I need to make audio versions for my WordPress site. How can I do that?
The answer is here! With the growing awareness of the benefits of delivering audio formats to their readers, text-to-speech (TTS) has evolved in the last couple of years. As TTS becomes less 'robotic looking, it can no longer be overlooked. Using synthetic voices replaces human-read audio, helping publishers to engage audiences wherever they are.
How is Text to Speech (TTS) performed?
A TTS voice is a machine-learning model trained from human speech. The fabric of a person's voice is created by cloning the human-read data on voice. Using these, the voice is reproduced using its unique characteristics. Customer service and early artificial intelligence have used TTS. For a while, they were assistants (like Apple Maps). Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg publish audio versions of their web articles using TTS.
In most TTS plugins, the article is embedded with an audio player that plays audio. An audio edition is automatically generated each time a new post is published, using TTS (some companies use TTS from Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, whereas others build their voices). The majority of companies offer hosting and management through their websites, so it is as easy as installing a plugin and creating an account.
What are the benefits of TTS?
It goes without saying that providing audio versions allows readers to hear your content. Your audience has new opportunities to engage with you immediately. It is possible for readers to turn to listen in their browser while doing other things such as cooking, walking around, or cleaning. Using our SpeechKit data, we've found that listeners spend more time with content than non-listeners. The visitors also visit more pages and are likely to return.
Text-to-speech technology helps digital publishers reach a demographic that has become disinterested in text. Approximately 50% of all traffic to SpeechKit songs is from 30-35-year-olds, where listener demographics are weighted to younger listeners. There are also trends toward listening to certain types of content. A website with a defined focus (health, finances, personal growth) is more likely to have higher listener rates.
Finally, TTS helps publishers meet new web accessibility standards. With governments adopting frameworks around the world, accessibility and inclusion have
become priorities for WordPress. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) framework is used by many countries to formulate their accessibility policies and enforce their own standards. If you include audio descriptions in your posts, your site's rating will be improved and you will meet these guidelines immediately.
The following list contains the best Text to Speech plugins available for WordPress.
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1. SpeechKit
A powerful enterprise API, easy integrations for WordPress and other CMS platforms, and frictionless WordPress integrations are offered by SpeechKit (4.3 stars). The plugin appears at the top of each post once it has been installed and user accounts have been created. Every time a new post is published an audio version will appear within seconds. SpeechKit's dashboard allows you to select over 150 voices in 36 different languages, set up feeds to Spotify, Google, and Apple music, and create audio newsletters using the curation tools. Using SpeechKit's smart text extraction and custom voice development, we accomplish the most accurate and clean TTS available today. SpeechKit is a premium service that offers a free 14-day trial and monthly plans starting at $19.
2. AWS for WordPress
AWS for WordPress (3.8 stars) is a plugin developed by Amazon Polly, the voice department of Amazon Web Services. Several of the other plugins integrate the Polly API (used by them) with WordPress's default audio player. AWS for WordPress creates an audio version of new posts the moment they are published, just like other plugins. The Amazon plugin isn't well documented and has basic functionality. Creating an account with AWS may also be required in order to host audio. The plugin has the benefit of being free to use (although you may have to purchase an AWS account).
3. Play.ht
Let's play. A great alternative is Ht (0 ratings). It relies on several services to convert text content to audio, including Amazon Polly, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. As well, the plugin will automatically generate an audio version of the post, which will be displayed as an audio player. This service allows writers to edit and curate audio from a dashboard, similar to SpeechKit. Let's play. On their website, it also has demos of many of their voices. A $90 annual fee includes hosting and analytics.
4.Trinity Audio
The Trinity Audio plugin (3.7 stars) also offers text-to-speech services based on cloud services. Publishers can make money with the help of audio ads included before the post audio, thanks to the company's efforts. There are several options for configuring the plugin, including hiding the 'Powered by Trinity Audio' label on the player. It appears that the plugin is a paid product, while their service for large publishers is free.
5. Responsive Voice
Using shortcodes, Responsive Voice (4.5 stars) inserts text-to-speech elements and utilizes HTML5 for text-to-speech. This plugin displays key elements of posts in a simple voice by using a 'Listen to Post' button. Shortcodes can be embedded in responsive voice to turn any element into audio. Besides volume and pitch adjustment, the shortcode allows users to configure multiple languages' voices. A free trial is available on its website, but there is no pricing listed.
6. Remix
Writers and publishers can increase their income with Remix (5 stars from 1 review). With this plugin, you will be able to earn money from your posts by integrating pre-roll advertising. The revenues of audio advertising through text-to-speech aren't as high as ads on display, but if you're looking to experiment with audio, this could be an option to try. A reporting dashboard is also available on Remixed's website, similar to that of SpeechKit.
7. Listen
Another free TTS to speech plugin is Listen (5 stars). Mobile users have a nice player at the bottom of the page. Bloggers are primarily targeted by the service, whereas the above is geared towards small teams and businesses. There are no curation or customization tools available in their dashboard; however, the dashboard looks clean and has a nice interface.