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From: Lucy Greco
Date: Thu, Apr 21 2016 12:24PM
Subject: dictation bridge
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hello:
my apology this will be the only message i send about this project to
this list.

today we launched the dictation bridge funding bid.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dictationbridge#/
this new project will mean that blind people can use both windows speech
recognition and dragon with there screen reader of choice with out any
extra price please share this project widely and think about donating to
help us create better access for all. maybe if i dictate my messages on
this list in the future my posts will have better spelling. grin.smile Lucy

Lucia Greco
Web Accessibility Evangelist
IST - Architecture, Platforms, and Integration
University of California, Berkeley
(510) 289-6008 skype: lucia1-greco
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
Follow me on twitter @accessaces

From: deborah.kaplan@suberic.net
Date: Thu, Apr 21 2016 12:54PM
Subject: Re: dictation bridge
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Hi all,

I want to squee about DictationBridge, even though Lucy posted while I was composing this message. I've also got a different spin on the project than most of the people involved, so my pitch is just as excited, but from a different direction.

DictationBridge, in a nutshell, is an open source project to allow users of speech recognition to control screen readers. Eventually, it's intended to be technology-agnostic, though it's initially being tested on Windows with the free screen reader NVDA, and with Dragon and Windows Speech Recognition. The main thrust of the project is on enabling screen reader users to use dictation software, but I'm the inverse of tat use case: a speech recognition user who wants it to be easier for me to use a screen reader.

Of course screen reader users want the convenience of speech recognition, and of course screen reader users are just as likely as anyone else and up with RSI or other conditions which make it difficult, painful, or impossible to type. And that's why the project is super important! But here's my take: I'm a screen reader user who often needs to test the accessibility of applications and webpages, and that means sometimes I need to test with screen readers. Right now, I can't do that testing hand-free, which limits the amount of it I can do before I go cry in the corner because it hurts so badly. DictationBridge will change that. Lucy said that DictationBridge will improve her spelling--well, it will improve my testing. :)

(I also have a less-accessibility specific desire for DictationBridge, which is more about Universal Design. Like, I suspect, many of us who work in accessibility, I have learned about the cool features of AT and accessibility features I don't need myself. Screen readers are incredibly handy: when I'm walking down the street and want to read a webpage with voiceover, when I'm having a bad hand day and can't hold a device, when I'm cooking. I'm imagining a not-too-distant future respond to my email Not just hands-free, but while I'm walking around or otherwise not near my computer. Now if only we could get a TTS voice that sounds like Majel Barrett Roddenberry, would basically be in full-on Star Trek mode.)

Please check out the site and consider subscribing or supporting!

Fundraising campaign at IndieGogo which explains in more detail: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dictationbridge/
Project site and blog: http://dictationbridge.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dictationbridge
Audio-only demo of the product: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rks2m3x7hejcjd8/DictationBridge%20Promo.mp3

Here's a couple of quotations from the site's pages:

"DictationBridge will contain all of the features identified as actually meaningful to blind dictation users, a feature set based on extensive research into the actual usage habits of such individuals. It will support both MS Windows dictation and a number of different versions of Nuance's Dragon products. It is a major goal of the DictationBridge team to deliver a solution that is as cost effective for end users as possible, if used with the built in Windows dictation system and the NVDA screen reader, end users will enjoy it at no cost to themselves at all. "


"When DictationBridge 1.0 is released it will:

* Be compatible with NVDA, JAWS and Window-Eyes.
* provide screen reader users with access to the built-in MS Windows dictation facility as well as with a number of different versions of the Dragon software packages from Nuance.
* be distributed for free with 100% of its source code included.
* be fully documented and will come complete with all of the documentation any user may want.
* have professional technical support available to users who choose to purchase such."

-Deborah Kaplan

From: Moore,Michael (Accessibility) (HHSC)
Date: Mon, Apr 25 2016 1:59PM
Subject: Re: dictation bridge
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For those of you who use JAWS there is another product that also meets this need called J-Say that is specifically designed to work with JAWS and Dragon on Windows.

Mike Moore
Accessibility Coordinator
Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Civil Rights Office
(512) 438-3431 (Office)

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2016 1:54 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] dictation bridge

Hi all,

I want to squee about DictationBridge, even though Lucy posted while I was composing this message. I've also got a different spin on the project than most of the people involved, so my pitch is just as excited, but from a different direction.

DictationBridge, in a nutshell, is an open source project to allow users of speech recognition to control screen readers. Eventually, it's intended to be technology-agnostic, though it's initially being tested on Windows with the free screen reader NVDA, and with Dragon and Windows Speech Recognition. The main thrust of the project is on enabling screen reader users to use dictation software, but I'm the inverse of tat use case: a speech recognition user who wants it to be easier for me to use a screen reader.

Of course screen reader users want the convenience of speech recognition, and of course screen reader users are just as likely as anyone else and up with RSI or other conditions which make it difficult, painful, or impossible to type. And that's why the project is super important! But here's my take: I'm a screen reader user who often needs to test the accessibility of applications and webpages, and that means sometimes I need to test with screen readers. Right now, I can't do that testing hand-free, which limits the amount of it I can do before I go cry in the corner because it hurts so badly. DictationBridge will change that. Lucy said that DictationBridge will improve her spelling--well, it will improve my testing. :)

(I also have a less-accessibility specific desire for DictationBridge, which is more about Universal Design. Like, I suspect, many of us who work in accessibility, I have learned about the cool features of AT and accessibility features I don't need myself. Screen readers are incredibly handy: when I'm walking down the street and want to read a webpage with voiceover, when I'm having a bad hand day and can't hold a device, when I'm cooking. I'm imagining a not-too-distant future respond to my email Not just hands-free, but while I'm walking around or otherwise not near my computer. Now if only we could get a TTS voice that sounds like Majel Barrett Roddenberry, would basically be in full-on Star Trek mode.)

Please check out the site and consider subscribing or supporting!

Fundraising campaign at IndieGogo which explains in more detail: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dictationbridge/
Project site and blog: http://dictationbridge.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dictationbridge
Audio-only demo of the product: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rks2m3x7hejcjd8/DictationBridge%20Promo.mp3

Here's a couple of quotations from the site's pages:

"DictationBridge will contain all of the features identified as actually meaningful to blind dictation users, a feature set based on extensive research into the actual usage habits of such individuals. It will support both MS Windows dictation and a number of different versions of Nuance's Dragon products. It is a major goal of the DictationBridge team to deliver a solution that is as cost effective for end users as possible, if used with the built in Windows dictation system and the NVDA screen reader, end users will enjoy it at no cost to themselves at all. "


"When DictationBridge 1.0 is released it will:

* Be compatible with NVDA, JAWS and Window-Eyes.
* provide screen reader users with access to the built-in MS Windows dictation facility as well as with a number of different versions of the Dragon software packages from Nuance.
* be distributed for free with 100% of its source code included.
* be fully documented and will come complete with all of the documentation any user may want.
* have professional technical support available to users who choose to purchase such."

-Deborah Kaplan

From: deborah.kaplan@suberic.net
Date: Mon, Apr 25 2016 3:19PM
Subject: Re: dictation bridge
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I'm glad Mike brought up J-Say. Yes, for those who don't know about it, J-Say exists, and I believe many people are happy with it. For those who can't use it, though, DictationBridge will fill the same need.

DictationBridge is free and open source, and will work with NVDA (free and open source) and Windows Speech recognition (bundled in for free with Windows). J-Say is a more mature product, but it is restricted to:

- Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional: $300
- JAWS: $1000
- J-Say: $550

(All prices approximate.)

As a person who has always tested with NVDA because I can't afford JAWS, I'm super grateful that a solution is coming into being that's not tied to nearly $2000 of software purchases. But absolutely, for those who are using J-Say, I hear it is a good product. (Also, as someone who worked in library tech for years, I saw how pressure from open source products motivated the vendor-supplied products to become better. Everybody wins!)

Deborah Kaplan

Mike said:

> For those of you who use JAWS there is another product that also meets this
> need called J-Say that is specifically designed to work with JAWS and
> Dragon on Windows.

Deborah said:

> I want to squee about DictationBridge, even though Lucy posted while I was
> composing this message. I've also got a different spin on the project than
> most of the people involved, so my pitch is just as excited, but from a
> different direction.