brailcom/speechd

Common high-level interface to speech synthesis

What it solves

Speech Dispatcher provides a high-level, device-independent layer for accessing speech synthesis (TTS). It allows blind and visually impaired people to interact with computers and the internet using free software by abstracting the underlying speech engines.

How it works

It acts as a central server that communicates with various speech synthesis backends via a simple protocol. This architecture allows it to support a wide range of engines (such as Piper, Edge TTS, and eSpeak-NG) regardless of whether they are C libraries, external commands, or HTTP services.

Who it’s for

Developers creating accessibility software and users who need a stable, unified interface to manage and switch between different text-to-speech engines.

Highlights

  • Broad Engine Support: Supports a vast array of TTS backends including Piper, Mimic3, Mary, and Festival.
  • Flexible Architecture: Uses a pipe-based communication system between the server and modules, allowing for easy integration of new syntheses.
  • Multi-language Bindings: Provides API libraries for C, Python, Common Lisp, and Guile, with Rust and Java bindings under development.
  • Accessibility Focused: Part of the Free(b)soft project aimed at empowering visually impaired users.

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