Speech SDK is a program package developed by Microsoft that enables you to build speech applications for Windows. Basically, the software solution consists of the SAPI interface, capable of recognizing human voice, and the TTS engine that can convert written text to audio.

Overview

The SAPI is very easy to use, provided you have enough programming knowledge. However, it is worth mentioning that the distribution is also friendly to newcomers as it offers a set of sample projects you may study. Thus, it is possible to create a simple text-to-speech program in Visual Basic within several minutes.

What is more, the codes are given C++, C Sharp and DHTML. Regardless of the tutorial selection, you need to have a licensed copy of Visual Studio 6.0 to access them. Alternatively, you can view a CHM help file that clearly explains all the programming methods and parameters of this SAPI.

Additional notes

If you have been working in Visual Studio, you probably know how easy it is to input desired functions using IntelliSense. This is a special feature that displays all the valid commands in a drop-down list while you are editing. Unfortunately, this auto-complete function is not compatible with the TTS engine.

Features

free to download and use;
compatible with modern Windows versions;
gives you the ability to develop speech apps;
it is possible to utilize various code samples;
you can convert text to speech and vice versa;
comes with a detailed help file.