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React/Frontend

ElevenLabs UI Voice Nav: Building the Future of Voice-First Web Navigation

ElevenLabs UI introduces voice navigation components that transform how users interact with web applications. This open-source library enables developers to build accessible, voice-controlled interfaces with natural language processing, hands-free navigation, and seamless integration into React applications—bringing the future of conversational UI to the modern web.

Published: 9/22/2025

ElevenLabs UI Voice Nav: Building the Future of Voice-First Web Navigation

Executive Summary

The web is undergoing a fundamental shift in how users interact with digital interfaces. While keyboard and mouse inputs have dominated for decades, voice-based navigation is emerging as a critical accessibility feature and next-generation interaction paradigm. ElevenLabs UI's Voice Nav component represents a breakthrough in this space—offering production-ready, open-source components that enable developers to build voice-controlled web applications with the same ease as implementing traditional navigation.

Unlike retrofitted voice assistants that treat web navigation as an afterthought, Voice Nav was architected specifically for modern web applications. The component leverages ElevenLabs' state-of-the-art speech recognition and natural language understanding to provide intuitive, context-aware navigation that feels native to conversational interfaces. Users can navigate complex applications, trigger actions, and access content using natural language—all without touching a keyboard or mouse.

Built on React and designed for seamless integration with modern frameworks like Next.js, Remix, and Vite applications, Voice Nav provides a complete toolkit for voice-first development. The library handles the complex orchestration of speech recognition, intent parsing, navigation routing, and accessibility compliance while exposing a simple, declarative API that developers already understand.

Why Voice Nav Matters for Modern Web Development

Traditional web navigation assumes users have full motor control and visual attention. This assumption excludes millions of users with disabilities, creates friction for mobile users in hands-free contexts, and ignores the growing expectation that digital interfaces should understand natural language. Voice Nav eliminates these barriers by providing:

  • •Universal Accessibility: Enable users with motor impairments, visual disabilities, or situational limitations to navigate your application effortlessly
  • •Hands-Free Productivity: Support use cases where users need to interact with applications while their hands are occupied (cooking, driving, manufacturing)
  • •Natural Language Interfaces: Meet users' expectations for conversational AI by allowing navigation through natural speech rather than rigid command patterns
  • •Future-Proof Architecture: Prepare applications for a voice-first future where traditional input methods are supplemented or replaced by conversational interfaces

The component's integration with ElevenLabs' conversational AI platform means developers gain access to enterprise-grade speech recognition with multi-language support, advanced noise cancellation, and real-time processing—capabilities that would typically require months of ML engineering to build in-house.

Technical Deep Dive

Architecture Overview

Voice Nav's architecture consists of four primary layers that work together to transform spoken language into application navigation:

1. Speech Recognition Layer

At the foundation sits ElevenLabs' WebRTC-based real-time speech recognition engine. Unlike traditional HTTP-based speech APIs that require audio buffering, Voice Nav establishes a persistent WebSocket connection that streams audio chunks as users speak:

\\\typescript // Internal speech recognition flow interface SpeechRecognitionEngine { // Establishes WebRTC connection to ElevenLabs connect(): Promise;

// Streams audio from microphone in 100ms chunks streamAudio(stream: MediaStream): void;

// Returns partial transcriptions as user speaks onPartialTranscript(callback: (text: string) => void): void;

// Returns final transcription when user pauses onFinalTranscript(callback: (text: string) => void): void;

// Handles connection errors and retries onError(callback: (error: Error) => void): void; } \\\

This streaming architecture enables three critical capabilities:

  • •Low Latency: Transcription results arrive within 200-300ms of speech, creating the perception of instantaneous understanding
  • •Partial Results: Users see real-time feedback as they speak, similar to Google's live transcription
  • •Interruption Handling: The system gracefully handles when users change their mind mid-sentence or provide corrections

2. Natural Language Understanding (NLU) Layer

Raw transcriptions are passed through an intent classification pipeline that maps natural language to navigation actions. Voice Nav uses a hybrid approach combining pattern matching for common phrases with LLM-based understanding for complex queries:

\\\typescript // Intent classification system interface IntentClassifier { // Fast pattern matching for common navigation phrases patterns: NavigationPattern[];

// LLM fallback for ambiguous or complex queries llmClassifier: LLMIntentClassifier;

// Extracts navigation intent from spoken text classify(transcript: string): Promise;

// Learns from user corrections to improve accuracy learnFromFeedback(intent: NavigationIntent, wasCorrect: boolean): void; }

// Example navigation patterns const defaultPatterns = [ { pattern: /go to (the )?home ?page/i, intent: { type: 'navigate', target: '/' }, }, { pattern: /show (me )?(the )?settings/i, intent: { type: 'navigate', target: '/settings' }, }, { pattern: /(open|view) (.+)/i, intent: { type: 'navigate', target: (match) => \/\${match[2]}\ }, }, ]; \\\

This hybrid approach provides the best of both worlds: instant response for common phrases (e.g., "go home") and intelligent understanding of complex requests (e.g., "show me the invoice I created yesterday for the Johnson account").

3. Navigation Router Integration

Voice Nav integrates seamlessly with modern React routing libraries through a provider-agnostic adapter system:

\\\typescript // Routing adapter interface interface NavigationAdapter { // Navigate to a specific route navigate(path: string, options?: NavigationOptions): void;

// Get current route information getCurrentRoute(): RouteInfo;

// Register voice-accessible routes registerRoute(config: VoiceRouteConfig): void;

// Execute programmatic actions (beyond navigation) executeAction(action: VoiceAction): Promise; }

// Built-in adapters for popular routers export const reactRouterAdapter: NavigationAdapter; export const nextRouterAdapter: NavigationAdapter; export const remixRouterAdapter: NavigationAdapter; export const tanstackRouterAdapter: NavigationAdapter; \\\

This adapter pattern ensures Voice Nav works with any routing solution while providing optimized implementations for popular frameworks.

4. Accessibility and Feedback Layer

The final layer ensures Voice Nav meets WCAG 2.2 AAA standards and provides multimodal feedback:

\\\typescript // Accessibility compliance features interface AccessibilityLayer { // ARIA live region announcements for screen readers announceIntent(intent: NavigationIntent): void;

// Visual feedback for users who can't hear audio confirmations showVisualConfirmation(intent: NavigationIntent): void;

// Keyboard shortcuts as fallback for voice commands enableKeyboardFallback(): void;

// Focus management after voice navigation manageFocus(target: HTMLElement): void; } \\\

This layer ensures Voice Nav enhances rather than replaces existing accessibility features, providing progressive enhancement for all users.

Core Component API

Voice Nav exposes three primary React components that handle different aspects of voice navigation:

#### VoiceNavProvider

The provider component establishes the voice recognition session and provides context to child components:

\\\typescript import { VoiceNavProvider } from '@elevenlabs/ui';

interface VoiceNavProviderProps { // ElevenLabs API key for speech recognition apiKey: string;

// Agent ID for conversational AI (optional) agentId?: string;

// Navigation adapter for your router adapter: NavigationAdapter;

// Custom intent patterns for your application patterns?: NavigationPattern[];

// Language for speech recognition language?: string;

// Callback when voice command is recognized onIntent?: (intent: NavigationIntent) => void;

// Callback when navigation completes onNavigate?: (route: string) => void;

// Error handling callback onError?: (error: VoiceNavError) => void;

// Enable debug mode for development debug?: boolean; }

export function VoiceNavProvider(props: VoiceNavProviderProps): JSX.Element; \\\

Example usage with Next.js App Router:

\\\typescript import { VoiceNavProvider, nextRouterAdapter } from '@elevenlabs/ui'; import { useRouter } from 'next/navigation';

export default function RootLayout({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) { const router = useRouter();

return ( { console.log('Voice intent detected:', intent); }} onNavigate={(route) => { console.log('Navigated to:', route); }} > {children} ); } \\\

#### VoiceNavButton

A pre-built button component that handles microphone permissions, recording state, and user feedback:

\\\typescript import { VoiceNavButton } from '@elevenlabs/ui';

interface VoiceNavButtonProps { // Button label (default: "Voice Navigation") label?: string;

// Icon component for inactive state icon?: React.ComponentType;

// Icon component for active/listening state listeningIcon?: React.ComponentType;

// Custom styling classes className?: string;

// Show live transcription as user speaks showTranscript?: boolean;

// Visual waveform animation during recording showWaveform?: boolean;

// Size variant size?: 'sm' | 'md' | 'lg';

// Style variant variant?: 'default' | 'outline' | 'ghost'; }

export function VoiceNavButton(props: VoiceNavButtonProps): JSX.Element; \\\

Example usage with custom styling:

\\\typescript import { VoiceNavButton } from '@elevenlabs/ui'; import { Mic, MicOff } from 'lucide-react';

export function NavigationBar() { return (

Dashboard Settings
); } \
\\

#### useVoiceNav Hook

For advanced use cases requiring programmatic control:

\\\typescript import { useVoiceNav } from '@elevenlabs/ui';

interface UseVoiceNavReturn { // Current state of voice recognition state: 'idle' | 'connecting' | 'listening' | 'processing' | 'error';

// Current transcript (partial during listening, final when done) transcript: string;

// Detected intent (null while processing) intent: NavigationIntent | null;

// Start listening for voice commands startListening(): Promise;

// Stop listening and process current transcript stopListening(): void;

// Cancel current session without processing cancel(): void;

// Manually register a custom intent pattern registerPattern(pattern: NavigationPattern): void;

// Execute a voice action programmatically executeIntent(intent: NavigationIntent): Promise;

// Check if microphone permission is granted hasPermission: boolean;

// Request microphone permission requestPermission(): Promise; }

export function useVoiceNav(): UseVoiceNavReturn; \\\

Example of custom voice command implementation:

\\\typescript import { useVoiceNav } from '@elevenlabs/ui'; import { useState } from 'react';

export function CustomVoiceSearch() { const { state, transcript, intent, startListening, stopListening, hasPermission, requestPermission, } = useVoiceNav();

const [searchResults, setSearchResults] = useState([]);

const handleVoiceSearch = async () => { if (!hasPermission) { await requestPermission(); }

await startListening();

// Voice Nav will call stopListening automatically on pause // or you can stop manually };

// React to intent changes useEffect(() => { if (intent?.type === 'search') { performSearch(intent.query); } }, [intent]);

return (

{searchResults.length > 0 && ( )}

); } \
\\

Advanced Features

#### Context-Aware Navigation

Voice Nav can maintain conversational context across multiple commands, enabling natural follow-up queries:

\\\typescript import { VoiceNavProvider } from '@elevenlabs/ui';

export function App() { return ( \/\${match[2]}\ }, }, { pattern: /go back|previous/i, intent: { type: 'navigate', target: 'HISTORY_BACK' }, }, { pattern: /edit (it|that|this)/i, intent: { type: 'contextual', action: (context) => { // Access last viewed item from context const lastItem = context.history[0]; return { type: 'navigate', target: \\${lastItem.route}/edit\ }; } }, }, ]} > {/* app content */} ); } \\\

Example conversation flow:

  • 1. User: "Show my invoices"User: "Show my invoices"
  • 2. App navigates to \/invoices\App navigates to \/invoices\
  • 3. User: "Edit this" (Voice Nav understands "this" refers to \/invoices\)User: "Edit this" (Voice Nav understands "this" refers to \/invoices\)
  • 4. App navigates to \/invoices/edit\App navigates to \/invoices/edit\

#### Multi-Language Support

Voice Nav supports 29+ languages through ElevenLabs' multilingual speech recognition:

\\\typescript import { VoiceNavProvider } from '@elevenlabs/ui';

export function MultilingualApp() { const [language, setLanguage] = useState('en-US');

return ( {/* app content */} ); } \\\

#### Custom Actions Beyond Navigation

Voice Nav supports arbitrary action execution, not just route changes:

\\\typescript import { VoiceNavProvider } from '@elevenlabs/ui'; import { useTheme } from 'next-themes';

export function App() { const { setTheme } = useTheme();

return ( { setTheme(match[1]); return { success: true, message: \Switched to \${match[1]} mode\ }; }, }, },

// Form submission { pattern: /submit (the )?form/i, intent: { type: 'action', execute: () => { document.querySelector('form')?.requestSubmit(); return { success: true, message: 'Form submitted' }; }, }, },

// Modal control { pattern: /close (the )?(modal|dialog|popup)/i, intent: { type: 'action', execute: () => { // Trigger modal close document.querySelector('[data-dialog-close]')?.click(); return { success: true, message: 'Modal closed' }; }, }, }, ]} > {/* app content */} ); } \\\

Real-World Examples

Example 1: Accessible E-Commerce Navigation

A furniture e-commerce company implemented Voice Nav to enable hands-free browsing for users comparing products while measuring spaces in their homes:

\\\typescript import { VoiceNavProvider, VoiceNavButton, nextRouterAdapter } from '@elevenlabs/ui'; import { useRouter } from 'next/navigation'; import { useCart } from '@/hooks/use-cart';

export default function StoreLayout({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) { const router = useRouter(); const { addToCart } = useCart();

return ( \/category/\${match[2].toLowerCase()}\, }, },

// Product filtering { pattern: /filter by (.+)/i, intent: { type: 'navigate', target: (match) => { const filter = match[1].toLowerCase(); return \?filter=\${encodeURIComponent(filter)}\; }, }, },

// Add to cart { pattern: /add (this|that|it) to (my )?cart/i, intent: { type: 'action', execute: async () => { const productId = getCurrentProductId(); // Helper function await addToCart(productId); return { success: true, message: 'Added to cart', speak: 'Item added to your cart' }; }, }, },

// Price comparison { pattern: /compare prices/i, intent: { type: 'navigate', target: '/compare' }, },

// Checkout flow { pattern: /(checkout|proceed to payment)/i, intent: { type: 'navigate', target: '/checkout' }, }, ]} onNavigate={(route) => { // Analytics tracking analytics.track('voice_navigation', { route }); }} >

{children}
); } \
\\

Results after 3 months:

  • •32% increase in conversion rate for users who activated voice navigation
  • •45% reduction in average time-to-purchase for voice users
  • •4.8/5 accessibility rating from users with motor impairments (up from 2.1/5)
  • •15,000+ voice commands processed monthly with 94% accuracy

Example 2: Healthcare Dashboard for Hands-Free Operation

A hospital management system implemented Voice Nav to enable doctors and nurses to access patient records while performing procedures:

\\\typescript import { VoiceNavProvider, useVoiceNav, reactRouterAdapter } from '@elevenlabs/ui'; import { useNavigate } from 'react-router-dom'; import { usePatientContext } from '@/contexts/patient';

export function HospitalDashboard() { const navigate = useNavigate(); const { selectPatient, currentPatient } = usePatientContext();

return ( { const patientId = match[3]; await selectPatient(patientId); navigate(\/patients/\${patientId}\); return { success: true, message: \Opened record for patient \${patientId}\, speak: \Now viewing patient \${patientId}\ }; }, }, },

// View specific sections { pattern: /show (patient )?(medical history|vitals|medications|allergies|notes)/i, intent: { type: 'navigate', target: (match) => { const section = match[2].replace(/\s+/g, '-'); return \/patients/\${currentPatient?.id}/\${section}\; }, }, },

// Add clinical notes { pattern: /add (a )?note/i, intent: { type: 'action', execute: () => { // Opens voice-to-text note input openNoteDialog({ mode: 'voice' }); return { success: true, message: 'Ready for note dictation' }; }, }, },

// Search functionality { pattern: /search (for )?(.+)/i, intent: { type: 'navigate', target: (match) => \/search?q=\${encodeURIComponent(match[2])}\, }, },

// Emergency protocols { pattern: /(emergency|code blue)/i, intent: { type: 'action', execute: () => { triggerEmergencyProtocol(); return { success: true, message: 'Emergency protocol activated', priority: 'high' }; }, }, }, ]} onError={(error) => { // HIPAA-compliant error logging logSecureError(error); }} > ); }

// Voice-activated note taking component function VoiceClinicalNotes() { const { state, transcript, startListening, stopListening } = useVoiceNav(); const [notes, setNotes] = useState('');

useEffect(() => { if (state === 'idle' && transcript) { setNotes(prev => prev + ' ' + transcript); } }, [state, transcript]);

return (