Speaking selected text no longer works in FF 80.0.1
In my last version of FF, my Mac was able to speak selected text in FF. Speaking text works in all other applications, but not in my updated FF 80.0.1. Although... if I select text on a FF page to speak, I can only hear the spoken FF text when I click over to another open application. When I click back to the FF page, speaking the text stops. If I click back to the other app like TextEdit... then my Apple Speech continues to read the text selected on the FF page. The only way to hear any selected text on a FF page, is to select the text, use my Apple speech command button and then click over to another open application, until the spoken text in FF is finished speaking. This is not convenient. This issue only started with FF 80.0.1.
How can this be fixed, so my Mac's speech commend will read selected text on a FF page? I use Apple Speech command to read back my longer posts I’m getting ready to post on a webpage to make sure it makes sense.
In short... I can no longer use Apple's speech command to read selected text on a FF 80.0.1 page. This only started happening in this new 80.0.1 Firefox.
All Replies (5)
Update to my question above: Speaking selected text in my updated Apple Safari browser works perfectly. Speaking any selected text in all my other applications works as it should. But not FF 80.0.1.
If I can't resolve this issue in FF 80.0.1, I will be forced to use only Safari as my browser of choice. I've been a Firefox user from day one of Firefox.
NOTE: There seems to be an EDIT option only for the REPLY POSTS. It would be nice, to be able to EDIT my original posts in this forum.
Modified by RedKnight
Update: I have installed and tried 6 different "Text to Speech" FF Add on Extensions I found on the Firefox page. It said all Add ons work with the current FF 80.0.1. NONE of these Add Ons worked. No sound of spoken text. Used each extension as posted by the creator.
Sound in FF 80.0.1 does work in YouTube, Movie and TV sites and other video websites.
Note: When in Mac TextEdit, and I use Speak to Text to read something, the speech will stop in TextEdit if I click back on the open FF 80.0.1 page. When I click back to TextEdit…. speech starts reading the text again. But as soon as I click on FF… text reading dies.
Modified by RedKnight
I guess my question will never be answered. Very helpful.
I want to thank Firefox Support.... not really.
There are bugs with Firefox on Catalina, but I'm not seeing anything related to your issue (speech), so I don't know if this is a problem with Firefox on Catalina or a problem with your computer.
You can possibly check the Browser Console for possible messages about this issue.
- "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Web Developer
- https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Tools/Browser_Console
This text to speech issue started with the most recent FF update 81.0 (64-bit).
FF is the only app or software I use that has a broken Text to Speech issue. Works correctly in Safari and all my other apps.
Using the FF Browser Console to adjust FF Code is not a good answer. FF is suppose to be the best, easiest and most error free browser in the net. Now it's broken. And it's not my Mac with Catalina OS ver. 10.15.6. FF is the problem. I've used FF from it's beginning.
If I wanted to code in FF... I would have learned code writing. I use FF because it's worked correctly up to your last browser update. Don't blame this issue on the Mac OS or my computer. Fix FF!
The only way I can use Text to Speech in FF now... is select my FF page text... start the Text to Speech option, click out of FF still running and then switch over to another running program to then hear my text being spoken back in FF. But I can't be IN FF, on my page of text to hear my text being spoken. While the FF text is being spoken, while I'm in another program or in the Desktop... if I click back to FF... the text being spoken STOPS. But if I click back to my Desktop or the other running program... the FF speech then continues reading the text.
Going back to Safari will be my only option now... and leave FF behind in the past.
I guess it's a good thing I'm not a blind person that depends on TEXT TO SPEECH. This is your FF problem. Fix it! Your testing and quality control has gone down the tubes.
A FF user.