diff --git a/web/templates/entry_view.html b/web/templates/entry_view.html
index 29eaa04..51cde91 100644
--- a/web/templates/entry_view.html
+++ b/web/templates/entry_view.html
@@ -281,99 +281,78 @@
 
 <script>
 (function(){
-  const btn = document.getElementById('ttsBtn');
-  if (!btn) return;
+  const ttsBtn = document.getElementById('ttsBtn');
+  if (!ttsBtn) return;
 
-  const ttsUrl = btn.dataset.ttsUrl || "";  // Present only for staff
-  let audioEl = null;
+  // Provided by the view for staff, or empty for non-staff
+  const TTS_URL = "{{ tts_url|default:'' }}";
 
-  // Build combined text (punctuation-safe) for browser TTS fallback
-  function buildCombinedText() {
+  async function playOpenAITTS() {
+    // fetch audio bytes from your Django endpoint
+    const r = await fetch(TTS_URL, {
+      credentials: 'same-origin',
+      cache: 'no-store'
+    });
+    if (!r.ok) {
+      const msg = await r.text().catch(()=> String(r.status));
+      throw new Error(`HTTP ${r.status}: ${msg.slice(0,200)}`);
+    }
+    const ct = (r.headers.get('content-type') || '').toLowerCase();
+    if (!ct.startsWith('audio/')) {
+      const preview = await r.text().catch(()=> '(non-audio response)');
+      throw new Error(`Unexpected content-type "${ct}". Preview: ${preview.slice(0,200)}`);
+    }
+    const blob = await r.blob();
+    const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
+
+    const audio = new Audio(url);
+    audio.preload = 'auto';
+    audio.autoplay = true;
+    audio.setAttribute('playsinline',''); // iOS/Safari
+    try {
+      await audio.play();
+    } finally {
+      audio.onended = () => URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
+    }
+  }
+
+  function buildCombinedText(){
     const ill = (document.getElementById('illustration-text')?.innerText || '').trim();
     const app = (document.getElementById('application-text')?.innerText || '').trim();
-    const punctIll = ill && /[.!?…—]$/.test(ill) ? ill : (ill ? ill + '.' : '');
-    return [punctIll, app].filter(Boolean).join('  ') || 'No text available for this illustration.';
+    const illP = ill && /[.!?…]$/.test(ill) ? ill : (ill ? ill + '.' : '');
+    return [illP, app].filter(Boolean).join('  ') || 'No text available for this illustration.';
   }
 
-  // --- Staff path: stream OpenAI TTS from server and toggle on click ---
-  if (ttsUrl) {
-    btn.addEventListener('click', () => {
-      // Stop if already playing
-      if (audioEl && !audioEl.paused) {
-        audioEl.pause();
-        audioEl.currentTime = 0;
-        return;
-      }
-      if (!audioEl) {
-        audioEl = new Audio();
-        audioEl.addEventListener('ended', () => {
-          btn.classList.remove('playing');
-        });
-      }
-      // Cache-buster so we always pick up newly cached files
-      audioEl.src = ttsUrl + (ttsUrl.includes('?') ? '&' : '?') + 't=' + Date.now();
-      audioEl.play().then(() => {
-        btn.classList.add('playing');
-      }).catch(err => {
-        alert('TTS error: ' + err);
-      });
-    });
-    // Optional little notice the first time
-    if (!sessionStorage.getItem('tts_notice_shown')) {
-      sessionStorage.setItem('tts_notice_shown', '1');
-      // toast-style notice:
-      const notice = document.createElement('div');
-      notice.textContent = 'Using OpenAI TTS (gpt-4o-mini-tts, alloy)';
-      Object.assign(notice.style, {
-        position:'fixed', bottom:'18px', left:'50%', transform:'translateX(-50%)',
-        background:'#333', color:'#fff', padding:'8px 12px', borderRadius:'6px',
-        fontSize:'13px', zIndex:'99999'
-      });
-      document.body.appendChild(notice);
-      setTimeout(()=>notice.remove(), 2500);
-    }
-    return;
-  }
-
-  // --- Non-staff path: keep your browser TTS (Web Speech API) ---
-  function pickVoice() {
-    const voices = speechSynthesis.getVoices();
-    // Preference order (same as you had)
-    const prefs = [/Google .*English/i, /Microsoft .*Natural/i, /Siri/i, /Alex/i, /English/i];
-    for (const p of prefs) {
-      const v = voices.find(v => p.test(v.name) && v.lang.toLowerCase().startsWith('en'));
-      if (v) return v;
-    }
-    return voices.find(v => v.lang.toLowerCase().startsWith('en')) || voices[0] || null;
-  }
-
-  function speakBrowserTTS() {
+  function speakBrowserTTS(){
     const text = buildCombinedText();
-    if (!window.speechSynthesis || !window.SpeechSynthesisUtterance) {
-      alert('Text-to-Speech not supported in this browser.');
-      return;
-    }
-    // If currently speaking—toggle off
-    if (speechSynthesis.speaking || speechSynthesis.pending) {
-      speechSynthesis.cancel();
-      return;
-    }
-    const start = () => {
-      const u = new SpeechSynthesisUtterance(text);
-      const v = pickVoice();
-      if (v) u.voice = v;
-      u.rate = 1.0; u.pitch = 1.0; u.volume = 1.0;
-      speechSynthesis.speak(u);
-    };
-    if (!speechSynthesis.getVoices().length) {
-      speechSynthesis.onvoiceschanged = () => start();
-      speechSynthesis.getVoices();
-    } else {
-      start();
+    if (!('speechSynthesis' in window) || !('SpeechSynthesisUtterance' in window)) {
+      throw new Error('Browser TTS not supported.');
     }
+    window.speechSynthesis.cancel();
+    const u = new SpeechSynthesisUtterance(text);
+    u.rate = 1.0; u.pitch = 1.0; u.volume = 1.0;
+    speechSynthesis.speak(u);
   }
 
-  btn.addEventListener('click', speakBrowserTTS);
+  ttsBtn.addEventListener('click', async () => {
+    try {
+      ttsBtn.disabled = true;
+
+      // Staff users get the OpenAI endpoint; others fall back
+      const usingOpenAI = Boolean(TTS_URL);
+      if (usingOpenAI) {
+        await playOpenAITTS();
+        alert('Speaking with: OpenAI (server TTS).');
+      } else {
+        speakBrowserTTS();
+        alert('Speaking with: Browser TTS.');
+      }
+    } catch (err) {
+      alert('TTS error: ' + (err && err.message ? err.message : String(err)));
+    } finally {
+      ttsBtn.disabled = false;
+    }
+  });
 })();
 </script>
 {% endblock %}
\ No newline at end of file