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I'm writing a document in Writer on a Mac (High Sierra). I want to be able to hear the text read back to me from within the document, but I can't see a way to do that.

In Apple applications I just highlight the text and select Speech > Start Speaking from the context menu. But that doesn't work in Open Office. I'm having to copy and paste the text into an Apple application and use the text-to-speech function there, which is very tedious.

If I have to download a (free) third part text-to-speech application I'll do that. Any suggestions?

thefatladysings wrote: I want to be able to hear the text read back to me from within the document, but I can't see a way to do that.

 → System Preferences → Accessibility → Speech → ✓ Speak selected text when the key is pressed → Choose a key
In Writer, highlight the text and press the key you chose. The default is ⌥esc (Option+esc). Press the key again to stop speech. It worked for me.

thefatladysings wrote:In Apple applications I just highlight the text and select Speech > Start Speaking from the context menu.

Writer isn't going to provide a MacOS feature in its context menu. In the Accessibility dialog "Speech" might be called "Spoken Content" on some levels of MacOS. Read the documentation for your level via a web search or via Help → MacOS Help in Finder. For further questions about this MacOS feature you should use an Apple forum where you will find experts for that platform.
Have your Mac speak text that’s on the screen

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[Tutorial] Mac FAQ

It worked for me.

Thanks for your reply. I suspect that you're using a later version of the MacOS. Mine is 10.13.6 ~ In Oo Writer when I highlight text and press the relevant key combination it reads the header bar at the top of the document. Not very helpful. Anyway, I'll take your advice and look for an Apple forum, or download Natural Reader and try that. Thanks!

thefatladysings wrote:In Oo Writer when I highlight text and press the relevant key combination it reads the header bar at the top of the document.

That is Apple's Voice Over "Hear what’s happening on your screen". You don't want Voice Over, you want Spoken Content or Speech, depending on your MacOS level. Read Apple's documentation about these features.
Vision - For every point of view

If this solved your problem please go to your first post use the Edit button and add [Solved] to the start of the subject field. Select the green checkmark icon at the same time.

You don't want Voice Over, you want Spoken Content or Speech, depending on your MacOS level...

That's the problem. It's dependent on the MacOS level. The full spoken content feature is only available from Mojav (10.14) onwards, and I have High Sierra (10.13). C'est la vie!