Read the scene aloud and the page follows you: it highlights the line you're on,
scrolls as you go, and moves to the next speech when you reach the end of the one
you're on. If it loses its place, double-tap the line you're on.
Before you switch it on
What downloads
A speech recognition engine and an English speech model, about 47 MB in total,
from shakespearego.com. They're open-source software (Vosk, by Alpha Cephei,
and vosk-browser), free to use under the Apache 2.0 licence. Nothing downloads
until you tick the box and press Download. Use Wi-Fi if you can.
Where it's kept
Only in this browser tab's working memory, while the page is open. It isn't
installed and isn't saved anywhere on your phone or computer: not in your
files, not in your browser's storage, and not in its cache of saved pages.
When you close or leave the page it's gone, so it downloads again next time.
Your microphone
Used only after you press Start listening, and your browser asks your
permission first. It switches off when you press Stop, switch tabs, lock
your phone or leave the page, and after 3 minutes without hearing a line.
Your voice
Never leaves your device, and is never recorded. The engine runs on your phone
or computer and can only recognise words from this scene. Anything else it
hears, like chat in the room, is thrown away as it's heard.
What we receive
Nothing about you or your voice. Like any web page, your device asks our
website for the files above, so our hosting provider (Cloudflare) handles
those requests. This page has no analytics, no cookies and no code from any
other website.
Good to know
It uses a fair amount of battery and memory, and works best on a recent phone
or computer. It's a beta: it can lose its place, and it isn't perfect with
every accent or unusual word. If you're under 13, ask a parent, carer or
teacher before using it.