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Re: webaim-forum-d Digest V2003 #6

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From: Joy M. Hyzny
Date: Jun 17, 2003 8:48AM

I am guessing that this individual is probably using a discrete voice
recognition program, Dragon Dictate. That was one of the first voice
recognition programs which worked well when dictating word-by-word. As
voice recognition evolved a bit, the industry went to Dragon Naturally
Speaking Pro/Preferred/Standard which is a continuous speech recognition
program. Initially L & H owned the product, but ScanSoft now owns
it. There are a few select people who have been able to get Dragon Dictate
working on XP but even that is a mystery as to why this program works in a
few select instances. As far as Dragon Naturally Speaking (current version
7), the program works well in XP. For some students with disabilities,
Dragon Dictate was a more viable solution. Nevertheless, narrow down the
exact version the student has to determine your next route. The other
responses are good and you can also try those (i.e. check amount of memory,
try a different microphone (USB) especially if using a laptop, or use a
different input device.) Many people with Parkinson's Disease will have
difficulty using a voice recognition program. If there is anyway of using
a keyboard, reduce the reach necessary to access the keys. Let me know if
I can be of further assistance.

Hope this helps.

Joy Hyzny
Office of Disability Services
University of Illinois at Chicago
(312) 413-0886