HoverSpeak – Free Text-to-Speech Chrome Extension

Read aloud any text your mouse hovers over. Free, no login, no limits. Built for people with dyslexia.

HoverSpeak is a truly free text-to-speech Chrome extension that speaks the exact words under your mouse—no text selection, no paywalls. Perfect for dyslexia, ADHD, low vision, or anyone who wants an on-demand free alternative to Speechify. HoverSpeak features: - Speak Text : Press Alt + Z to hear the text underneath your mouse, buttons, tooltips, or chat snippets without selecting the text. - Not just English – While many accessibility tools focus only on English text-to-speech, HoverSpeak gives you instant access to ~75 languages and ~250 voices. - HoverSpeak automatically reads in the page's language. (English pages will dictate in English, French pages will dictate in French, etc). Amazing if you're learning a new language or you're multilingual. - Red focus frame: Instantly see which text is being read with a clear border. - Instant Stop: Alt + X Silence the voice even in the middle of speaking. - Follow-Mouse: Keep a visible highlight that follows the mouse pointing out text that can be read to you, press the shortcut only when you want It to be spoken aloud. - Use built-in voices: HoverSpeak searches for voices you already have on your machine in addition to cloud voices that are available to you in your browser and lets you access both of them in Chrome —no downloads needed. - Speed slider: Adjust speech speed to a rate that is the most comfortable to you, easily adjusted by a slider. - Unlimited: Read all day—no minute caps, no accounts. - Voice quality: Easily select between local or cloud voice. Your browser provides two types of voices—local and cloud. Local voices run entirely on your device. Cloud Voices also come with the browser but pass through Google for better voice generation. Who it helps: - Dyslexic readers – You don’t have to struggle with the constant effort of reading text. HoverSpeak reads each snippet aloud as you point, so you can focus on meaning instead of decoding. - Low-vision & aging eyes – No more constant figuring out where the start of the text selection is and its end. Hover over the text you want to read, and you'll see exactly what's about to be read to you. - ADHD / focus challenges – Forget getting lost in long passages or interrupting your flow to select text. Focus on one segment of text at a time, HoverSpeak delivers bite-size audio on demand, helping you stay engaged with exactly the text you choose. - Eye-strain relief – Give your eyes a break, you don't have to constantly be reading. Sometimes it's just easier to point and read while giving your eyes the relief they need. How to use: 1. Install HoverSpeak. 2. Hover over any on-screen text. 3. Press Alt + Z → listen while you keep browsing. 4. Press Alt + X to stop. Want to customize and choose another voice? Go to the extension icon where you can find additional voices, adjust your speed and the language you want to be spoken. Permissions & Privacy: tts: to speak text locally via Chrome’s Speech Synthesis API, Or your local voices. storage: to remember your settings. activeTab: to identify text that can be read to you. Limitations: - Sites compatibility: If a site or a site technology does not expose its text to assistive technology (like the use of the canvas element), the extension might be able to read text from that site or sections of that site. - Shortcut: currently fixed to Alt + Z/X; custom shortcuts are on the roadmap. Give your eyes a break—Hover, press, hear. Enjoy effortless text-to-speech in Chrome today! HoverSpeak is a product by Sugar Sweet Apps (Yaron Elharar)