What is Dragon NaturallySpeaking Software?
“Dragon speech recognition software makes it easier for anyone to use a computer. You talk, and it types. Use your voice to create and edit documents or emails, launch applications, open files, control your mouse, and more. Quickly and easily capture your thoughts and ideas while Dragon helps you get more done faster.”
Here are ten common problems that Dragon Professional Individual users face. Problems are just part of the experience of owning something. And software problems. They are just part of the experience. Dictating but nothing happens The words leave your mouth, but they don’t appear on the screen. Say a few words. Dragon provides a number of natural language commands to use with Microsoft Excel. Using these commands, you can avoid the multiple menu-selection and mouse-movement steps associated with the traditional Microsoft Windows interface. There are two modes. Using a Digital Recorder with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. For those desiring to record dictation “on the go” and later have it transcribed by Dragon, the use of a portable digital dictating device is a perfect solution. The instructions shown below were based on the process in Dragon Medical Network Edition.
Nuance Communications websiteDragon NaturallySpeaking is a speech-to-text program currently employed by Carleton. Students may find Dragon a useful option for word processing and voice-controlled computer navigation. Disability Services for Students and the Assistive Technologists at ITS work together to provide students with as much information and assistance as possible for continued use of Dragon on and off campus.
How do I start using Dragon?
Dragon software only runs on the Windows operating system and is located on several public lab machines, including the three machines on 5th Libe and one in the Assistive Technology room, Libe 328.
To start using Dragon, use any one of the computers listed above. The first time you use the software you will be asked to complete a four to ten minute voice training session. We highly recommend this process (best, we found, when used “with prompting”), as it will greatly improve the accuracy of the software. Dragon offers tutorials on the software, available both upon first use and later, if desired. We strongly recommend using the Assistive Technology headsets which can be checked out from the Circulation Desk of the library. If you are interested in one-on-one consulting or help setting up your Dragon account, please email aztechs@carleton.edu.
Updating Your Dragon Profile:
Dragon’s accuracy will increase the more you use it, but only if you correct the program when it makes a transcription mistake. When Dragon records something incorrectly, correct its mistake using one of two options:
- Highlight and right click the incorrect word or phrase, and select “Correct That.”
- Use the voice command: “Correct [word/phrase].”
With Dragon Naturally Speaking
Either of these will prompt Dragon to display a list of alternative choices; select the correct option, or say “Spell That” if none of the generated options are correct. Then spell or type out the correct word(s).
When quitting Dragon at the end of your session, you will be asked to save your profile. Do this. This will permanently record the recognition corrects you made, helping Dragon to improve its performance in the future.
Helpful Resources:
While the Dragon software contains a large volume of its own documentation within the program, to the right are some additional resources we have found useful.
Additionally, Nuance has made a series of instructional videos about the Dragon software.
Learning to Use J-Dictate
| The majority of the content from this guide comes from the user manual for J-Dictate. That document can be downloaded by using the link below. |
| J-Dictate User Guide |
Starting J-Dictate
| To use Dragon with JAWS, you’ll need both programs installed along with the J-Dictate software. You will also need a headset microphone. | |
| With JAWS running, launch Dragon. When Dragon is fully loaded, JAWS will announce “The computer is ready for you to talk to it”. | |
| Check Microphone Status | Alt + Windows + M |
| Start and stop Dictation | Alt + Windows + F11 |
| You can also start dictation by saying “Listen to me” or “Wake up” and you can stop dictation by saying “Go to sleep” or “Stop Listening”. | |
Dictation Exercise 1 – Starting Dictation
| Open Microsoft Word by starting dictation and saying, “Open Word”. Make all the following statements and then explore the document using JAWS. | |
| “This morning comma” (stop dictating) | |
| “I went for a walk in the park full-stop” (stop dictating) | |
| “The sun was shining comma” (stop dictating) | |
| “The birds were singing” (stop dictating) | |
| “And I enjoyed my walk very much full-stop. New-paragraph” (stop dictating and J-Dictate will confirm that a new paragraph has been created.) | |
| “When I reached home comma” (stop dictating) | |
| “I wrote to my friend Mary full-stop.” (stop dictating) | |
| “I wanted to tell her” (stop dictating) | |
| “About all the exciting places” (stop dictating) | |
| “I had recently visited full-stop.” (stop dictating) | |
| How did it go? Did Dragon have any recognition errors? In this example, how did we add punctuation and returns? | |
| Add a period | Say “Period” or “Full stop” |
| Add a comma | Say “Comma” |
| Start on the next line | Say “New line” |
| Start on a new paragraph (go down two lines) | Say “New Paragraph” |
Dictation Exercise 2 – Using the Correction Box
| 1. Dictate a sentence including a word which you feel confident the system will not understand. |
| 2. Listen back to the dictation, and when you hear an incorrect word use the command “correct” followed by the misrecognized word. For example, you dictate the phrase “Good morning Terry” and J-Dictate speaks back “Good morning Kerry”. Now use the command “Correct Kerry”. |
| 3. This command invokes the “Correction Box”, and J-Dictate will say “Box Ready”. The “Correction Box” consists of a dialog box with up to a maximum of 9 possible choices which the software thinks the misrecognized word could be. |
| 4. To browse through the list of choices, press the “Tab” Key once and focus will be placed in the List Box. Now, use the “Up/Down Arrow” Keys to review the choices in the list. |
| 5. As you move through the available choices, you will hear each alternative spoken and spelled. This is important so as to understand whether words have been capitalized. |
| 6. When a desired choice has been located, press “Enter”. The selected choice will be placed in the document and you will be returned to where you were prior to activating the correction system. |
| 7. In situations where the word or phrase does not exist in the list of choices, the desired choice can be typed or spelled out using your voice. Press Shift+Tab from the list of choices so that focus is set to the first control in the Dialog box which is an Edit Field. You can spell or type the words or phrase into the Edit Field which is now in focus. |
| 8. You can now if you wish press the JAWS Key+Up Arrow: once to read the current line and twice quickly to spell it. |
| 9. Once spelled out or typed correctly press Enter and the word or phrase will be placed into the document. |
Dictation Commands
| Say | Function |
| “new line” | Press the Enter key once |
| “new paragraph” | Press the Enter key twice, capitalize next word. |
| “cap” | Type with an initial capital |
| “caps on” | Start typing words with initial capitals |
| “caps off” | Stop typing words with initial capitals |
| “all caps” | Type in all uppercase |
| “all caps on” | Start typing words in all uppercase |
| “all caps off” | Stop typing words in all uppercase |
| “no caps “ | Type in all lowercase |
| “no caps on” | Start typing words in all lowercase |
| “no caps off” | Stop typing words in all lowercase |
| “no space “ | Do not put a space before |
| “no space on” | Stop putting spaces between words |
| “no space off” | Start putting spaces between words |
| “numeral” | Enter the next numbers stated as Arabic numerals (1,2,3 …) |
| “Roman numeral” | Enter the next numbers stated as Roman numerals (i, ii, iii …) |
Closing J-Dictate
| In order to close down Dragon NaturallySpeaking, please do the following: |
| 1. Press Control + Shift + F12 to enter the Dragon NaturallySpeaking menu system. |
| 2. Press “Up Arrow” once. |
| 3. The menu item now in focus is entitled “Exit”. Press “Enter” on this item. Dragon NaturallySpeaking will be closed down and the Speech Files will be successfully saved. |
J-Dictate Help
Using Dragon Naturally Speaking To Transcribe Interviews
| You can open the J-Dictate Help menu by pressing Alt + Windows + H. |
| This menu allows users to change key settings important to various J-Dictate functions |