A PRACTICAL GUIDE TODRAGON NATURALLY SPEAKING

Accessing Higher GroundNovember, 2008

Ms. WINK HARNERMANAGER

DISABILITY RESOURCES & SERVICESMESA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

WHAT IS DICTATION SOFTWARE?

• A writer’s tool for creating:– E-mail, reports, databases,

spreadsheet data, press releases, meeting minutes, articles, newsletters, books, dissertations, white papers, journals, marketing materials – and 1040 tax forms!

• With dictation speeds of 150-200 wpm• Compose, edit, & format documents by

microphone

WHAT IS DICTATION SOFTWARE?

• A reader’s tool– Improves reading skills for poor readers and people

with non-native English skills by reading into the computer

• Poor readers are often poor writers– Practice reading into the computer improves

reading, writing & speaking skills

• Speaking into the computer builds confidence– DNS types what was typed, plays back in audio

format what was dictated, and records an audio version of the speaker

– Not only can you “hear what you typed,” you can “hear what you said in your own voice.”

WHEN TO USE DRAGON

• Dragon NaturallySpeaking is designed for use outside of the classroom.

• The desktop version can be used at home, on laptops, in adaptive labs etc.

• The mobile version (Voice Tracer) is a small portable tape recorder which can capture both audio & transcribable files (speech to text)

WHO CAN BENEFIT?• People with mobility

impairments who cannot type• People with writing and/or

reading disabilities who can think clearly but have difficulty putting their thoughts on paper

• People with mild to moderate speech impairments, CP, and other disabilities can successfully use this software

SOME LIMITATIONS• Must speak clearly and

enunciate• Must be able to speak in

“written English”• Patience and perseverance help

in training the program to recognize your voice!– 10 to 15 minutes a day of practice

is all it takes – really!

HOW TO SET UP and USE DRAGON

PLUG YOUR MICROPHONE

USB CABLE INTO THE USB PORT ON THE COMPUTER

YOU MAY GET BETTER

RECEPTION IF YOU PLUG IT

INTO THE BACK

SET UP

OPEN MASTER

VOLUME BY DOUBLE

CLICKING ON VOLUME

CONTROL IN THE TASK

BAR

DOUBLE CLICKING VOLUME

CONTROL OPENS UP MASTER

VOLUME

SET UP

FROM MASTER VOLUME

CONTROL, SELECT

“OPTIONS”

CHECK MICROPHON

E BOX

CHECK RECORDIN

G

POSITION OF THE MIC

PLACE MICROPHONE ON YOUR HEAD AND ADJUST THE MIC BOOM SO IT IS ABOUT 1”

AWAY FROM THE CORNER OF YOUR MOUTH

START DRAGON NATURALLY SPEAKING

DOUBLE CLICK ON DNS ICON

NEW USER WIZARD OPENSSELECT WHICH TYPE OF MIC

YOU ARE USING… SELECT “DEFAULT” TO

LET DNS CHOOSE WHICH MIC IS PLUGGED

IN

CLICK “NEXT”

POSITION OF THE MIC

ADJUSTING THE VOLUME

CLICK ON “START VOLUME CHECK.”

TEXT WILL HIGHLIGHT AS

YOU READ.

DNS WILL ADJUST THE VOLUME AS YOU READ.

YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING, NOT JUST THE TEXT

IN THE BOX!

ADJUSTING THE VOLUME

ONCE THE MIC HAS BEEN

ADJUSTED & YOU HEAR THE MAGIC “BEEP,” CLICK “NEXT”

ADJUSTING THE VOLUME

NOW YOU WILL ADJUST THE QUALITY OF THE SOUND.

CLICK “START QUALITY

CHECK” AND BEGIN

READING.

ADJUSTING THE VOLUME

YOU CAN PLAY BACK

YOUR AUDIO FILES TO

HEAR WHAT IT SOUNDS

LIKE.

CLICK “NEXT” TO CONTINUE.

CREATING VOCABULARY

GENERAL TRAINING

CLICK “GO”

CHOOSE FROM ONE

OF THE TEXTS BELOW

TRAINING VOCABULARYTRAINING A NEW USER –

READ IN A NORMAL TONE OF VOICE.

TEXT WILL HIGHLIGHT

AS YOU READ.

THE TRAINING

TAKES ABOUT 15 MINUTES.

TRAINING VOCABULARY

ONCE YOU HAVE

FINISHED THE TRAINING,

DRAGON WILL ADAPT YOUR USER FILES.

ADAPTING DRAGON TO YOUR WRITING STYLE

CHECK BOTH “EMAIL” AND “DOCUMENTS,”

THEN CLICK“START”

THIS TAKES ABOUT 15 MINUTES

TUTORIAL:FIRST TIME USERS

FISRT TIME USER? CLICK

HERE FOR THE TUTORIAL

EXPERIENCED USER?

OPEN MICROSOFT WORD AND CLICK HERE, THEN CLICK “FINISH” TO

BEGIN DICTATING.

FIRST TIME USERS

FOR MORE INFORMATION,

FIRST TIME USERS SHOULD LEAVE “SHOW

TIPS AT STARTUP” ON.

YOU CAN GET HELPFUL

DIRECTIONS ON COMMON

COMMANDS & USAGE.

IMPORTING VOCABULARY

TO IMPORT VOCABULARY FROM YOUR HARD DRIVE:

SELECT “WORDS” FROM THE TOP MENU

BAR.

THEN SELECT “IMPORT”

IMPORTING VOCABULARY

WHEN YOU ARE READY TO IMPORT,

CLICK “NEXT”

IMPORTING FROM DOCUMENTS

SELECT “ADD WORDS FROM DOCUMENTS”

THEN CLICK “NEXT”

DRAGON WILL MINE YOUR HARD

DRIVE FOR VOCABULARY AND ADAPT TO YOUR WRITING STYLE

IMPORTING FROM DOCUMENTS

YOUR FILES WILL APPEAR

HERE.

CLICK ON FOLDERS TO

IMPORT VOCABULARY.

IMPORTING FROM EMAIL

TO IMPROVE ACCURACY,

DRAGON WILL IMPORT

VOCABULARY AND ADAPT TO YOUR WRITING STYLE FROM

EMAILS. WHEN READY, CLICK

“NEXT”

IMPORTING USER FILES

TO IMPORT USER FILES

FROM CD OR USB DRIVE,

INSERT MEDIA, AND

SELECT LOCATION, THEN CLICK

“OPEN”

IMPORTING USER FILES

DEFAULT SELECTION IS

“ALL USER FILES” – IF YOU HAVE MULTIPLE USER FILES ON

THE SAME DRIVE, SELECT “CUSTOM” AND

THEN CLICK “NEXT”

STORING USER FILESNEXT,

CHOOSE THE DESTINATION FILE WHERE

YOU WANT TO STORE THE

VOICE FILES. “DEFAULT”

WILL STORE THE FILES

WITH DRAGON’S

MAIN FOLDER. THEN CLICK

“NEXT.”

UPGRADING/IMPORTING

CLICK “BEGIN”

TO IMPORT.

CLICK “FINISH”

AND YOUR USER

FILES ARE DONE!

UPGRADING/IMPORTING

CLICK “FINISH”

AND YOUR USER FILES ARE DONE!

SELECT USER FROM

LIST AND CLICK

“OPEN”

HOW TO USE DRAGON• ADD Dragon NaturallySpeaking

to QUICK LAUNCH: FROM THE DESKTOP,

SELECT THE ICON OF THE

PROGRAM AND DRAG IT

TO THE TASKBAR AT THE BOTTOM

OF THE SCREEN,

RIGHT ON TOP OF THE START

BUTTON

HOW TO USE DRAGON• ADD Dragon NaturallySpeaking

to QUICK LAUNCH:

WITH YOUR MOUSE, DRAG THE ICON FOR DNS TO THE

START MENU, AND RELEASE THE MOUSE.

HOW TO USE DRAGON• Open a new Microsoft Word document• Using the mouse, click on the red

microphone in the top toolbar, or click on the red microphone in the bottom toolbar.

• Notice when the microphone is live, it changes to green.

• To pause, say “go to sleep”– microphone turns yellow.

• To resume, say “wake-up”– microphone turns back to green.

• Also use the “+” on the numeric keypad

WHERE TO USE DRAGON

• Can I use it in the classroom?–No, it is trained to recognize the

voice of a single user and cannot distinguish speech from more than one speaker.–Works best in a closed, controlled

environment.–Works best when the computer

has a chance to adjust to each new speaker.

WHERE TO USE DRAGON• Can I use in more than one

language?

– Yes, Dragon is available in American English, Australian English, Asian English, Indian English, UK English, Dutch, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

– The French, Italian, German and Spanish editions also support English. And the Dutch edition supports English, French and German.

LET’S BEGIN!

FROM THE NATURALLY SPEAKING

MENU, SELECT “OPEN USER”

FORMATTING A MICROSOFT WORD DOCUMENT

SAY “CLICK STYLES”

FROM THE MENU,SELEC

T ONE OF THE STYLES

BEGIN! SAY “SELECT PERIOD”

THEN SAY “C0RRECT

THAT”

CORRECTION

SAY “SELEC

T DELTA”

SAY ”SPELL THAT”

THEN SAY “CLICK TRAIN”

CORRECTION

TYPE “.” AND THEN SAY “CLICK

OKAY”

SOMETIMES WHAT YOU WANT IS

NOT ON THE LIST.

SETTING PREFERENCES

FROM THE DNS TOOLS MENU, SELECT OPTIONS.

SET PREFERENCES HERE.

SAVING VOICE FILES

FROM THE NATURALLY SPEAKING MENU, SELECT “SAVE USER FILES”

What's New in Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10

Dragon Voice Shortcuts for Email and Calendar:

- Dragon Voice Shortcuts collapse common multi-step tasks into direct voice commands. Now you can send emails and schedule meetings

Just say, “Send email to Jon Smith and Raphael Sanchez,” Dragon will activate your e-mail, create a new e-mail and put the contact names in the address line.

SHORTCUTS FOR WEB SEARCH

Dragon Voice Shortcuts for Web Search:

Just say commands containing your desired search words, such as “Search the Web for financial management resources” or “Search maps for Italian restaurants in Denver, Colorado”

Dragon 10 will use the default search engine and Web browser to enter your dictated term(s) in the search field and return the results.

SHORTCUTS FOR DESKTOP SEARCH

Dragon Voice Shortcuts for Desktop Search:

Say, “Search computer for course outlines” and Dragon will complete the search using Google Desktop or Windows Vista desktop search.

Quick Voice Formatting (“Delete | Copy | Bold | Underline | Italicize ” commands):Name the desired text with the desired action in a single voice command, such as “Bold very.”

NEW IN VERSION 10

WHAT IF I HAVE A SPEECH IMPEDIMENT?

SELF-PACED READING IS AVAILABLE FOR SPEAKERS WHO HAVE DIFFICULTY WITH THE EXISTING INTERACTIVE TEXT PASSAGES.

IT IS EASIER TO TRAIN THE PRODUCT TO ONE’S VOICE. DRAGON 10 IMPROVES THE EXPERIENCE FOR YOUNGER USERS AND USERS WITH CERTAIN SPEECH CHALLENGES.

WHAT ABOUT ACCENTS?

WHAT IF I HAVE AN ACCENT?

DNS 10 INCORPORATES NEW ACOUSTIC MODELS FOR BETTER COVERAGE OF NON-NATIVE AND REGIONAL ACCENTS.

PROMOTIONS SAYS THAT THERE ARE MORE POWERFUL ADAPTATION TECHNIQUES, WHICH PROVIDES BETTER RECOGNITION ACCURACY.

NEW IN TECHNOLOGY

DNS 10 PROFESSIONAL OFFERS A SERVER VERSION.

VOICE FILES ARE STORED ON THE SERVER.

PROGRAM CAN BE MANAGED FROM A CENTRAL SITE.

USERS LOGON WITH USER PROFILES AND CAN ACCESS THEIR VOICE FILES FROM ANY COMPUTER ON CAMPUS.

COMMON COMMANDS

SAY GET“stop listening” microphone

turns off“go to sleep”“wake up” microphone

turns on“check audio” opens Wizard to

checkaudio settings

”new line” hard return“press enter” hard return“space” insert a space“tab“ insert tab

COMMON COMMANDS

SAY GET“go to bottom” cursor goes to

bottom of text“go to top” cursor goes to top of

text“beginning of line” insertion point goes

to beginning of current line

“move left/right <n>” Move cursor left or right designated

number of characters or words

COMMON COMMANDS

SAY GET“insert before” move the insertion

point

“insert after” before or after text

“backspace” erase one character/space to the left of the cursor

“press delete” erase one character or space to the

right of the cursor

“select <specific word>” select specific words/lines /paragraphs in order to

correct, format delete

COMMON COMMANDSSAY GET“select again” select the same word but

in a different place

“start <program name>” starts selected

program

“switch to <program name>” switches to selected

program

“new document” opens new document

“save document” saves current document

“clear document” clears all text

“click close” closes program

VOICE TRACER

HAND-HELD MICROPHONE

LINE-IN MICROPHONE

BLUE TOOTH WIRELESS MICROPHONE

DESK/TABLE MICROPHONE

SUPPORT MATERIALS

• “The Nifty 59 for Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.” by Speaking Solutions, Inc. ©2006. – A beginning-to-end workbook &

invaluable resource on training successful DNS users

– Phone: 1-888-749-1844–Website:

www.speakingsolutions.com