SpeLaTeX: speech-enabled LaTeX

Release 2026-04-09 v0.96

Overview

SpeLaTeX equips the PDF that is generated with LaTeX with hyperlinks to audio files that contain the spoken equivalent of the original text, equations, figures and tables.

The audio files can be automatically generated using a Perl-script called spel-wizard.pl (part of the SpeL::Wizard module available on CPAN). This script interfaces with locally installed text-to-speech software or with online available (paying) cloud services to generate the audio files. To this end, the LaTeX chunks of your text are parsed and translated to 'natural language'.

SpeLaTeX is babel enabled, such that your text is read with the correct pronunciation corresponding to your language. So far, it provides the languages English and Dutch, but it will be extended in the future.

You can package your PDF together with the audio-files (in your favorite archive format) and make it available to your users, such that the only requirements to read your text and listen to the audio are a suited PDF reader and media player. Not all readers and players work. Working readers are: okular, acrobat reader, pdfxchange viewer. Working media players are: SoX, totem, vlc.

Do you like this package? You're welcome to send us beer, wine, or just an e-mail with kind words.

If you want to contribute to the package (e.g., by providing some extra babel support for your language), please contact me.

License

All files of beamer-reveal are subject to the LPPL.

The package spelatex may be distributed and/or modified under the conditions of the LaTeX Project Public License, either version 1.3 of this license or (at your option) any later version. The latest version of this license is in http://www.latex-project.org/lppl.txt.

Issues

Please, report issues to: walter.daems@uantwerpen.be

Development team

This package is developed by Walter Daems.

Copyright (C) 2025-2026 Walter Daems, all rights reserved.