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css property

`speak-as` CSS property

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Limited availability

The speak-as CSS property is used to define how HTML content is spoken. The one to three enumerated key terms determine the manner by which elements and text get rendered by aural technologies, such as screen readers and digital assistants.

This property applies to all content, including pseudo-elements, with the exception ::marker pseudo-elements constructed via a @counter-style with a defined speak-as descriptor, which takes precedence over any inherited speak-as property value.

Syntax

/* single value syntax */
speak-as: normal;
speak-as: spell-out;
speak-as: literal-punctuation;
speak-as: digits;
speak-as: no-punctuation;

/* multiple value syntax */
speak-as: spell-out literal-punctuation;
speak-as: spell-out no-punctuation;
speak-as: digits literal-punctuation;
speak-as: digits no-punctuation;
speak-as: spell-out digits literal-punctuation;
speak-as: spell-out digits no-punctuation;

Values

  • normal
    • : Normal pronunciation rules with punctuation replaced by pauses. For example, “Hello, world!” would be pronounced as “Hello (pause) world (pause)”. This is the default value.
  • spell-out
    • : Content is spelled out letter by letter. For example, “role” would be pronounced as “r” “o” “l” “e”.
  • literal-punctuation
    • : Punctuation marks are spelled out literally. For example, “Hello, world!” would be pronounced as “Hello comma world exclamation mark.”
  • digits
    • : Numbers are pronounced as individual digits. For example, “31” would be pronounced as “three one”.
  • no-punctuation
    • : Content is pronounced normally without any punctuation. For example, “Hello, world!” would be pronounced as “Hello” “world”.

[!NOTE] Support of the speak-as property is limited and inconsistently implemented across different assistive technologies, such as screen readers or speech synthesizers. To ensure any pronunciation-dependent critical information remains user-friendly and accessible to a wide audience, do not rely solely on this CSS property to define how this information content is presented aurally.

Formal definition

Formal syntax

Examples

HTML

<p class="normal">Hello, world! I'm 25.</p>
<p class="spell-out">Hello, world! I'm 25.</p>
<p class="literal-punctuation">Hello, world! I'm 25.</p>
<p class="no-punctuation">Hello, world! I'm 25.</p>
<p class="digits">Hello, world! I'm 25.</p>
<p class="multi">Hello, world! I'm 25.</p>

CSS

.normal {
  speak-as: normal;
}

.spell-out {
  speak-as: spell-out;
}

.literal-punctuation {
  speak-as: literal-punctuation;
}

.no-punctuation {
  speak-as: no-punctuation;
}

.digits {
  speak-as: digits;
}
.multi {
  speak-as: literal-punctuation digits;
}

Specifications

SpecificationsStandards references are available on the canonical MDN page.

Browser compatibility

Browser compatibilityCompatibility data is available on the canonical MDN page.

See also