Standard or regulation
Web Speech API (W3C Community Group draft)
W3C Web Speech API Community Group, 2026
Read the originalRead on October 17, 2026
- What it is
- The draft specification for the Web Speech API that browsers implement, including its security and privacy section.
- How much weight it carries
- A draft from a W3C Community Group, not a W3C Recommendation. Browsers follow it in varying degrees, so it states what browsers should do rather than what each one does.
Facts taken from this source
- The specification defines a downloadable status for on-device recognition that the browser supports but that is not yet installed.
“Indicates that on-device speech recognition for the specified language(s) is supported by the user agent but not yet installed.” (SpeechRecognitionAvailabilityStatus enum)
- The Web Speech API specification is a Community Group draft report dated 15 October 2026, not a finished W3C standard.
“Web Speech API Draft Community Group Report , 15 October 2026” (Title block)
- When processLocally is false, which is the default, the specification lets the browser choose between local and remote processing.
“If set to false, the user agent can choose between local and remote processing.” (processLocally attribute)
- When a page sets processLocally to true, the specification requires that recognition run on the user's device.
“This attribute, when set to true, indicates a requirement that the speech recognition process MUST be performed locally on the user’s device.” (processLocally attribute)
- The Web Speech API specification requires browsers to start a speech input session only with explicit, informed user consent.
“User agents must only start speech input sessions with explicit, informed user consent.” (Section 3, Security and privacy considerations)