Xbox Party Chat gets speech-to-text and text-to-speech features

Microsoft will provide the Xbox Party Chat feature with options to convert spoken text to written text and vice versa. The options are a further extension of the accessibility options for Xbox consoles, which Microsoft is strongly committed to.

The ability to convert voice and text was made available to Xbox Insiders this week. Speech-to-text and text-to-speech are options that can be enabled in the accessibility menu of Xbox consoles. The functions can also be found via the options menu when users are in an Xbox Party.

When using the speech-to-text function, a window appears with an automatic transcription of all spoken texts. An icon indicates whether it concerns a text that has been spoken and has been converted to text. This feature is intended for gamers who are deaf or have impaired hearing.

The text-to-speech feature allows users to type texts and have them spoken to join a conversation in a Party. You can choose from a list of different voices. For now, the features are only available to testers in the Xbox Insider program. It is not yet known when all users will get the features.

Microsoft released the Xbox Adaptive Controller in 2018 for gamers with disabilities. This modular controller can be expanded with various accessories, so that buttons can be operated with feet or the mouth, for example. In February, Microsoft updated its Xbox Accessibility Guidelines for developers to make games more accessible.