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Re: Dragon versions and meeting accessibility guidelines

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From: Steve Green
Date: Jun 6, 2022 12:07PM

I am not being cynical, and any humour is unintentional. Dragon products have been unacceptably buggy since long before Nuance acquired the company, and they have refused to engage with the accessibility community in any meaningful way. The only thing that changed since Nuance took over, is that prices have more than doubled.

Microsoft's approach has always been to build basic features into Windows, such as dictation, Narrator and Magnifier. They leave it to third parties to build professional grade products with additional capabilities, which is why some people are willing to pay £1,000 for JAWS or ZoomText. There is money in the dictation market because despite all its faults, Dragon is far better than Windows' dictation features.

Nuance know exactly what's wrong with Dragon in terms of accessibility support because they have been told countless times over the years. However, they have never shown the slightest sign that they are interested in accessibility. And while a takeover by Microsoft would rarely be welcomed by a product's users, I think that Dragon is more likely to be improved under their ownership. At least they actually talk to their users.

Steve