HelpMeSpeak uses a web interface, a modified http:drupal.org Drupal content management system, [MySQL] database and uses Festival sound software on Linux to provide an interactive Text-To-Speech (TTS) tool, which allows users to add their own pictures and text to produce speech. The Windows version of HelpMeSpeak is also able to run from a USB or CD device.

The Drupal Image Gallery module was modified so instead of displaying images in a gallery, it allows the user to click on the image and the underlying TTS system 'speaks' the word or phrase the image represents. The AJAX (Javascript, PHP and XML) methodology was used to allow page update without refresh.

HelpMeSpeak was developed as a communication aid for children who have difficulty speaking. However, there are other potential uses, such as for literacy or language studies. There are commercial TSS software packages available but they are not web based and not low cost.

The simplest way of making a gallery is to upload photos from a digital camera or find free clipart on the Internet at sites such as http://www.barrysclipart.com, http://openclipart.org and http://www.iconarchive.com/.

There are different configurations you can setup to run HelpMeSpeak, but in its simplest form the software runs both the client and server from the same machine, namely the localhost. To run HelpMeSpeak a web browser starts at http://localhost/speak. The software is installed on the web server at /var/www/html/speak or the web server configuration file uses an alias to the true location of the speak software. For alternate configurations see the article on Alternate Configurations.