Voice recognition software
There are so many mobility impairments that it is difficult to begin to cover them all. Usually the impairments that affect a user's ability to access a digital device are connected to hands and arms. This might be that the user doesn't have one or both hands/arms, or it could be that they are not able to use them with sufficient accuracy to control a mouse and/or keyboard.
There is a variety of hardware devices that enable users to input information without using a mouse or keyboard. This can be done using a stick or puff device, operated by mouth. There are also different types of mouse and keyboard that are easier to use.
In terms of assistive software, speech-to-text applications such as Dragon, can be used to dictate and navigate by voice. Windows, Apple and Android all provide free to use speech-to-text applications. These will be demonstrated in the videos that follow.
Dragon
Dragon Naturally Speaking, or Dragon for short, is produced by Nuance. It is a licenced assistive software, which is quite expensive but rich in features. The following video shows how Dragon can be used to navigate a webpage and fill in an online form.
Video Transcript
The video is a screencast, showing a holiday planning service website with various headings, paragraphs, a list and some images just coming into view at the bottom of the page. At the top of the window, a tiny Dragon bar is showing a green microphone icon, indicating that it is listening for commands.
DRAGON COMMAND: Page down.
The page moves down to show four images in a 2 x 2 grid. They show the Falkirk Wheel, a coastline with a rainbow, a quaint looking village, and a stately home.
DRAGON COMMAND: Page down.
Page moves down to show information about Northern Ireland and some photos.
DRAGON COMMAND: Page down.
Page moves down to show information about Wales and a couple of photos.
DRAGON COMMAND: Page down.
Page moves down to show two more photos of Wales and the beginning of a section about Belgium.
DRAGON COMMAND: Page down.
Page moves down to show four photos of Belgium. The next heading, Euan's Guide, is just visible at the bottom of the page.
DRAGON COMMAND: Page down.
The page moves down a small amount as we are now at the bottom of the page.
DRAGON COMMAND: Euan’s Guide.
A new tab opens in the browser and the Euan's Guide website slowly loads.
DRAGON COMMAND: Switch to third tab.
The view goes back to the holiday planning website.
DRAGON COMMAND: Contact form.
A new page loads, which is part of the holiday planning website. It has the heading, Contact Form.
DRAGON COMMAND: First name.
The cursor appears in the First Name field, and it is highlighted in yellow to show that it has focus.
DRAGON COMMAND: Rebecca.
The name Rebecca appears in the First Name field.
DRAGON COMMAND: Last name.
The cursor and focus move to the Last Name field.
DRAGON COMMAND: Smith.
The surname, Smith appears in the Last Name Field.
DRAGON COMMAND: Street address.
The cursor and focus move to the Street Address field.
DRAGON COMMAND: 12 High Street.
The address, 12 High Street appears in the Street Address field.
DRAGON COMMAND: Town.
The cursor and pointer move to the Town field.
DRAGON COMMAND: Halifax.
The town, Halifax appears in the Town field.
DRAGON COMMAND: Postcode.
The cursor and focus move to the Postcode field.
DRAGON COMMAND: HX1 2ST.
The postcode, HX1 2ST appears in the Postcode field.
DRAGON COMMAND: Page down.
The page moves down to show the next section of the form, beginning with Other Contact Details.
DRAGON COMMAND: Phone number.
The cursor and focus move to the Phone Number field.
DRAGON COMMAND: 01422 123456.
The phone number, 01422 123456 appears in the Phone Number field.
DRAGON COMMAND: Email address.
The cursor and focus move to the Email Address field.
DRAGON COMMAND: Becky dot Jones at gmail dot com.
The email address, becky.jones@gmail.com appears in the Email Address field.
DRAGON COMMAND: Email.
A tiny green box appears next to the Email Address field and the Email checkbox. These green boxes contain numbers which the user can select.
DRAGON COMMAND: Choose 2.
The Email checkbox is selected.
DRAGON COMMAND: Scotland.
In the section, Where would you like to go?, the radio button for Scotland is selected.
DRAGON COMMAND: Page down.
The page moves down a little to show the bottom of the page, which includes a final question about what disability the user has, and a submit button.
DRAGON COMMAND: I'm a wheelchair user. I walk with mobility aids.
The checkboxes for I'm a wheelchair user and I walk with mobility aids are both selected.
DRAGON COMMAND: Submit.
A new page appears with the heading, Contact Successful.
If you are a Dragon user and need help using it with Excel, this Using Dragon with Excel guide might be helpful.
Windows Voice Access
Windows Voice Access is free and is built into the Accessibility centre on Windows 11 devices. Windows 10 has something similar, called Windows Speech, but support for this is being stopped. Voice Access is easy to set up and use, and Microsoft are adding new features to it regularly. The following video shows how it works.
Video Transcript
The video is a screencast, showing a holiday planning service website with various headings, paragraphs, a list and some images just coming into view at the bottom of the page. At the top of the window, the Voice Access (VA) bar is showing.
VA COMMAND: Voice Access, wake up.
The tiny microphone at the left hand side of the VA bar turns blue.
VA COMMAND: Page down.
The page moves down to show four images in a 2 x 2 grid. They show the Falkirk Wheel, a coastline with a rainbow, a quaint looking village, and a stately home.
VA COMMAND: Page down.
Page moves down to show information about Northern Ireland and some photos.
VA COMMAND: Page down.
Page moves down to show the remaining photos of Northern Ireland and the beginning of information about Wales.
VA COMMAND: Page down.
Page moves down to show two more photos of Wales and the beginning of a section about Belgium.
VA COMMAND: Page down.
Page moves down to show four photos of Belgium.
VA COMMAND: Page down.
The page moves down a small amount as we are now at the bottom of the page. The final two sections, Euan's Guide and Next Steps are visible.
VA COMMAND: Click Euan’s Guide.
A new tab opens in the browser and the Euan's Guide website slowly loads.
VA COMMAND: Switch to third tab.
The view goes back to the holiday planning website.
VA COMMAND: Click contact form.
A new page loads, which is part of the holiday planning website. It has the heading, Contact Form.
VA COMMAND: Click first name.
The cursor appears in the First Name field, and it is highlighted in yellow to show that it has focus.
VA COMMAND: Rebecca.
The name Rebecca appears in the First Name field.
VA COMMAND: Click last name.
The cursor and focus move to the Last Name field.
VA COMMAND: Jones.
The surname, Jones appears in the Last Name Field.
VA COMMAND: Click street address.
The cursor and focus move to the Street Address field.
VA COMMAND: 12 High Street.
The address, 12 High St appears in the Street Address field.
VA COMMAND: Click town.
The cursor and pointer move to the Town field.
VA COMMAND: Halifax.
The town, Halifax appears in the Town field.
VA COMMAND: Click postcode.
The cursor and focus move to the Postcode field.
VA COMMAND: HX1 2ST.
The postcode, HX1 2ST appears in the Postcode field.
VA COMMAND: Page down.
The page moves down to show the next section of the form, beginning with Other Contact Details.
VA COMMAND: Click phone number.
The cursor and focus move to the Phone Number field.
VA COMMAND: 01422 123456.
The phone number, 01422 123456 appears in the Phone Number field.
VA COMMAND: Click email address.
The Phone Number and Email Address fields are each given a number in a blue circle.
VA COMMAND: Two
The cursor and focus move to the Email Address field.
VA COMMAND: Becky dot Jones at gmail dot com.
The email address, becky.jones@gmail.com appears in the Email Address field.
VA COMMAND: Click email.
The Phone Number and Email Address fields and the Email checkbox are each given a number in a blue circle.
VA COMMAND: Three.
The Email checkbox is selected.
VA COMMAND: Click Northern Ireland.
In the section, Where would you like to go?, the radio button for Northern Ireland is selected.
VA COMMAND: Page down.
The page moves down a little to show the bottom of the page, which includes a final question about what disability the user has, and a submit button.
VA COMMAND: Click I'm a wheelchair user.
The checkbox for I'm a wheelchair user is selected.
VA COMMAND: Click I walk with mobility aids.
The checkbox for I walk with mobility aids is selected.
VA COMMAND: Click submit.
A new page appears with the heading, Contact Successful.
Voice Control
VoiceControl is free and built into all Apple devices. It can be accessed via the Settings and Accessibility. The following video shows how it works.
Video Transcript
The video is a screencast, showing a holiday planning service website with various headings, paragraphs, a list and some images just coming into view at the bottom of the page. There is nothing on the screen to indicate that Voice Control is active but throughout the video, each time a command is recognised, Voice Control plays a brief swish sound.
VC COMMAND: Scroll down.
The page moves down to show four images in a 2 x 2 grid. They show the Falkirk Wheel, a coastline with a rainbow, a quaint looking village, and a stately home.
VC COMMAND: Scroll down.
Page moves down to show information about Northern Ireland and some photos.
VC COMMAND: Scroll down.
Page moves down to show information about Wales with four photos.
VC COMMAND: Scroll down.
Page moves down to show information and four photos of Belgium.
VC COMMAND: Scroll down.
The page moves down a small amount as we are now at the bottom of the page. The final two sections, Euan's Guide and Next Steps are visible.
VC COMMAND: Click contact form.
A new page loads, which is part of the holiday planning website. It has the heading, Contact Form.
VC COMMAND: Click first name.
Both the label and the input field are numbered in tiny black boxes.
VC COMMAND: Two
The cursor appears in the First Name field, and it is highlighted in yellow to show that it has focus. For each field, throughout the video, autofill suggestions are given but these are ignored, so won't be mentioned in this transcript again.
VC COMMAND: Rebecca.
The name Rebecca appears in the First Name field.
VC COMMAND: Click last name.
Both the label and the input field are numbered in tiny black boxes.
VC COMMAND: Two
The cursor and focus move to the Last Name field.
VC COMMAND: Jones.
The surname, Jones appears in the Last Name Field.
VC COMMAND: Click street address.
Both the label and the input field are numbered in tiny black boxes.
VC COMMAND: Two
The cursor and focus move to the Street Address field.
VC COMMAND: 12 High Street.
The address, 12 High Street appears in the Street Address field.
VC COMMAND: Click town.
Both the label and the input field are numbered in tiny black boxes.
VC COMMAND: Two
The cursor and pointer move to the Town field.
VC COMMAND: Halifax.
The town, Halifax appears in the Town field.
VC COMMAND: Click postcode.
Both the label and the input field are numbered in tiny black boxes.
VC COMMAND: Two
The cursor and focus move to the Postcode field.
VC COMMAND: HX1 2ST.
The postcode, HX1 2ST appears in the Postcode field.
VC COMMAND: Scroll down.
The page moves down to show the next section of the form, but goes past the heading, Other Contact Details.
VC COMMAND: Click phone number.
The cursor and focus move to the Phone Number field.
VC COMMAND: 01422 123456.
The phone number, 01422 123456 appears in the Phone Number field.
VC COMMAND: Click email address.
Both the label and the input field are numbered in tiny black boxes.
VC COMMAND: Two
The Phone Number and Email Address fields are each given a number in a blue circle.
VC COMMAND: Two
The cursor and focus move to the Email Address field.
VC COMMAND: Becky dot Jones at gmail dot com.
The email address, becky.jones@gmail.com appears in the Email Address field.
VC COMMAND: Click email.
The Email checkbox is selected.
VC COMMAND: Click Wales.
In the section, Where would you like to go?, the radio button for Wales is selected.
VC COMMAND: Scroll down.
The page moves down a little to show the bottom of the page, which includes a final question about what disability the user has, and a submit button.
VC COMMAND: Click I'm a wheelchair user.
The checkbox for I'm a wheelchair user is selected.
VC COMMAND: Click I walk with mobility aids.
The checkbox for I walk with mobility aids is selected.
VC COMMAND: Click submit.
A new page appears with the heading, Contact Successful. A pop-up appears, asking whether the user wants to save the address.
VC COMMAND: Click no thanks.
The pop-up message is closed.
Android Voice Access
Android devices don't have speech-to-text built in but you can download a free app called Voice Access. The following video shows how Voice Access works. Because it is on a mobile device, in portrait, the video will probably fall off your screen. I suggest selecting the Full Screen option, and this will make it easier to see.
