diff --git a/web/templates/entry_view.html b/web/templates/entry_view.html
index 4c9caac..20c5728 100644
--- a/web/templates/entry_view.html
+++ b/web/templates/entry_view.html
@@ -279,17 +279,36 @@
 })();
 </script>
 
+<!-- TTS toast (one-time, tiny helper UI) -->
+<div id="tts-toast"
+     style="position:fixed;bottom:84px;left:50%;transform:translateX(-50%);
+            background:#111827;color:#fff;padding:10px 14px;border-radius:8px;
+            font-size:14px;display:none;z-index:9999;box-shadow:0 6px 18px rgba(0,0,0,.25);">
+</div>
+
 <script>
 (function(){
   const LS_KEY = "tts.voiceName";
+  const speakBtn = document.querySelector('#ttsBtn, #btn-speak, .btn-speak');
 
-  function listVoices(){ return speechSynthesis.getVoices(); }
+  // --- Toast ---
+  function showTTSToast(msg, ms=2200){
+    const el = document.getElementById('tts-toast');
+    if (!el) return;
+    el.textContent = msg;
+    el.style.display = 'block';
+    clearTimeout(showTTSToast._t);
+    showTTSToast._t = setTimeout(()=>{ el.style.display = 'none'; }, ms);
+  }
+
+  // --- Voice helpers ---
+  function listVoices(){ return window.speechSynthesis ? speechSynthesis.getVoices() : []; }
 
   const PREFERRED_ORDER = [
-    /Google .*English/i,
-    /Microsoft .*Natural/i,
-    /Siri/i,
-    /Alex/i,
+    /Google .*English/i,          // Chrome voices
+    /Microsoft .*Natural/i,       // Edge neural voices
+    /Siri/i,                      // Safari voices
+    /Alex/i,                      // macOS Alex
     /English/i
   ];
 
@@ -303,18 +322,27 @@
       if (found) return found;
     }
     for (const rx of PREFERRED_ORDER){
-      const m = vs.find(v => rx.test(v.name) && v.lang.toLowerCase().startsWith(lang));
+      const m = vs.find(v => rx.test(v.name) && v.lang?.toLowerCase().startsWith(lang));
       if (m) return m;
     }
-    return vs.find(v => v.lang.toLowerCase().startsWith(lang)) || vs[0];
+    return vs.find(v => v.lang?.toLowerCase().startsWith(lang)) || vs[0];
   }
 
+  function voiceServiceLabel(v){
+    if (!v) return "Browser TTS";
+    const n = (v.name || "").toLowerCase();
+    if (/google/.test(n)) return "Google (Chrome) voice: " + v.name;
+    if (/microsoft|aria|guy|jessa|zira|david|mark|neural/.test(n)) return "Microsoft (Edge) voice: " + v.name;
+    if (/siri/.test(n)) return "Apple Siri voice: " + v.name;
+    if (/alex/.test(n)) return "Apple Alex voice";
+    return "Browser TTS voice: " + v.name + (v.lang ? ` [${v.lang}]` : "");
+  }
+
+  // --- Build the text (ensure punctuation + two spaces) ---
   function ensureSentenceEnd(s){
     if (!s) return "";
     return /[.!?…]$/.test(s) ? s : (s + ".");
   }
-
-  // ✅ Use your actual IDs
   function buildCombinedText(){
     const ill = (document.getElementById("illustration-text")?.innerText || "").trim();
     const app = (document.getElementById("application-text")?.innerText || "").trim();
@@ -322,7 +350,11 @@
     return [illP, app].filter(Boolean).join("  ") || "No text available for this illustration.";
   }
 
-  function speakCombined(){
+  function isSpeaking(){
+    return !!(window.speechSynthesis && (speechSynthesis.speaking || speechSynthesis.pending));
+  }
+
+  function startSpeaking(){
     const text = buildCombinedText();
     if (!("speechSynthesis" in window) || !("SpeechSynthesisUtterance" in window)){
       alert("Text-to-Speech not supported in this browser.");
@@ -330,27 +362,53 @@
     }
     speechSynthesis.cancel();
 
-    const start = () => {
+    const begin = () => {
       const u = new SpeechSynthesisUtterance(text);
       const v = pickBestVoice("en");
       if (v) u.voice = v;
-      u.rate = 1.0; u.pitch = 1.0; u.volume = 1.0;
+      u.rate = 1.0;
+      u.pitch = 1.0;
+      u.volume = 1.0;
+
+      // UI feedback
+      speakBtn?.setAttribute('aria-pressed', 'true');
+      speakBtn?.classList.add('active');
+
+      u.onend = u.onerror = () => {
+        speakBtn?.setAttribute('aria-pressed', 'false');
+        speakBtn?.classList.remove('active');
+      };
+
       speechSynthesis.speak(u);
+      showTTSToast(voiceServiceLabel(v));
     };
 
     if (!listVoices().length){
-      speechSynthesis.onvoiceschanged = () => { speechSynthesis.onvoiceschanged = null; start(); };
+      speechSynthesis.onvoiceschanged = () => { speechSynthesis.onvoiceschanged = null; begin(); };
       speechSynthesis.getVoices(); // nudge
-      setTimeout(() => { if (!speechSynthesis.speaking) start(); }, 600);
+      setTimeout(() => { if (!speechSynthesis.speaking) begin(); }, 600);
     } else {
-      start();
+      begin();
     }
   }
 
-  // ✅ Listen for YOUR button id
-  const speakBtn = document.querySelector('#ttsBtn, #btn-speak, .btn-speak');
+  function stopSpeaking(){
+    if (!window.speechSynthesis) return;
+    speechSynthesis.cancel();
+    speakBtn?.setAttribute('aria-pressed', 'false');
+    speakBtn?.classList.remove('active');
+    showTTSToast("Playback stopped");
+  }
+
   if (speakBtn){
-    speakBtn.addEventListener('click', speakCombined);
+    // Toggle behavior
+    speakBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
+      if (isSpeaking()){
+        stopSpeaking();
+      } else {
+        startSpeaking();
+      }
+    });
   } else {
     console.warn('TTS: speak button not found (looked for #ttsBtn, #btn-speak, .btn-speak).');
   }