressing Escape closes only the reader window while leaving the Document Editor open and active.