Assessing Student's Needs for Assistive Technology (ASNAT)

Chapter 3 – Assistive Technology for Writing
There are two kinds of voice recognition software now available: discrete speech and
continuous speech. The older technology, discrete speech recognition, requires the user to
speak one - word - at - a - time. A newer technology, continuous speech recognition, allows
the user to dictate by speaking (at a more or less normal rate). Both have their advantages and
disadvantages for individuals with difficulties with the motor aspects of writing.
As the user trains and speaks to the system, the software creates a user-specific voice file that
contains a lot of information about user voice qualities and pronunciations, and with
continuous speech recognition, patterns of word usage. Both types of voice recognition
software also capture the user's preferred vocabulary. The voice file in discrete speech
recognition software is built primarily on the user's pronunciation of individual words. The
voice file in continuous voice recognition also contains information about the user's grammar
and word usage (i.e., which words/phrases tend to be used in what order). The software uses
this acoustic and linguistic information to make its best guess at each word or phrase as it is
dictated.
There is currently only one version of discrete voice recognition for sale, Dragon Dictate 3.0
for Windows, Classic and it will not operate on operating systems beginning with Windows
2000. It is available from several software resellers including New World Creations.
Voice recognition software now offers specific features that are crucial for our students with
learning disabilities. One of these features is Playback. The playback feature records the
student’s voice as they are dictating and makes that recording available to the writer when
editing their written document. Thus a student who has difficulty reading what they have
dictated can just hit the playback button and hear the recording of their voice during
dictation. Most voice recognition programs also offer text to speech capabilities, which allow
the text that the program has typed to be read aloud to the student. Some voice recognition
software will also automatically include punctuation as the students write with their voice.
These features have significantly increased the potential for voice recognition to be used as a
writing tool for students who have difficulty with reading and/or writing.
Microsoft Office XP has incorporated voice recognition within Microsoft Word. The voice
recognition engine within Word is not designed with individuals with disabilities in mind,
however it provides an excellent diagnostic tool to use to determine if voice recognition may
indeed be a useful tool for the student. The voice recognition component does not install with
the typical installation and requires custom installation.
The chart on the following page shows features of Dragon Naturally Speaking 7.0, Dragon
Dictate 3.0, Via Voice ® and Microsoft Word XP for your comparison. These applications are
available in office supplies stores or via the Internet.
Assessing Students’ Needs for Assistive Technology (2004) 87