Speakeasy 1.2 Brings Browser-Native Text-to-Speech to Drupal

With Speakeasy, my goal was to make audio accessibility simple and native to Drupal—no tokens, no API keys, no cloud dependencies. The 1.2 release introduces sentence highlighting, per-browser voice whitelisting, and user preferences that remember a visitor’s chosen voice and playback speed.

Adding Speech to Any Drupal Site

Site builders can place the Speakeasy playback block anywhere on node views—above content, inline, or as a simple link. It reads selected fields such as title and body and provides user-adjustable playback speed. When enabled, sentence highlighting keeps readers visually in sync with spoken content.

A fellow developer, Bill Renk, shared how he used Speakeasy for a word-learning app for his daughter: 

“I was looking for something that would add speech to a word app I was building for my daughter, who's learning to read, and this fit the bill perfectly with its cross-browser support!”

Theming and Configuration

Speakeasy ships with default and Olivero-inspired themes for quick setup. Developers can also disable the bundled styles and provide their own CSS for full control. Configuration lives under /admin/config/speakeasy, where administrators set global defaults, allow or disable the voice picker, and whitelist voices that sound best across target browsers.

Three Steps to Add Text-to-Speech

1. Configure defaults at /admin/config/speakeasy, choosing a theme, enabling or disabling the voice picker, and whitelisting browser voices.
2. Place the Speakeasy block on node pages for the Article content type and enable sentence highlighting.
3. Grant users access to /user/speakeasy/preferences so they can save preferred voice and speed settings.

Ideal for News and Media Sites

For publishers, Speakeasy provides an instant “Listen to this article” feature without additional editorial work or licensing costs. Once the block is placed on the Article content type, it automatically enables audio playback for every new story.

Beyond media, Speakeasy supports a wide range of accessibility-focused use cases:

• Government and Civic: Read meeting minutes, service updates, or emergency notices aloud.
• Higher Education: Voice course announcements or policy pages.
• Nonprofits and Healthcare: Narrate help-desk content or eligibility instructions.

Why It Works

• Accessibility & Inclusion: Offers a native alternative for consuming long-form content.
• Low friction for editors: Works site-wide after one-time setup.
• User control: Readers can pick a voice, adjust playback speed, and save preferences.
• Lightweight design: Uses the browser’s own SpeechSynthesis API—no external cost or maintenance.

Sponsored by WebFirst, Speakeasy provides a zero-infrastructure, privacy-respecting text-to-speech solution that’s easy to roll out and easy to theme.