SpeechSynthesisErrorEvent: error property

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since October 2018.

The error property of the 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 SpeechSynthesis.cancel method call caused the SpeechSynthesisUtterance to be removed from the queue before it had begun being spoken.

interrupted

A SpeechSynthesis.cancel method call caused the 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 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 SpeechSynthesisUtterance.voice was not available.

text-too-long

The contents of the SpeechSynthesisUtterance.text attribute was too long to synthesize.

invalid-argument

The content of the SpeechSynthesisUtterance.rate, SpeechSynthesisUtterance.pitch or SpeechSynthesisUtterance.volume property was not valid.

not-allowed

The operation's start was not allowed.

Examples

js
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

Specification
Web Speech API
# dom-speechsynthesiserrorevent-error

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
error
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 33 (Release date: 2014-02-20)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 18 (Release date: 2018-10-02)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 49 (Release date: 2016-09-20)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 21 (Release date: 2014-05-06)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 7 (Release date: 2013-10-22)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 33 (Release date: 2014-02-26)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 62 (Release date: 2018-09-05)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – No support
Opera Android
footnote No support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 7 (Release date: 2013-09-18)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 3 (Release date: 2015-04-10)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – No support
WebView Android
footnote No support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 7 (Release date: 2013-09-18)
footnote Full support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
No support
No support

See also