CSS voice-balance Speech Media property

The CSS voice-balance property controls the horizontal positioning of synthesized speech in a stereo field. This property determines whether the voice appears to come from the left, center, or right channel when using text-to-speech functionality.

Syntax

selector {
    voice-balance: value;
}

Possible Values

Value Description
left Voice appears to come from the left channel
center Voice appears centered in the stereo field (default)
right Voice appears to come from the right channel
leftwards Voice shifts toward the left
rightwards Voice shifts toward the right

Example: Setting Voice Balance

The following example demonstrates different voice balance settings for various elements −

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
    .left-voice {
        voice-balance: left;
        background-color: #ffebee;
        padding: 10px;
        margin: 5px 0;
    }
    
    .center-voice {
        voice-balance: center;
        background-color: #e8f5e8;
        padding: 10px;
        margin: 5px 0;
    }
    
    .right-voice {
        voice-balance: right;
        background-color: #e3f2fd;
        padding: 10px;
        margin: 5px 0;
    }
</style>
</head>
<body>
    <p class="left-voice">This text will be spoken from the left channel.</p>
    <p class="center-voice">This text will be spoken from the center.</p>
    <p class="right-voice">This text will be spoken from the right channel.</p>
</body>
</html>
Three paragraphs appear with different background colors (light red, light green, and light blue) representing different voice balance settings for text-to-speech output.

Note: The voice-balance property is part of CSS Speech Module and requires a screen reader or text-to-speech software to hear the actual effect. The visual styling is only for demonstration purposes.

Conclusion

The voice-balance property enhances accessibility by controlling stereo positioning of synthesized speech. It's particularly useful for creating immersive audio experiences in web applications that support speech synthesis.

Updated on: 2026-03-15T13:33:46+05:30

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