Activating device native screan reader

Question

Is there a JavaScript API to query the device's native screen reader to start?

It would be OK if support was very limited but preferable, if it was at least a standard, so that in the future, more and more devices would be able to use it. A bit like the share API.

Edit

I changed the tags, because it was wrong to tag it accessibility - the function was not intended for the visually impaired, but so that people can listen to a certain news article on our site, rather than reading it.

Also the screenreader should only start on genuine user input (a button click), not automatically. (I imagine a web standard would ensure that anyway. Like with requestFullscreen)

Answer 1

As discussed in the comments, there is no API for activating a native screen reader (if any), but you could want something like the Web Speech API, in particular speech synthesis.

You could simply pass in the innerText of your article-to-speak and get decent output.

function speak() {
  var article = document.querySelector('article');
  var msg = new SpeechSynthesisUtterance(article.innerText);
  window.speechSynthesis.speak(msg);
}

body {
  font-family: garamond, georgia, serif;
  background-color: #f5f5f5;
  color: #333;
  text-align: center;
}

article {
  width: 60%;
  margin: 40px auto;
  padding: 20px;
  background-color: #ffffff;
  box-shadow: 0px 0px 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
  font-size: 18px;
}

h1 {
  font-weight: bold;
  text-align: center;
  margin-bottom: 20px;
  border-bottom: 2px solid #333;
  padding-bottom: 10px;
}

.byline {
  font-style: italic;
  color: #666;
}

p {
  margin-bottom: 20px;
  text-align: justify;
}

article p:first-child::first-letter {
  font-size: 26px;
  font-weight: bold;
  float: left;
  line-height: 1;
  padding-right: 5px;
}

  <button onclick="speak()">Speak article</button>
  <article>
    <h1>BREAKING: Cows Plot World Domination</h1>

    <p>
      <b class="byline">Bovington, September 2, 2024</b> In a stunning development, cows around the world have announced plans to take over the planet. Led by a charismatic cow named “Moolinda,” the bovines are demanding control of global dairy supplies
      and have formed alliances with goats and chickens.
    </p>

    <p>
      Their strategy? A social media campaign called #COWTAKEOVER and a new milk-based currency. World leaders are scrambling to respond, but experts warn that the cows’ next move could be anything—and the steaks have never been higher.
    </p>
  </article>