What is SSML?

You’ve probably heard of HTML but possibly not SSML. Where HTML is used to describe the structure of a web page, SSML (Speech Synthesis Markup Language) is an XML based markup language used in speech synthesis applications. It controls aspects of synthesized speech such as pronunciation, emphasis, pitch and rate. The Alexa Skills Kit supports a subset of SSML tags to make your Alexa skill more personable and customizable. Cool features include things like adding emotions such as “excited” or the addition of audio files to your app. Note – If you’re using the Alexa Skills Kit SDK for Node.js or Java you don’t need to use the <speak> tags!

Have you used SSML before?

For more info on using SSML with your Alexa App check out this documentation: https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs/alexa/custom-skills/speech-synthesis-markup-language-ssml-reference.html