Oh, ok, then it could have been 3.9.0. That must have come out around the time of my first post. I admit I hadn't tried again since then, after trying rather long and often before. So sorry that I didn't catch up on that before and to have bothered you unnecessarily. Thanks again for your help 
I can tell you what worked for me, what i did was this read aloud a webpage in Safari on your iPhone. There are two main ways to fix the issue:-
1. Using Speak Screen:-
- Enable Speak Screen:-
-Go to Settings > Accessibility.
-Tap on Spoken Content.
-Toggle Speak Screen on.
- Read the webpage:-
-Open Safari and navigate to the webpage you want to hear.
-Swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers to activate Speak Screen.
2. Using the "Listen to Page" feature:-
- Open the webpage: Launch Safari and open the webpage you want to be read aloud.
- Activate "Listen to Page":
-Tap the aA icon in the address bar.
-Select Listen to Page from the menu. Follow more details instruction below.