Adventures in Assistive Technology

Nuance Communications just announced the availability of its Dragon Dictation App for iPhone. The app allows users to speak emails and text messages instead of typing them, dramatically extending the way users stay connected to friends and family. Dragon Dictation also works with the iPhone clipboard, allowing users to speak naturally and easily paste it into their other apps, including Facebook and Twitter.

This App is currently free for a limited time, so download it now before you have to pay! Click on the website below to get the download.

www.dragonmobileapps.com/applications.html

Coming soon is the Dragon Search App for iPhone which will allow users to search online content using their voice. Users speak their search queries and will get simultaneous results from search engines and websites like: Google, YouTube, iTunes, and Wikipedia. I will post again when it is available for download.

Posted by cab870 at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I recently took an assistive technology course that focused on speech-to-text. For one assignment we were asked to compare two different voice recognition software, and I chose Dragon Naturally Speaking and Windows Speech. I chose these tow because I already had DNS installed on my computer, and because the Windows Speech is a freebie built-in to Windows. The results for DNS were as expected as this is the premier speech recognition software; however, I was pleasantly surprised by Windows Speech.

It was easy to use, the commands were straight-forward, and best of all it is included with Windows. Comparing the amount of training I put into this program to the amount I have put into DNS, I would definitely recommend this program in place of Dragon Naturally Speaking, especially if you are on a budget. The only problem with this program is that it doesn’t run on the newest (2007) version of MS Office, so make sure you have the 2003 version installed as well.

If you want to read my full comparison results, check out the link below.
Download file

Posted by cab870 at 01:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Learning new technology can sometimes be frustrating, especially if you have other things on your mind -- exams and homework anyone? There are many online resources, such as guides and tutorials, that can help you make sense of your software.

The Adaptive Technology Resource Centre at the University of Toronto has some excellent tutorials for Dragon Naturally Speaking and Kurzweil 3000. They also have a link to "Quick Guides" for these and other programs like Inspiration and ZoomText. Check out their tutorial page here.

Posted by cab870 at 03:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Starting in January 2009 the DSS will be offering Kurzweil 3000 and Dragon Naturally Speaking for exams on a limited use basis. Please note that at this time only students who are already proficient in the use of these programs will be able to use it for their exams. If you have Kurzweil as an accommodation, and would like to use it for exams, please contact the DSS Office to set up an appointment to assess your proficiency with these program, or, to set up a one-on-one training session with the AT Advisor.

Posted by cab870 at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)