espeakup and archlinux with gnome

[Kyle]

Yes, the package is called pulseaudio. If alt-control-f2 doesn't work,
try alt-control-f3. Most likely, the first two consoles are being
reserved for the startx command and the display console where GNOME is
running, respectively. So alt-control-f3 should get you to a previously
unused console, which should automatically be allocated as a text
console where Speakup should work. Additionally, espeakup doesn't use
Pulseaudio, so you may need to be sure that no applications are using
sound before switching to the text console. Hope this helps.
~Kyle
http://kyle.tk/
-- 
"Kyle? ... She calls her cake, Kyle?"
Out of This World, season 2 episode 21 - "The Amazing Evie"