Audiobook for DITA-OT

This DITA-OT Plug-in transforms DITA to speech in the form of an audiobook.

DITA Topic

<task id="replacecover" xml:lang="en-us">
  <title>Replace the cover of your system.</title>
  <shortdesc>The cover needs to be put back on to reduce problems from dust.</shortdesc>
  <taskbody>
    <steps>
      <step>
        <cmd>Retrieve the computer's cover from its safe place. Put it back on.</cmd>
      </step>
      <step>
        <cmd>Retrieve the screws from the safe place. Put them back in.</cmd>
      </step>
      <step>
        <cmd>Put away your screwdriver before you lose it.</cmd>
      </step>
    </steps>
  </taskbody>
</task>

MP3 Output File

Video from DITA-OT Day 2019

Install

The audiobook plug-in has been tested against DITA-OT 3.x. It is recommended that you
upgrade to the latest version.

Installing DITA-OT

The DITA-OT Audiobook transform is a plug-in for the DITA Open Toolkit.

• Full installation instructions for downloading DITA-OT can be found
  here.

  1. Download the dita-ot-4.2.zip package from the project website at
     dita-ot.org/download
  2. Extract the contents of the package to the directory where you want to install DITA-OT.
  3. Optional: Add the absolute path for the bin directory to the PATH system variable.

  This defines the necessary environment variable to run the dita command from the command line.

curl -LO https://github.com/dita-ot/dita-ot/releases/download/4.2/dita-ot-4.2.zip
unzip -q dita-ot-4.2.zip
rm dita-ot-4.2.zip

Installing the Plug-in

• Run the plug-in installation command:

dita install https://github.com/jason-fox/fox.jason.audiobook/archive/master.zip

The dita command line tool requires no additional configuration.

Installing the FFMpeg tool

FFmpeg is a free software project consisting of a software suite of libraries and programs for handling video, audio,
and other multimedia files and streams. FFmpeg is published under the GNU Lesser General Public License 2.1+ or GNU
General Public License 2+ (depending on which options are enabled).

To download a copy follow the instructions on the Download page

Signing up for a Text-to-Speech Service

Several publically available text-to-speech cloud services are available for use, they typically offer a
try-before-you-buy option and generally offer sample access to the service for without cost. Upgrading to a paid
version will be necessary when transforming larger documents.

IBM Cloud Services

The IBM Text to Speech service processes text and natural language to generate synthesized audio output complete with
appropriate cadence and intonation. It is available in several voices:

Introduction: Getting Started

Create an instance of the service:

1. Go to the Text to Speech External link icon page in the IBM
   Cloud Catalog.
2. Sign up for a free IBM Cloud account or log in.
3. Click Create.

Copy the credentials to authenticate to your service instance:

1. From the IBM Cloud dashboard External link icon, click on your Text to
   Speech service instance to go to the Text to Speech service dashboard page.
2. On the Manage page, click Show to view your credentials.
3. Copy the API Key and URL values.
4. Within the plug-in alter the file cfg/configuration.properties to hold your API Key and URL.

Microsoft Azure

The Speech Services allow you to convert text into synthesized speech and get a list of supported voices for a region
using a set of REST APIs. Each available endpoint is associated with a region. A subscription key for the
endpoint/region you plan to use is required.

Introduction: Getting Started

Create an instance of the service:

1. Go to Try Cognitive Services
2. Select the Speech APIs tab.
3. Under Speech Services, select the Get API Key button.
4. Agree to the terms and select your locale from the drop-down menu.
5. Sign in by using your Microsoft, Facebook, LinkedIn, or GitHub account.

You can sign up for a free Microsoft account at the Microsoft account portal. To get started, click Sign in with
Microsoft and then, when asked to sign in, click Create one. Follow the steps to create and verify your new Microsoft
account.

After you sign in to Try Cognitive Services, your free trial begins. The displayed webpage lists all the Azure Cognitive
Services services for which you currently have trial subscriptions. Two subscription keys are listed beside Speech
Services. You can use either key in your applications.

Copy the credentials to authenticate to your service instance:

1. Copy either of the API Key and Endpoint values.
2. Within the plug-in alter the file cfg/configuration.properties to hold your API Key and URL.

Usage

Invocation from the Command line

Obtaining a series of SSML Files

To run, use the ssml transform.

PATH_TO_DITA_OT/bin/dita -f ssml  -o out -i PATH_TO_DITAMAP

Once the command has run, a list.txt and a series of *.ssml files will be available in the output directory.

Obtaining a series of MP3 Files

To run, use the mp3 transform.

PATH_TO_DITA_OT/bin/dita -f mp3  -o out -i PATH_TO_DITAMAP --ssml.service=[bing|watson]

Once the command has run, a list.txt and a series of *.mp3 files will be available in the output directory.

Creating an audiobook

To run, use the audiobook transform.

PATH_TO_DITA_OT/bin/dita -f audiobook  -o out -i PATH_TO_DITAMAP --ssml.service=[bing|watson]

Once the command has run, an *.m4a file will be created in the output directory.

Parameter Reference

• ssml.service - Decides which translation service to use:
  • dummy - Avoids accessing a Speech-to-Text service, uses a dummy MP3 file for all outputs
  • custom - Sends the SSML to an arbitrary URL using POST - use this to connect to proxies for Amazon
    Polly or Google Cloud
    Text-to-Speech
  • watson - Connects to the IBM Cloud Speech-to-Text service
  • bing - Connects to the Microsoft Speech-to-Text service
• ssml.gender - Prefered Voice Gender:
  • male - Use a male voice for text-to-speech where available.
  • female - Use a female voice for text-to-speech where available.
• ssml.authentication.url - URL for creating an OAuth token if needed for a service. Defaults to the value in
  configuration.properties
• ssml.output.format - Output format override for a Speech-to-Text service. Defaults to the value in
  configuration.properties
• ssml.apikey - API Key for the Speech-to-Text service. Defaults to the value in configuration.properties
• ssml.url - URL for a Speech-to-Text service. Defaults to the value in configuration.properties
• mp3.cachefile - Specifies the location of a cache file to be used. If the SSML file matches to a previously
  generated mp3 file in the cache the mp3 file will be copied over and the Speech-to-Text service will not be called.
• mp3.cover.art.add - Specifies whether or not cover art is to be added to an album (default no)
• mp3.cover.art.image - Specifies the cover art to be used for an album, the default will use the image plug-in
  alter the file cfg/cover-art.png
• audiobook.format - mp4 Output Format (with or without DRM)
  • m4a - audio file created in the MPEG-4 format (default)
  • m4b - audio file created in the MPEG-4 format with DRM

Selecting a voice to use

When running the mp3 or audiobook transforms, the male voice corresponding to the xml:lang attribute of the root
topic will be chosen to render the speech. Use the --ssml.gender=female parameter to switch to the female voice. If
no voice of the preferred gender can be found, the default will be used.

A list of available voices can be found within following files:

• cfg/attrs/bing.voice-attr.xsl
• cfg/attrs/watson.voice-attr.xsl

Each listing shows the default male and female voices for a language, plus any regional variants which are available:

<!-- Voices speaking in English -->
<xsl:attribute-set name="__voice__en__male">
    <xsl:attribute name="voice">en-US_MichaelVoice</xsl:attribute>
</xsl:attribute-set>
<xsl:attribute-set name="__voice__en__female">
    <xsl:attribute name="voice">en-US_AllisonVoice</xsl:attribute>
</xsl:attribute-set>
<!-- Voices speaking in Regional English -->
<xsl:attribute-set name="__voice__en-us__female">
    <xsl:attribute name="voice">en-US_AllisonVoice</xsl:attribute>
</xsl:attribute-set>
<!--xsl:attribute-set name="__voice__en-us__female">
    <xsl:attribute name="voice">en-US_LisaVoice</xsl:attribute>
</xsl:attribute-set-->
<xsl:attribute-set name="__voice__en-gb__female">
    <xsl:attribute name="voice">en-GB_KateVoice</xsl:attribute>
</xsl:attribute-set>

As you can see the en-US_AllisonVoice is currently the preferred female voice for all documents marked up as
xml:lang="en" and xml:lang="en-US".

• to alter the en preferences, replace the text within the <xsl:attribute name="voice"> element with the preferred
  voice.
• to alter the en-us preferences, comment out the existing selection and uncomment the new preferred voice.

Marking up SSML tags.

Some DITA tags such as <p> and <b> translate directly to SSML, however there is rich vocabulary of audio effects
which are missing from the vanilla DITA specification. These can be accommodated using the props attribute added to
<ph> tag. Examples are given below. The listing is mainly based on the
IBM Text to Speech Programming Guide,
however the DITA plug-in is not service specific so some additional tags can be used. Obviously common substitutions
should be replaced with <keyword> elements for consistency of reuse.

Note: Not all tags and attributes will be supported by every provider.

<say-as> Element

The say-as tag allows the author to indicate information on the type of text contained within the tag and to help
specify the level of detail for rendering the text. The required attribute for this tag is interpret-as . There are
two optional attributes, format and detail, which are only used with particular values within the interpret-as
attribute. These optional attributes are illustrated within the entries for their associated values.

• letters: This value spells out the characters in a given word within the enclosed tag.

Example (This will spell out “HELLO”):

<ph props="say-as interpret-as(letters)">Hello</ph>

• digits: This value spells out the digits in a given number within the enclosed tag.

Example (This will spell out “123456”):

<ph props="say-as interpret-as(digits)">123456</ph>

• vxml:digits: This value performs the same function as the digits value.

Example

<ph props="say-as interpret-as(vxml:digits)">123456</ph>

• date This value will speak the date within the enclosed tag, using the format given in the associated format
  attribute. The format attribute is required for use with the date value of interpret-as, but if format is not
  present, the engine will still attempt to pronounce the date.

Example (This gives a list of dates in all the various formats: )

<ph props="say-as interpret-as(date) format(mdy)">12/17/2005</ph>
<ph props="say-as interpret-as(date) format(ymd)">2005/12/17</ph>
<ph props="say-as interpret-as(date) format(dmy)">17/12/2005</ph>
<ph props="say-as interpret-as(date) format(ydm)">2005/17/12</ph>
<ph props="say-as interpret-as(date) format(my)">12/2005</ph>
<ph props="say-as interpret-as(date) format(md)">12/17</ph>
<ph props="say-as interpret-as(date) format(ym)">2005/12</ph>

• ordinal - This value will speak the ordinal value for the given digit within the enclosed tag.

Example (This will say “second first”):

<ph props="say-as interpret-as(ordinal)">2</ph>
<ph props="say-as interpret-as(ordinal)">1</ph>

• cardinal - This value will speak the cardinal number corresponding to the Roman numeral within the enclosed tag.

Example (This will say “Super Bowl thirty-nine”):

Super Bowl <ph props="say-as interpret-as(cardinal)">XXXIX</ph>

• number - This value is an alternative to using the values given above. Using the format attribute to determine
  how the number is to be interpreted, you can enter one series of number and have it pronounced several different
  ways, as in the example. The example also includes two different ways of pronouncing a series of numbers as a
  telephone number. To have the series pronounced with the punctuation included, you must add the detail attribute.

Examples

<ph props="say-as interpret-as(number)">123456</ph>
<ph props="say-as interpret-as(number) format(ordinal)">123456</ph>
<ph props="say-as interpret-as(number) format(cardinal)">123456</ph>
<ph props="say-as interpret-as(number) format(telephone)">555-555-5555</ph>
<ph props="say-as interpret-as(number) format(telephone) detail(punctuation)">555-555-5555</ph>

• vxml:boolean - This value will speak yes or no depending on the value given within the enclosed tag.

Examples

<ph props="say-as interpret-as(vxml:boolean)">true</ph>
<ph props="say-as interpret-as(vxml:boolean)">false</ph>

• vxml:date - This value works like the date value, except that the format is predefined as YYYYMMDD. When a value
  is not known, or you do not wish it to be displayed, a question mark is used to replace that value, as shown in the
  example.

Examples

<ph props="say-as interpret-as(vxml:date)">20050720</ph>
<ph props="say-as interpret-as(vxml:date)">????0720</ph>
<ph props="say-as interpret-as(vxml:date)">200507??</ph>

• vxml:currency - This value is used to control the synthesis of monetary quantities. The string must be written in
  the UUUmm.nn format, where UUU is the three character currency indicator specified by ISO standard 4217, and
  mm.nn is the amount.

Example (This will say “forty-five dollars and thirty cents”):

<ph props="say-as interpret-as(vxml:currency)">USD45.30</ph>

If there are more than two decimal places in the number within the enclosed tag, the amount will be synthesized as a
decimal number followed by the currency indicator. If the three character currency indicator is not present, the number
will be synthesized as a decimal only, with no pronunciation of currency type.

Example (This will say “forty-five point three two nine US dollars”):

<ph props="say-as interpret-as(vxml:currency)">USD45.329</ph>

• vxml:phone - This value will speak a phone number with both digits and punctuation, similar to the number value
  used with format(telephone).

<ph props="say-as interpret-as(vxml:phone)">555-555-5555</ph>

<phoneme> Element

The SSML phoneme tag enables users to provide a phonetic pronunciation for the enclosed text. This tag has two
attributes:

• alphabet - This attribute specifies the phonology used. The supported alphabets to designate are ipa for the
  International Phonetic Alphabet, and ibm for the SPR representation.

• ph - This attribute specifies the pronunciation. It is a required attribute. This example shows how a
  pronunciation for “tomato” is specified using the IPA phonology, where the symbols are given using Unicode:

Examples

<ph props="phoneme alphabet(ipa) ph(təmeiɾou̥)">tomato</ph>

This example shows how a pronunciation for “tomato” is specified using the SPR phonology:

<ph props="phoneme alphabet(ibm) ph(.0tx.1me.0fo)">tomato</ph>

<sub> Element

This tag is used to indicate that the text included in the alias attribute is to replace the text enclosed within the
tag when speech is synthesized. The only attribute for this tag is the alias attribute, and it is required.

Example

<ph props="sub alias(International Business Machines)">IBM</ph>

<voice> Element

This tag is used when a change in voice is required. Although all attributes listed are optional, without any attributes
defined an error will result. The optional attributes are:

• age Accepted values are positive integers between the ages of 14 and 60 for both male and female.
• gender Accepted values are male and female.
• name Accepted values are the installed voices’ names.
• variant Accepted values are positive integers.

Examples

<ph props="voice age(60)">Sixty year-old's voice.</ph>
<ph props="voice gender(female)">This is a female voice.</ph>
<ph props="voice name(Allison)">Use the IBM TTS voice named Allison.</ph>
<ph props="voice name(Allison, Andrew, Tyler)">Use the first available IBM TTS voice named in the given list.</ph>

<emphasis> Element

The <emphasis> element equests that the contained text be spoken with emphasis (also referred to as prominence or
stress).

• level: the optional level attribute indicates the strength of emphasis to be applied. Defined values are strong,
  moderate, none and reduced. The default level is moderate. The meaning of strong and moderate emphasis
  is interpreted according to the language being spoken (languages indicate emphasis using a possible combination of
  pitch change, timing changes, loudness and other acoustic differences). The reduced level is effectively the
  opposite of emphasizing a word. For example, when the phrase “going to” is reduced it may be spoken as “gonna”. The
  none level is used to prevent the synthesis processor from emphasizing words that it might typically emphasize.

Examples

That is a <ph props="emphasis"> big </ph> car!
That is a <ph props="emphasis level(strong)"> huge </ph>bank account!

Emphasis can also be achieved using the <b> tag

That is a <b> big </b> car!
That is a <b props="level(strong)"> huge </b>bank account!

<break> Element

This tag inserts pauses into the spoken text. It has the following optional attributes:

• strength - This attribute specifies the length of a pause in terms of varying strength values: none, x-weak,
weak, medium, strong, or x-strong.
• time - This attribute specifies the length of the pause in terms of seconds or milliseconds. The values formats
  are NNNs for seconds or NNNms for milliseconds.

Examples

Different sized <ph props="break strength(none)"></ph> pauses.
Different sized <ph props="break strength(x-weak)"></ph> pauses.
Different sized <ph props="break strength(weak)"></ph> pauses.
Different sized <ph props="break strength(medium)"></ph> pauses.
Different sized <ph props="break strength(strong)"></ph> pauses.
Different sized <ph props="break strength(x-strong)"></ph> pauses.
Different sized <ph props="break time(1s)"></ph> pauses.
Different sized <ph props="break time(1000ms)"></ph> pauses.

<prosody> Element

This tag controls the pitch, range, speaking rate, and volume of the text. all attributes are optional, but if no
attribute is given an error results.

Here is a description of the optional attributes:

• pitch - This attribute modifies the baseline pitch for the text enclosed within the tag. Accepted values are
  either:, a number followed by the Hz designation, a relative change, x-low, low, medium, high, x-high,
  default

• range This attribute modifies the pitch range for the text enclosed within the tag. Accepted values for this
  attribute are the same as the accepted values for pitch.

• rate - This attribute indicates a change in the speaking rate for contained text. Accepted values are: - a
  relative change - a positive number, x-slow, slow, medium, fast, x-fast, default

The rate is specified in terms of words-per-minute. If the speaking rate is 50 words per minute, then rate=50. If
the setting is rate=+10, the speaking rate will be 10 words per minute faster than your current rate setting.

• volume - This attribute modifies the volume for the contained text. The range for values is 0.0 to 100.0 or the
  relative values of : silent, x-soft, soft, medium, loud, x-loud, default

Examples

<ph props="prosody pitch(150Hz)"> Modified pitch </ph>
<ph props="prosody pitch(-20Hz)"> Modified pitch </ph>
<ph props="prosody pitch(+20Hz)"> Modified pitch </ph>
<ph props="prosody pitch(-12st)"> Modified pitch </ph>
<ph props="prosody pitch(+12st)"> Modified pitch </ph>
<ph props="prosody pitch(x-low)"> Modified pitch </ph>
<ph props="prosody range(150Hz)"> Modified pitch range</ph>
<ph props="prosody range(-20Hz)"> Modified pitch range</ph>
<ph props="prosody range(+20Hz)"> Modified pitch range</ph>
<ph props="prosody range(-12st)"> Modified pitch range</ph>
<ph props="prosody range(+12st)"> Modified pitch range</ph>
<ph props="prosody range(x-high)"> Modified pitch range</ph>
<ph props="prosody rate(slow)"> Modified speaking rate</ph>
<ph props="prosody rate(+25)"> Modified speaking rate</ph>
<ph props="prosody rate(-25)"> Modified speaking rate</ph>
<ph props="prosody volume(88.9)">Modified volume</ph>
<ph props="prosody volume(loud)">Modified volume</ph>

<audio> Element

This tag inserts recorded elements into the generated audio. The only attribute is src and is required. This attribute
specifies the location of the file to be inserted.

Example

<ph props="audio src(http://www.myfiles.com/files/beep.wav)"></ph>

Contribute

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License

Apache 2.0 © 2019 - 2024 Jason Fox