Dragon as an Assistive Technology
For people with learning or physical disabilities, barriers to work and communication are often technological. These individuals face unique challenges when it comes to using the technology most of us take for granted. When it comes to using a PC, speech recognition software such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking offers the following benefits:
- For those with physical disabilities, Dragon provides freedom from the keyboard and mouse, offering full dictation capabilities as well as command and control of the PC. New commands in version 10 such as “search the internet for restaurants in Christchurch” or “Send an email to John Key” mean less customisation is needed to produce an effective solution.
- Dragons built-in scripting language opens up many possibilities for voice-enabling environmental controls, the potential only limited by ones imagination (and budget).
When it comes to learning disabilities, the freedom to express ones thoughts without concern for spelling or typing errors is a wonderful release, and the added benefit of Dragon’s Text-to-Speech is of great benefit to those who have trouble reading their dictated documents.
Assessment and planning a Dragon deployment involves careful consideration of software, hardware and training requirements:
Software
With three different editions of Dragon to choose from, it is important to match requirements to features, avoiding unnecessary expenses further down the track.
Decisions should also be made as to whether Dragon will be an effective solution on its own, or if other products such as screen-readers may also be necessary.
Hardware
A successful deployment of Dragon NaturallySpeaking requires careful consideration of the available hardware options - particularily when it comes to microphones.
Questions that should be considered include:
- Is the user capable of positioning a headset themselves?
- If not, will the battery hold its charge until someone is able to replace/recharge it?
- Is a desktop microphone appropriate?
- Would a combined PC/telephone headset be an advantage?
It is also important to ensure that a clients PC will perform well when running the required software. Remember - the
system requirements to install the software can be far different to those for satisfactory performance.
Training
Training is critical to a successful Dragon implementation. Each user’s requirements are different, and for some users,
several hours may be necessary. It is important that the user understands the correction process and that some
improvement in accuracy can be demonstrated before leaving a user to fend for themselves.
Voice Perfect can assist in all these areas. Our staff have many years experience implementing Dragon NaturallySpeaking for a wide range of clients and would be only too happy to help.