Thanks for the feedback, Alex! I created a PR adding a section for "alternatives considered" to the Explainer: https://github.com/WebAudio/web-speech-api/pull/189/changes/cb93e856d59e3045c08937dca5e7d14f8aab0c44
Thanks, Evan On Mon, Jun 1, 2026 at 11:38 AM Alex Russell <[email protected]> wrote: > This looks really useful; were any alternative designs considered? Can > they be documented in the Explainer (per our usual format)? > > Best, > > Alex > > On Thursday, May 28, 2026 at 10:24:52 AM UTC-7 Chromestatus wrote: > >> *Contact emails* >> [email protected] >> >> *Explainer* >> >> https://github.com/WebAudio/web-speech-api/blob/main/explainers/unspoken-punctuation.md >> >> *Specification* >> https://webaudio.github.io/web-speech-api >> >> *Summary* >> Adds the unspokenPunctuation boolean attribute to the SpeechRecognition >> interface of the Web Speech API. When enabled (true), this attribute >> directs the speech recognition engine to automatically infer and insert >> punctuation marks (such as periods, commas, and question marks) based on >> the user's natural pauses, grammatical structure, and prosody, without >> requiring explicit spoken punctuation commands. >> >> *Blink component* >> Blink>Speech >> <https://issues.chromium.org/issues?q=customfield1222907:%22Blink%3ESpeech%22> >> >> *Web Feature ID* >> speech-recognition <https://webstatus.dev/features/speech-recognition> >> >> *Motivation* >> Currently, developers building voice-enabled web applications—such as >> casual dictation tools, automated transcription services, or conversational >> assistants—receive raw, unpunctuated text streams from the Web Speech API. >> To make this text readable and polished, developers are often forced to >> implement and maintain complex downstream NLP models to infer basic >> formatting. Additionally, from an end-user perspective, having to >> explicitly dictate punctuation (e.g., stopping to say "comma" or "period") >> disrupts the natural flow of continuous speech and significantly increases >> cognitive load. Introducing the unspokenPunctuation attribute solves this >> by moving automatic, prosody-aware punctuation directly into the browser's >> speech recognition engine. This provides an intuitive, conversational voice >> typing experience for users out-of-the-box, while dramatically lowering the >> barrier to entry for developers building voice-driven web apps. >> >> *Initial public proposal* >> *No information provided* >> >> *TAG review* >> *No information provided* >> >> *TAG review status* >> Not applicable >> >> *Goals for experimentation* >> None >> >> *Risks* >> >> >> *Interoperability and Compatibility* >> *No information provided* >> >> *Gecko*: Positive ( >> https://github.com/WebAudio/web-speech-api/issues/187#issuecomment-4479796822 >> ) >> >> *WebKit*: No signal >> >> *Web developers*: No signals >> >> *Other signals*: >> >> *Ergonomics* >> N/A >> >> *Activation* >> N/A >> >> *Security* >> N/A >> >> *WebView application risks* >> >> Does this intent deprecate or change behavior of existing APIs, such that >> it has potentially high risk for Android WebView-based applications? >> N/A, Not supported on Android >> >> >> *Debuggability* >> None required. >> >> *Will this feature be supported on all six Blink platforms (Windows, Mac, >> Linux, ChromeOS, Android, and Android WebView)?* >> No >> On-device Web Speech is only supported on Mac, Windows, and Linux. >> >> *Is this feature fully tested by web-platform-tests >> <https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/main/docs/testing/web_platform_tests.md>?* >> Yes >> >> >> *Flag name on about://flags* >> *No information provided* >> >> *Finch feature name* >> WebSpeechUnspokenPunctuation >> >> *Rollout plan* >> Will ship enabled for all users >> >> *Requires code in //chrome?* >> True >> >> *Tracking bug* >> https://bugs.chromium.org/b/514764702 >> >> *Measurement* >> N/A >> >> *Adoption expectation* >> Feature is used by specific partner (Google Meet) to provide >> functionality within 12 months of launch in Chrome. >> >> *Estimated milestones* >> Shipping on desktop 151 >> DevTrial on desktop 150 >> >> *Anticipated spec changes* >> >> Open questions about a feature may be a source of future web compat or >> interop issues. Please list open issues (e.g. links to known github issues >> in the project for the feature specification) whose resolution may >> introduce web compat/interop risk (e.g., changing to naming or structure of >> the API in a non-backward-compatible way). >> >> https://github.com/WebAudio/web-speech-api/pull/188/changes#diff-5e793325cd2bfc452e268a4aa2f02b4024dd9584bd1db3c2595f61f1ecf7b985 >> >> *Link to entry on the Chrome Platform Status* >> https://chromestatus.com/feature/4785284026859520?gate=4835184634626048 >> >> This intent message was generated by Chrome Platform Status >> <https://chromestatus.com>. >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "blink-dev" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/blink-dev/CAOVsCZmdX3Wo4bGi9NL0w8bq3Zf366EtvtBRCLDpPQY4xaPWzw%40mail.gmail.com.
