A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO
DRAGON NATURALLY
SPEAKING
Accessing Higher Ground
November, 2008
Ms. WINK HARNER
MANAGER
DISABILITY RESOURCES & SERVICES
MESA 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
YOU MAY GET
BETTER
RECEPTION IF
YOU PLUG IT
INTO THE BACK
PLUG YOUR
MICROPHONE
USB CABLE
INTO THE USB
PORT ON THE
COMPUTER
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
RECORDING
CHECK
MICROPHONE
BOX
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 OPENS
SELECT 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 VOCABULARY
TRAINING 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 FILES
NEXT,
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,SELECT
ONE OF THE
STYLES
BEGIN!
SAY “SELECT
PERIOD”
THEN SAY
“C0RRECT
THAT”
CORRECTION
SAY
“SELECT
DELTA”
SAY ”SPELL
THAT” THEN
SAY “CLICK
TRAIN”
CORRECTION
SOMETIMES
WHAT YOU
WANT IS
NOT ON THE
LIST.
TYPE “.”
AND THEN
SAY “CLICK
OKAY”
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 NONNATIVE 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
“stop listening”
“go to sleep”
“wake up”
“check audio”
”new line”
“press enter”
“space”
“tab“
GET
microphone turns off
microphone turns on
opens Wizard to check
audio settings
hard return
hard return
insert a space
insert tab
COMMON COMMANDS
SAY
“go to bottom”
GET
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
“insert before”
“insert after”
“backspace”
GET
“press delete”
erase one character or
space to the right of
the cursor
move the insertion point
before or after text
erase one character/space
to the left of the cursor
“select <specific word>” select specific words/lines
/paragraphs in order to
correct, format delete
COMMON COMMANDS
SAY
“select again”
“start
<program name>”
“switch to
<program name>”
“new document”
“save document”
“clear document”
“click close”
GET
select the same word but in
a different place
starts selected program
switches to selected program
opens new document
saves current document
clears all text
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