Blogs - Introducing Text to Speech

Introduction

This article gives information on a new update which is Text-to-Speech (TTS) on Blog Posts! This innovative functionality will transform how our users engage with our content, making it more accessible and enjoyable for everyone. This article is designed for clients and members. 

About TTS

Text-to-Speech (TTS) technology converts written text into spoken words, allowing our users to listen to posts across blogs, as well as reading them. This feature is particularly useful for those who prefer or need auditory content or may benefit from alternative ways to engage with our material - a great accessibility improvement as well as a significant quality of life update. 

Why This Improvement Has Been Made

TTS offers our users the ability to consume content in the way that they want, and that's what is important. It's also far more likely that users will consume and engage with that content, so clients can expect to see higher engagement too. On top of this, some key benefits include:

• Accessibility: TTS opens blog posts to a wider audience, including colleagues with visual impairments or reading difficulties, ensuring everyone can engage with our clients' insights and updates.
• Multitasking and Convenience: With TTS, you can absorb information while performing other tasks—whether you’re commuting, working on other tasks, exercising, or simply taking a break. This flexibility allows you to make the most of your time and engage with content in a way that suits your lifestyle. A great feature for both the end user and for our clients - maximizing the opportunity of their users consuming the content!
• Enhanced Engagement: Audio learning can improve retention and comprehension. By incorporating TTS, we aim to create a richer and more dynamic experience for our readers, helping them connect with our clients' messages more effectively.
• Diverse Learning Styles: Everyone has different ways of processing information. Some may retain information better when it's heard rather than read. TTS caters to these varied preferences, making our content more inclusive and engaging, ultimately increasing the likelihood of users consuming and engaging with the content on their platform.

How It Works

Using TTS is simple! Navigate to any blog post that has it enabled, and look for the Play icon at the top of the page. Click the button to bring up the audio player and listen to the content.

Admin Controls

Blog Admins can control which blog posts have the audio reader enabled on. When creating a blog post, you have the ability to turn the Audio reader ON or OFF.

If a blog post is published with it OFF, you can go back into the editor and toggle it ON and republish it - this will enable the TTS feature for this post. If a blog post is published with it ON, and then you toggle it OFF, this will remove the TTS icon from the blog post.

This can also be toggled off on the Scheme level, if you do not want it available at all.

A Few Key Points

• TTS does work in other languages, but is based off the locale of the scheme
• Emoji read-out is not currently supported
• Smart Tag read-out is not currently supported (coming soon!)
• Image read-out is not currently supported (coming soon!)