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)

If you are currently using a scribe for your exams, please consider using Dragon Naturally Speaking voice to text software instead. It is an easy program to learn and use, and is available for use right now! If you have a scribe as an accommodation, and would like to try Dragon for your exams, please email the AT Advisor at: dssassistivetech@usask.ca to set up an appointment to assess your proficiency with these program and to set up a one-on-one training session.

Posted by cab870 at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This voice recognition software allows BlackBerry users to control applications like email, calendar, memos, tasks and contact notes using only their voice. I don't have a BlackBerry, so I have not tested it. However, the MyCaption website has posted great (although maybe subjective) reviews. Visit the MyCaption website to download a free trial, and let me know what you think!

http://mycaption.com/products/blackberry

Posted by cab870 at 02:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)