SpeechSynthesisErrorEvent: error property

{{APIRef("Web Speech API")}}

The error property of the {{domxref("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 {{domxref("SpeechSynthesis.cancel")}} method call caused the {{domxref("SpeechSynthesisUtterance")}} to be removed from the queue before it had begun being spoken.
• interrupted
  • : A {{domxref("SpeechSynthesis.cancel")}} method call caused the {{domxref("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 {{domxref("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 {{domxref("SpeechSynthesisUtterance.voice")}} was not available.
• text-too-long
  • : The contents of the {{domxref("SpeechSynthesisUtterance.text")}} attribute was too long to synthesize.
• invalid-argument
  • : The content of the {{domxref("SpeechSynthesisUtterance.rate")}}, {{domxref("SpeechSynthesisUtterance.pitch")}} or {{domxref("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

{{Specifications}}

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}}

See also

• Web Speech API