HOW TO activate a Telugu voice to use with "Read Aloud" in Immersive Reader

Question

I would like to use a Telugu voice (like te-IN-ShrutiNeural or te-IN-Chitra) within Immersive Reader but that option doesn't show up when I use these instructions - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/download-voices-for-immersive-reader-read-mode-and-read-aloud-4c83a8d8-7486-42f7-8e46-2b0fdf753130

How can I activate a Telugu voice to use with "Read Aloud" in Immersive Reader?

Answer 1

Hi @Radhakrishna MV

I can ensure that Telugu doesn't have text-to-speech voice in Immersive Reader. You can find that if a language has text-to-speech voice when you install the language: if it shows Text-to-speech option, it will have text-to-speech voice in Immersive Reader. You can check the screenshots of installing Tamil and Telugu:

I have no idea about the timeline when it will be available. I find a link about Immersive Reader product updates, you can often check the articles in it.

You can also raise the feature request in Edge browser using Send feedback (Alt+Shift+I).

---

If the response is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Regards,
Yu Zhou

Answer 2

This Support article incorrectly says Read Aloud supports Telugu in Immersive Reader in Edge - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/languages-and-products-supported-by-immersive-reader-47f298d6-d92c-4c35-8586-5eb81e32a76e?preview=true

The supported languages & voices page doesn't list Telugu as a supported Voice - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/appendix-a-supported-languages-and-voices-4486e345-7730-53da-fcfe-55cc64300f01

One of the above links has to be fixed & hope Telugu is supported soon

Answer 3

Hi @Radhakrishna MV

From the link you provide, you can find that which languages are available in Windows. Please find Text-to-Speech languages and voices available in Windows in the article and check the table. There's no Telugu in the table so I think it's not available in Windows.

As a workaround, you can use some third-party providers to purchase additional Text-to-Speech languages.

---

If the response is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Regards,
Yu Zhou

Answer 4

@Anonymous Yes, Telugu is not listed. However I can choose Hindi which is not listed and that Support article is probably old

I found another link that has a longer list of voice languages supported - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/appendix-a-supported-languages-and-voices-4486e345-7730-53da-fcfe-55cc64300f01

I'm happy to see Hindi is included and the actual list (see screenshot of view from Edge Version 87.0.664.47) I see in Immersive Reader doesn't match with the list in above link. This leads me to wonder if Telugu language (like Tamil in the list) is supported but requires activation and additional steps.

Is there any documentation page that has an accurate & up to date list of languages supported in Immersive Reader? I would like to track this for updates.

I noticed that Voices like Swara & Neerja which are included in Immersive Reader are available through Azure Cognitive Services which includes Telugu Neural & Standard text-to-speech voices - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cognitive-services/speech-service/language-support#text-to-speech . which are listed here

The demo on this page offers Telugu - https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services/text-to-speech/#features

If Telugu is not currently enabled currently for free & general use within Immersive Reader, is there any timeline by which it will be available? Is there some page to track updates?

I feel Immersive Reader is a great tool for language learners of all ages. Assuming there is no Telugu Voice yet, I have also raised a feature request to add this - https://word.uservoice.com/forums/271331-word-for-the-web/suggestions/42087208-telugu-voice-like-te-in-shrutineural-or-te-in-chi

Answer 5

When is Microsoft going to create voices for Indian Languages... USA is full of Indians and still Indian languages are not available in Voices