Why is the text-to-speech hotkey not working?

Solution 1:

I have found a solution that worked for me without restarting (although restarting worked before when this happened)

My problem was that both the Hot Key or the contextual menu Right-Click -> Speech -> Start Speaking did not work within any application like Chrome and Text Edit

When I went to System Preferences -> Accessibility -> Speech -> Play the button toggled to Stop as if playing but I heard no audio.

My Solution: I switched my default voice from Heather Infovox iVox HQ to Samantha then pressed the Play button.

I got audio.

Then I switched back to Heather and both Hot Key and contextual menu Right-Click -> Speech -> Start Speaking worked without quitting any apps or restarting my computer.

Solution 2:

I found that these steps worked for me and prevented a reboot.

1. Go into System Preferences and open Sound
2. Select the Output tab.
3. Switch to a different output than you are currently using.
4. Switch back to Internal Speakers, Headphones, or whatever you typically use.
5. Return to Accessibility, Speech and test using the Play button.

These steps worked for me and I'm assuming it might have to do with an application I have installed called Loopback that allows me to record internal audio. Hope this helps someone else out there that might be experiencing the same issue.