CaptionSpeaker

CaptionSpeaker is a chrome extension that allows you to hear subtitles in a specified language when they are set on youtube.

# Usage

1.Right-click the CaptionSpeaker icon to open the settings (Options) and save the appropriate speaker settings (Please be sure to do so as there is a possibility that the speech may fail in the standard setting.).
2.Open the video that you want YouTube to produce subtitles for
3.Click CaptionSpeaker icon to enable subtitle speech (If the icon is green, it is on.)
4.Start playing movie (The speech starts when the subtitles appear.)

If you want to stop the subtitle speech, you can turn it off by clicking the CaptionSpeaker icon.

When speaking, the speaker is the default setting of the browser at first. For example, in a Japanese environment, the speaker is Japanese, so if you want him to speak English, please set it on the setting page (Right-click the icon to select an option, or click the icon to select Options.).
You can also change the reading speed on the settings page.

When you change the speaker's language (Locale), you try to produce subtitles in that language (I sometimes fail.).

# Note

- CaptionSpeaker is a Chrome Extension that reads out the subtitles set for YouTube videos. It does not have the ability to translate Youtube videos. If the YouTube video does not have subtitles in the target language, it will not be spoken.

# Before Reporting a Bug: A Request for Your Cooperation

If the extension or app isn’t working as expected, we truly appreciate you taking the time to report it.
However, please understand that if the issue cannot be reproduced on the developer’s side, it can be very difficult to fix or respond to.

To help us investigate and resolve the issue more effectively, we’d greatly appreciate it if you could include the following information in your report:

### Helpful Minimum Information
- The situation in which the issue occurred (what happened and under what conditions)
- The behavior you *expected* to see
- The exact steps you took before the issue occurred
(This helps developers reproduce the problem. Reproducibility is key, so please avoid skipping any steps.)
- Your environment:
- Chrome version
- OS and its version
- CaptionSpeaker version
- CaptionSpeaker settings
- The URL of the video where the issue occurred

### A Small Tip
Saying only “It doesn’t work” makes it very difficult for developers to investigate.

What you don’t know, the developer likely doesn’t know either.

Clearly describing how to reproduce the issue greatly increases the chances of a quick and accurate fix.

# Update History

# # Version 1.0
First release

# # Version 1.1
- Add an option to stop the previous utterance when a new utterance is made
- If the subtitle in the same language as the speech setting is default, add the option of not speaking

# # Version 1.2
- When reading is turned off, stop speaking if you are speaking.
- Addresses an issue that may cause a slight delay in reading

## Version 1.3
-Slightly changed the judgment criteria of "Subtitles in the same language as the speech setting"

## Version 1.4
-Added "Setting to read only when subtitles are displayed" setting item

## Version 1.4.2
- Fixed an issue where subtitles could not be read (November 26, 2020 JST)

## Version 1.4.3
- Fixed the problem that subtitles could not be read

## Version 2.0.0
- Compatible with Manifest V3
- Fixed the problem of not speaking when transitioning from a channel (www.youtube.com/channel/...) or playlist (www.youtube.com/playlist?list=...) to a video page.
- Supports embedding in pages other than www.youtube.com (type that iframe captures www.youtube.com/embed ...) (Note that when you "add to queue" in youtube Not compatible with the displayed mini player)
- Added "Lower volume of original video during utterance" setting

## Verson 2.0.1 (2022/05)
- Fixed the problem of trying to speak the language of the browser's language setting side when the language setting of the browser (window.navigator.language) and the language to be read are different.

## Version 2.0.2 (2022/06)
- By going to get the next information when you couldn't get the subtitles, you reduced the possibility that you couldn't get the subtitles.

## Version 2.0.3 (2022/06)
- Fixed the problem that sometimes failed to be obtained in the part to get the next information entered in Version 2.0.2.

## Version 2.0.4 (2023/12)
- When video playback is stopped, speech will also stop (Thanks @RonnieBlade)
- ON/OFF setting of "Enable speech without time synchronization" will be added to "Options" (Thanks @billythekidz)

## Version 2.0.5 (2025/05)
- Ignore HTML tags such as <b> if they are present in the subtitles.
- Also target videos on https://www.youtube.com/live/. However, please note that since subtitle data is required, it will not work if the subtitle data has not been generated during live streaming, etc. In other words, it will only work if you watch after the live streaming has ended (after YouTube has generated the subtitle data or the channel owner has added the subtitles).

## Version 2.0.6 (2025/06)
- Since there were cases where subtitle data could not be acquired, we will try to make an effort to acquire them.
However, it is necessary to observe the UI side of Youtube to acquire the subtitle data. Therefore, we try to display the subtitle for a moment when the subtitle is non-displayed. Therefore, if you try to acquire subtitles by this method, there is a possibility that subtitles will be displayed for a moment.
In addition, in order to try to acquire subtitles by multiple routes, if there are factors such as network communication problems, it is possible that you may not be able to acquire subtitles and cannot speak, or even if you do speak, it may take time to start speaking due to the time it takes to acquire subtitles.

## Version 2.0.7 (2025/06)
- Addressed an issue where it did not work when “If the subtitle of the same language as the utterance setting language is default, do not speak” was ON.

## Version 2.0.8 (2025/06)
- Addressed an issue where the subtitles read out after an advertisement video was displayed were sometimes those of the advertisement.

## Version 2.0.9 (2025/06)
- Do not press the subtitle button if it seems like it will have no effect. (For example, if there are no subtitles for a /live/ video (such as when the video is currently live and subtitles have not been created), pressing the subtitle button will fix the problem of endlessly trying to get subtitles.)

# Known Issues

It seems that macOS Catalina may fail to speak with a standard speaker.
You can avoid it by setting the speaker who can make a test speech on the setting page and confirm that he can actually speak.