SpeechSynthesisErrorEvent: error property

The error property of the SpeechSynthesisErrorEvent interface returns an error code indicating what has gone wrong with a speech synthesis attempt.

Value

A string containing the error reason. Possible values are:

canceled

A SpeechSynthesis.cancel method call caused the SpeechSynthesisUtterance to be removed from the queue before it had begun being spoken.

interrupted

A SpeechSynthesis.cancel method call caused the SpeechSynthesisUtterance to be interrupted after it had begun being spoken and before it completed.

audio-busy

The operation couldn't be completed at this time because the user-agent couldn't access the audio output device (for example, the user may need to correct this by closing another application.)

audio-hardware

The operation couldn't be completed at this time because the user-agent couldn't identify an audio output device (for example, the user may need to connect a speaker or configure system settings.)

network

The operation couldn't be completed at this time because some required network communication failed.

synthesis-unavailable

The operation couldn't be completed at this time because no synthesis engine was available (For example, the user may need to install or configure a synthesis engine.)

synthesis-failed

The operation failed because the synthesis engine raised an error.

language-unavailable

No appropriate voice was available for the language set in SpeechSynthesisUtterance.lang. You can use the window.speechSynthesis.getVoices() method to determine which voices and languages are supported in the user's browser.

voice-unavailable

The voice set in SpeechSynthesisUtterance.voice was not available.

text-too-long

The contents of the SpeechSynthesisUtterance.text attribute was too long to synthesize.

invalid-argument

The content of the SpeechSynthesisUtterance.rate, SpeechSynthesisUtterance.pitch or SpeechSynthesisUtterance.volume property was not valid.

not-allowed

The operation's start was not allowed.

Examples

const synth = window.speechSynthesis;

const inputForm = document.querySelector("form");
const inputTxt = document.querySelector("input");
const voiceSelect = document.querySelector("select");

const voices = synth.getVoices();

// …

inputForm.onsubmit = (event) => {
  event.preventDefault();

  const utterThis = new SpeechSynthesisUtterance(inputTxt.value);
  const selectedOption =
    voiceSelect.selectedOptions[0].getAttribute("data-name");
  for (const voice of voices) {
    if (voice.name === selectedOption) {
      utterThis.voice = voice;
    }
  }

  synth.speak(utterThis);

  utterThis.onerror = (event) => {
    console.error(
      `An error has occurred with the speech synthesis: ${event.error}`,
    );
  };

  inputTxt.blur();
};

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• Web Speech API