You can have your computer read aloud the alert messages that appear on your screen using the Talking Alerts section of the Speech control panel.

Open the Speech control panel for me.

Note: Your computer may not be able to read the alert messages that appear in some applications.

To set your computer to speak alert messages:

•	In the Talking Alerts section, click the "Speak the alert text" checkbox.

To have the computer speak a phrase before the alert text:

•	In the Talking Alerts section, click the "Speak the phrase" checkbox, then choose a phrase from the pop-up menu.

Tip: For more help, open the Help menu and choose Show Balloons, then point to the item you're interested in.

If you can't hear the computer speak:

•	Make sure that the Speech control panel is installed and the talking alerts checkboxes are checked.
•	Make sure the computer's volume is turned up and the sound is not muted in the Sound control panel. Open the Sound control panel for me.
•	If you're using external speakers, make sure that the speakers are turned on and that the volume is turned up.
•	Change the default voice to Fred in the Voice section of the Speech control panel, then click the speaker icon.
	If you can hear the computer speak, the voice you were using before required more random-access memory (RAM) than was available. (The voices with "high quality" in their names have the most natural sound, but take up the most memory.)