SpeakAlert is a control panel/system extension that uses the new Speech Manager to speak the text in alerts. The control panel allows you to choose the desired voice and to turn SpeakAlert off or on. SpeakAlert requires that the Speech Manager be installed on your machine. It is also compatible with PlainTalk and allows you to use the MacInTalk voices (Boris, RoboVox and the others) as well as the Gala Tea voices (TTS Male voice and the others).
In order to install SpeakAlert just drag it to your system folder, where it should be placed in the Control Panels folder. Restart your machine and away you go. To change the voice, open up the SpeakAlert control panel and simply choose a voice from the list. You can turn SpeakAlert off by unchecking the On/Off checkbox.
While SpeakAlert is speaking you can cancel it by hitting cmd-period.
If you’re not clear exactly what an alert is it’s one of those information windows that pops up to tell you something. They usually have an icon in the upper left corner, some text, and an OK button in the lower right corner. SpeakAlert will speak the text in any alert from any (just about) application.
SpeakAlert uses memory (RAM) from the system. The amount used depends on the voice. The MacInTalk voices use a relatively small amount of memory. The Gala Tea voices, especially the uncompressed ones, use up to several Megs each. If your RAM is limited, use the “About This Macintosh” window to decide which voice is reasonable for your system. The Gala Tea voices also take longer to speak and put a greater burden on your CPU when speaking. Experiment with the different voices, see which ones sound good, use a reasonable amount of memory, and don’t slow down your machine too much. To adjust the volume of a voice use the Sound control panel.
There are a couple of known problems. Certain windows that are put up by certain programs that look like alerts, just aren’t. MS Word, for instance, doesn’t use alerts where it appears that it does. (If you’re a programmer you know what I mean; they’re dialogs, not alerts. If you’re not, just trust me; it’s not my fault.) As a result SpeakAlert may not speak the alerts in certain programs. I may fix this in future versions. (It always speaks the alerts in the Finder and in TeachText if you need to check if SpeakAlert is working.)
Certain programs (mainly some game programs) cause a conflict with SpeakAlert and the Sound Manager 3.0 system extension. The result generally is that the machine hangs when playing a sound. The cause is that these programs access the sound hardware in a way that they shouldn't. If you discover such a conflict you can uninstall the Sound Manager 3.0 system extension or turn off SpeakAlert, by unchecking the box in the control panel, before running the offending program.
SpeakAlert is freeware. You may use it and copy it at no charge. You may upload it to FTP sites or BBSs with no restrictions. You may not sell it. If you do distribute it in any way it must also contain this ReadMe file. Use SpeakAlert at your own risk. It may not be bug-free and I won’t be held liable for any damages that it may cause. It comes with no warranty, express or implied.
If you use it and you like it drop me a postcard or email. If you discover any bugs or incompatibilities with other software, please let me know.
