Hi all. For some time now, I've noticed that VoiceOver will sometimes pause mid-word, as if it believes there is a space or punctuation mark in the middle of the word. For example, the word communication might be mispronounced as communic, ation. I'm on current Monterey 12.5.1, and I believe this issue has existed since 12.5 but can't say for certain.
The problem occurs while reading news articles in Safari with reader view. To attempt to reproduce the issue, find a web page with a news article. Turn on reader view with Command+Shift+R. Navigate to the first heading with VO+Command+H. Then start reading with VO+A. Listen closely as VoiceOver reads the page, and after some time, you'll hear a broken word.
The issue is rare, but when it occurs, it is very repeatable. When you hear a broken word, use VO+Left and Right Arrow to read the paragraph again. The problem goes away when using the navigation keys (the broken word is pronounced correctly). However, read the same paragraph with VO+A and the word will again be mispronounced.
In my limited testing, the problem occurs with both Alex and Allison, so does not appear to be voice-specific.
Anyone else hearing this problem? I'm particularly interested in knowing if it has been resolved in the latest beta.
Comments
Additional information
1. The problem isn't word-specific. If VoiceOver mispronounces a word in one paragraph, it pronounces the same word correctly in other paragraphs.
2. Turning VoiceOver off then back on does not resolve the problem. The same words are mispronounced after restarting VoiceOver.
3. The mispronounced words are not broken across lines of text. The ones I noticed this morning all occurred with words located in the middle of a line, with no anomalies in spelling or punctuation. (Again, it's worth noting the words are pronounced correctly when VoiceOver reads in response to navigation; they are only mispronounced following a VO+A Read All command.)
4. The problem appears to be limited to Safari. If I copy and paste the same text into Textedit, the words are all pronounced correctly while reading from TextEdit. However, back in Safari, the words are still mispronounced.
Here's a test case
I've reproduced the issue without Reader View. I've also closed and reopened the same web page and found that the same words are mispronounced. With that in mind, maybe someone can follow a link and see if they experience the same behavior.
Open this web page. Find the first header with VO+Command+H, then start reading with VO+A.
Listen closely to the paragraph that starts with "This figure could more than double". When you reach the phrase "but experts said “there is still a lot of room," note how the word "said" is pronounced. For me, it breaks just before the letter D, so it sounds like sai, d.
Still present in 12.6
I'm on 12.6 and can still open that same article and reproduce the issue.
Negative, but you might want to reinstall safari
Hi Paul,
VoiceOver pronounced "said" perfectly normally in your test case on my computer. I suspect the problem relates the screen location, not necessarily VoiceOver. Therefore, I suggest trying reinstalling Safari, VoiceOver and/or whatever other apps are paying attention to screen location.
Sorry,
Bruce
Huh.
This is so reproducible, over such an extended period of time, I thought for certain someone else would be experiencing it. Sadly, moving the Safari window didn't help. I'm not inclined to reinstall the entire OS, but I might try clearing my PROMs.
Known bug
I've also experienced this bug with some text not being spoken correctly and have reported it to Apple. Is this the issue you're describing?
...
been that way since the first release of monterey, i thought nobody cares.
Glad I'm not insane
Thanks, Tyler. Yes I believe that bug is what I'm experiencing, though I don't recall hearing the word "space" pronounced. Seems like the bug manifests itself differently for different people.
At its worst, this bug can render some web articles practically unreadable.
getting worse, if it's even possible
i trained my ears to understand it, but it's getting much worse. with certain webpages, thes problem seems to occur on every single line. so numerous i am having trouble understanding the contents.