CSS speak

The CSS speak property is used to determine whether or not to render text aurally.

The speak property can be used with speech media to specify whether or not an element should be read out, regardless of its display settings. For example, you could have some text that's read out on screen readers, even though it doesn't render on visual media (e.g. browsers) due to having display: none.

Syntax

Possible Values

auto

Resolves to a computed value of none when display is none, otherwise resolves to a computed value of auto which yields a used value of normal.

none

Suppresses aural rendering so that the element requires no time to render.

This can be applied against elements you don't want to be spoken. This element will be skipped and there will be no gap (of silence) where it would normally be. If you want a gap of silence, use the voice-volume property.

Note, however, that descendants may override this value and will be spoken.

normal

The element is rendered aurally (regardless of its display value, and the display and speak values of its ancestors). In other words, you can have the text rendered on speech media, even if it isn't displayed on visual media.

In addition, all CSS properties also accept the following CSS-wide keyword values as the sole component of their property value:

initial

Represents the value specified as the property's initial value.

inherit

Represents the computed value of the property on the element's parent.

unset

This value acts as either inherit or initial, depending on whether the property is inherited or not. In other words, it sets all properties to their parent value if they are inheritable or to their initial value if not inheritable.

General Information

Example Code

Official Specifications

• CSS Speech Module Level 1 (Editor's Draft)
• CSS Speech Module Level 1 (W3C Candidate Recommendation)
• CSS Level 2.1 (W3C Recommendation 07 June 2011)

Browser Support

Browser support for CSS properties can vary, particularly for newer or experimental features. Check current browser compatibility before using a property in production, especially when supporting older browsers.

Initial Value

CSS properties have an initial value that applies when the property has not been explicitly set. The initial value is different from the value inherited from a parent element and may vary between properties.

Inheritance

Some CSS properties inherit their computed value from their parent element by default, while others do not. The inherit, initial, unset, and revert keywords can also be used to control how a property gets its value.

Vendor Prefixes

Most modern CSS properties use the standard, unprefixed syntax. Vendor-prefixed properties such as -webkit- are mainly relevant to older browser versions or specific features and should only be used when required by your browser support targets.