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Introducing J-Dictate

Introduction

Welcome to the J-Dictate “Learning Module”! You are now ready to talk to your computer for the first time using a natural voice and receive simultaneous speech feedback from it.

Within this book, broadly speaking, we will teach you:

• How to take control of the microphone used for communicating with your computer;

• The principles of dictating text;

• How the software can be educated to learn how you pronounce different words and phrases;

• How to edit, select and format text;

• Dictating into applications other than those used for traditional computing tasks, such as posting messages to Twitter and Facebook;

• The best methods for creating voice commands to reproduce large blocks of text;

• Using J-Dictate alongside a portable recorder;

• How to back-up your speech files and why this is important.

When working with J-Dictate, you will be using a combination of the computer keyboard and your voice in order to accomplish all the tasks outlined above. A number of the J-Dictate commands require that you press the “ALT” key and the “Windows” key together and use them in conjunction with another key on the keyboard. For example, if we ask you to press “ALT+Windows+M”, you need to hold down both the “ALT” key and the “Windows” key with your left hand, and, while doing so, lightly tap the letter “M” with your right hand, with emphasis on the word, “Lightly!”

We will now first discuss some of the central concepts of J-Dictate with which in order to function effectively you need to be familiar. Then we will work through a dictation exercise so you can start talking to your computer to create some text!

Before Dictation

Firstly, please launch the Dragon NaturallySpeaking software from the shortcut located on the Windows Desktop:

1. Press the Windows Key+M to move to the Windows Desktop.

2. Press the letter “D” until Dragon NaturallySpeaking is announced.

3. Press Enter.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking will then launch and load into memory your Voice Profile which you will have created during the setup process. This may take approximately 30 seconds.

When the Dragon software is fully loaded JAWS will speak the message “The computer is ready for you to talk to it”. This informs you that your Voice Profile has been loaded successfully and that you are ready to begin talking to your computer. If this does not occur, please repeatedly press “ALT+Windows+M” and when JAWS announces the words “Microphone Sleeping”, you can be assured that your Voice Profile has been successfully loaded.

Note, if several Dragon user Profiles exist J-Dictate will inform you of this, presenting a list of them. Use the Up/Down Arrow Keys to navigate to the desired profile followed by a press of the “Enter” Key to select the focused profile. The Profile will then load and when completed as before JAWS will speak the message “The computer is ready for you to talk to it”.

Note; all J-Dictate messages are spoken using the JAWS message voice, to enable one to clearly differentiate between J-Dictate messages and text being spoken.

Microphone Control

At this point it is important to correctly position the microphone as shortly you will need to speak into it. The microphone should be positioned at one side of your mouth - approximately two fingers width away from it. Placing the microphone in any other position than that described will result in poor speech recognition!

If using a non-headset based microphone, please ensure you obtain advice from your J-Dictate supplier regarding its correct positioning before proceeding.

The microphone can be in any one of two conditions – “awake” or “asleep”, sometimes referred to as “active” and “passive” mode respectively. At this point the microphone is “asleep”, meaning that it is not listening to what is being said.

J-Dictate contains a keyboard command which enables you to check whether the microphone is “awake” or “asleep”. Indeed, we have already learned this keystroke. This command is activated by pressing “ALT+Windows+M” for “microphone”.

When the microphone is “asleep” and the keyboard command is used, JAWS will announce “Microphone Sleeping”, and conversely when the microphone is “awake” and analysing all words spoken and the keyboard command is used, JAWS will say “Microphone on”.

Effective control of the microphone is very important when working with J-Dictate. It is crucial to always be aware of the condition of the microphone through effective use of this keyboard command.

To activate and deactivate the microphone, press “ALT+Windows+F11” on the keyboard. This is a toggle keystroke. When the key is pressed, JAWS will confirm the new condition of the microphone by playing appropriate sounds. If the microphone is active you will hear a musical chord sound, and if it has been deactivated, a “close door” sound will be heard instead.

You may prefer to use the voice commands]

“Listen to Me”

And

“Wake Up”

So as to activate the microphone, and

“Go to Sleep”

Or

“Stop Listening”

To deactivate it.

However, our preference is for the aforementioned keystroke to be used which is more reliable in moderately noisy conditions.

Once the microphone is “awake” you can begin to dictate into the computer. Please wait until the musical chord sound has concluded before you begin to speak.

Effective use of the J-Dictate software is highly dependent on understanding and mastering the effective control of the microphone. The microphone should only be “awake” when you are actually dictating into the computer. Leaving the microphone in this mode when you are not actively working with it can cause severe problems in terms of overall performance and speech recognition.

Echoing of Dictation

Before starting to use J-Dictate it is important to explain how the system will, at this stage, echo back your dictation.

When dictating, J-Dictate will remain silent until you pause in your speech delivery. At this point the system will echo back the text dictated from when you began dictation to when you pause.

Dictating with J-Dictate

Although J-Dictate directly supports Email, Internet browsing applications and many other computing environments, let’s use a word processor, (preferably Microsoft Word), to achieve our first dictation exercise, and acquaint ourselves with the way J-Dictate works. If Microsoft Word is not installed, you can use an alternative word processor, such as Microsoft Wordpad (included within the Windows operating system), HJ Pad (which forms part of the JAWS for Windows software), or indeed Dragon Pad (provided with the Dragon NaturallySpeaking product).

Please launch your chosen word processing program and ensure you are located within a blank document.

Now press “ALT+Windows+F11”. All being well, you should hear the musical chord sound to indicate that the microphone is awake and listening to what you are about to say. Please wait until the sound has concluded.

If you need to launch Dragon Pad because no other word processor is available, please speak this command:

“Start Dragon Pad”.

After a short pause, Dragon Pad will load and JAWS will announce this is done, followed by the word, “Edit”, to denote you are focused within a document.

Now try to dictate some text. It is important that, whilst you get used to using the software, you dictate in short strings of words. For example, if a sentence can be logically divided up using punctuation, this is a good way to begin to dictate.

Try the following example. Note, all punctuation should be dictated. When you see the phrase “stop dictating”, please stop talking and listen back to J-Dictate speaking what has been recognised. If errors occur, please don’t at this stage worry about them; we will discuss the correction process in the next Chapter. Where the term “full-stop” appears, J-Dictate users using the “US English” vocabulary should substitute this statement with the word “period”.

“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)

Now put the microphone to sleep by pressing “ALT+Windows+F11”. You should hear a “close door” sound to indicate that the microphone is no longer listening to you.

Providing everything is working and the microphone is correctly positioned your recognition of the above text should have been reasonably accurate. Please now go ahead and examine the text using the keystrokes you would normally associate with reading text, such as the “Up” or “Down Arrow” keys.

When you first start using the software it is important to use fairly straightforward vocabulary, increasing its complexity once you become used to working with the tools provided to educate the software which will be described within the next Chapter.

Tips on Effective Voice Usage

The following tips should assist you in developing effective use of your voice when working with the software.

1. Be sure to speak clearly and naturally when dictating, enunciating in a natural way.

2. Do not shout; speak at a normal volume at all times. Shouting will simply confuse the software and could result in the developing of a poor Voice Profile.

3. If at any time you are unsure what to say or need to gather your thoughts, always put the microphone into “sleep” mode. Only allow the microphone to be “live” when you are actually speaking to the computer.

4. Have a glass of water to hand. Especially when using the computer with your voice for some time, drinking a small amount of water periodically will help to moisten your throat so as to ensure clear speech delivery.

Disabling Echo-Back of Dictation

If necessary, particularly if you are using a Braille display, the echo facility can be disabled. Repeatedly press the keystroke “ALT+Windows+E” for Echo.

This keystroke rotates between three available options:

• “Echo Dictation Phrase by Phrase”. This is the mode we have been using. When you finish speaking, the text you have dictated will be echoed back to you.

• “Echo Dictation Sentences Only”. When you terminate a sentence with “full-stop”, “period”, “question mark” or “exclamation mark”, the complete sentence is announced.

• “Echoing of Dictation is Disabled”. No text is spoken at all when you dictate.

When you select any of these modes, the setting is retained, even if the computer is restarted.

Remembering the J-Dictate Keystrokes

Certainly it is more productive if you can remember the various keystrokes used within J-Dictate. However, if you cannot, the program does provide these in a Help system.

To activate J-Dictate Help, press “ALT+Windows+H”. A screen is displayed within the JAWS Virtual Viewer which can be examined by pressing the “Up/Down Arrow” keys. You will find the keystrokes listed. In addition, pressing “Enter” on any of the Links displayed will cause the required function to be carried out.

If from within the Help system you activate the Link to enable or disable the microphone, you will find that the Virtual viewer is dismissed and focus returns to the application in which you were previously working prior to activate it. This has been done as a safety mechanism to ensure that it is impossible to dictate into the Help system screen.

You can press the “Escape” key at any time to dismiss the Help system and return to the application in which you were previously working.

Closing Down the Computer and Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Before you close down the computer, you will need to exit Dragon NaturallySpeaking. This is very important since if this is not done, the Speech Files you have recently trained could be corrupted. It is always worth taking a back-up of your Speech Files periodically in the event this should happen, whereupon they can be restored. Please refer to the section of this document relating to backing up your Speech Files.

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.

Correcting Misrecognition and Improving Accuracy

Introduction

During the process of dictation, the voice input software on your computer will inevitably make mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes occur purely because the word you have dictated is not included in the system’s vocabulary, however other times errors can occur due to the fact that the software simply did not recognise what was heard. At the moment, you are learning through this tutorial how to use the Dragon software. In turn, it needs to learn from you information about how you pronounce different words and phrases. We all have different ways of speaking, and regional accents certainly play a part in how effective the software performs from the outset.

In this Chapter, you will learn how to use the tools which over time have a profound impact upon the recognition accuracy you receive. First, you will learn how to correct errors which have been made by using the “Correction Box” tool. Next, you will learn that the “Spell Box” can be used into which words can be spelled, figures spoken or acronyms dictated. Finally, certainly one of the greatest tools you have at your disposal is the ability to add words to the system’s vocabulary.

The “Correction Box”

One of the most effective ways of improving recognition accuracy is through use of the Correction System. Indeed it is the Correction System which is the primary tool used by the software to effectively predict what was meant when the actual word spoken was not clearly understood by the software.

To correct recognition errors follow these steps:

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 misrecognised 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 misrecognised 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 capitalised.

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.

Note: if you would prefer to spell choices using your voice, best results can often be obtained by using the Phonetic Alphabet.

|Letter: |Phonetic Equivalent. |

|A: |Alpha. |

|B: |Bravo. |

|C: |Charlie. |

|D: |Delta. |

|E: |Echo. |

|F: |Foxtrot. |

|G: |Golf. |

|H: |Hotel. |

|I: |India. |

|J: |Juliet. |

|K: |Kilo. |

|L: |Lima. |

|M: |Mike. |

|N: |November. |

|O: |Oscar. |

|P: |Papa. |

|Q: |Quebec. |

|R: |Romeo. |

|S: |Sierra. |

|T: |Tango. |

|U: |Uniform. |

|V: |Victor. |

|W: |Whisky. |

|X: |X-ray. |

|Y: |Yankee. |

|Z: |Zulu. |

Note that if you are spelling out words and phrases with your voice, J-Dictate will echo each letter.

Additional Notes on Correcting – Essential Learning

It is our experience that when exiting the correction system many users have not remembered the context of the sentence originally being dictated. It is therefore recommended that the “Say Line” keyboard command is used by pressing the JAWS Key+Up Arrow which will give some context prior to resuming dictation.

Occasionally you may have a situation where you need to correct a word which appears more than once in a document. In situations like this using the correction method described above may result in the incorrect occurrence of the word being corrected.

If this is the case you can also place a word or phrase into the “Correction Box” by first of all selecting it, then using the Command

“Correct That”

with the variable “that” referring to the selected text. When the text is selected, the “F10” Key can also be pressed to invoke the “Correction Box”.

Note, if this method is used (and when the “Correction Box” is dismissed), it is important to then navigate to the point where you wish to resume dictating, as the cursor will be located on the selected text not at the end of the document.

You may also come across situations where you choose not to use the correction system, for example because you stutter when dictating a word.

In situations like this you will want to delete the last chunk of dictation and re-dictate it. The command

“Scratch That”

will do exactly this, with the variable “that” referring to the last string of words dictated.

The “Spell Box”

There will be times when you can anticipate that the software will not understand a word or phrase you are about to dictate, and in such a situation you may like to use the “Spell Box”. Moreover, the “Spell Box” is ideal when you wish to dictate an acronym or abbreviation.

To open the “Spell Box”, say

“Spell”.

The command should be isolated from any other speech. J-Dictate will say “Box Ready”.

When the “Spell Box” appears, a word or phrase can be spelled out in the same way in which you would use the “Correction box”. If you are spelling an entire phrase, you will want to use the word

“Cap”

To denote a capital letter, and

“Space”

To insert a space in between words you are spelling. However typing the text into the Edit Field is preferred.

When you have concluded spelling out or typing the word or phrase, press “Enter” to dismiss the “Spell Box”.

Similarly, using the “Spell Box” is an ideal method of ensuring that figures (as opposed to numbers being interpreted as words) are correctly entered into the text.

Correcting Errors More Quickly – Desirable Learning

As and when you become more proficient at using J-Dictate, you may find it helpful to use a faster method of correcting text.

It is possible to correct text without bringing into view the “Correction Box”. Use the following as an example of how this would be achieved:

1. Dictate the phrase

“Today I am going to tune a piano”.

Dragon misrecognises one of the words and so you hear the text

“Today I am going to prune a piano”.

2. Say the words

“Select Prune”.

Notice that this time we are using the word

“Select”

rather than

“Correct”.

Using this method will highlight the word or phrase on the computer display and you will receive confirmation that it is indeed selected. If you prefer, you can use the keyboard in order to locate the word and select it using traditional methods for selecting text. If you are using our Leasey product, you can use the “LeaseySelect” facility.

3. Optionally, press “Shift+JAWS Key+Down Arrow” to review the text which has been selected.

4. Now press the keystroke “ALT+Windows+C”. the choices which would have been displayed if you had invoked the “Correction box” will be announced, with each one being preceeded by a number. If you prefer, you can press the keystroke “ALT+Windows+C” twice quickly to place all the possible choices into the JAWS Virtual Viewer for closer inspection and line by line analysis. Each choice is listed on a separate line including its number. Press “Escape” to exit the Virtual Viewer and return to the document.

5. If the word “Tune” appears in the list, (for example it may be number 2), say

“Choose 2”.

6. Finally, to return to the position in the text so as to continue your dictation, say

“Go Back”.

Note that it is possible the word you require as a substitute for the incorrectly recognised one is not in the list. In that case, while the word is selected, say

“Spell”.

Now wait for the Dragon “Spell Box” to appear, whereupon you can spell out the word or phrase you wish.

When you have finished spelling out the word, say

“Confirm That”

To close the “Spell Box”, whereupon the command

“Go Back”

Can be spoken to return the cursor to the point in the text where you should resume dictating.

Adding Words to the Vocabulary

Often you may come across situations where you wish to dictate words which are not part of the software’s Vocabulary, for example a person’s name, the name of a town or street, or some specialist terminology relevant to your employment. In such a situation the most effective means to ensure the system will recognise this word every time you use it is to add the word to the vocabulary.

To add words and phrases to the vocabulary please follow these steps:

1. Press Control+shift+F12 to enter the Dragon NaturallySpeaking menu system.

2. Press the Down Arrow until you reach the option entitled “Words”, followed by Enter, or alternatively press the letter “W”.

3. The first item in this sub-menu is “New”. Press Enter on this item.

4. A Dialog Box is now brought into view with an Edit Field in focus. This Edit Field is captioned “Spell or type the word to add to the vocabulary”.

5. As instructed, type the word or phrase you would like to add to the vocabulary.

6. Pressing “Tab” takes you to an Edit Field into which you can enter the “Spoken Form”. If the pronunciation of the word or phrase is markedly different from its corresponding written form you may like to enter a phonetic approximation of how it might sound when you speak it. There are alternative uses for this Edit Field which will be described elsewhere in this document. We will leave this Edit Field empty for the time being.

7. Pressing “Tab” focuses upon a Check Box entitled “I Want to Train the Pronunciation of This Word”. Please check this box by pressing the “Space Bar”. Please ensure you have your microphone to hand as shortly you are going to speak into it.

8. Pressing Tab once more takes you to the “Add” Button. Press the Space Bar to activate it.

9. When the “Add” Button is pressed, JAWS will advise you to “Click Go to begin recording your speech”. Focus is now on the “Go” Button.

10. Press Space Bar on the “Go” Button and speak the word or phrase. You do not need to “awaken” the microphone as it is automatically activated when the “Go” Button is pressed. JAWS has been programmed not to say anything when this Button is activated.

11. When your speech has been recorded JAWS will say “Done Button”, indicating that the Space Bar should be pressed to activate the Button labelled “Done”.

12. Focus now returns to the application in which you were previously working prior to training the new word or phrase.

Using the “Learn From Specific Documents Tool”

Dragon has the ability to analyse specific documents and to add words to the dictionary which may be found within them. It also has the ability to scan sent Email messages, however we do not recommend this at the current time as part of the process is not accessible.

To add words from specific documents, please follow these steps:

1. Press “Control+Shift+F12” to enter the “Dragon Bar Menu”.

2. Press “V” for “Vocabulary”.

3. The first option in this sub-menu is “Learn from Specific Documents”. Press “Enter” to move into the Dialog Box.

4. You are now in a Dialog Box. Press “Tab” to move from one field to the next. The first Check Box is entitled “Find Unknown Words”. This should be Checked which it is by default.

5. The next option is “Find Known Words with Unknown Capitalisation”. This is unchecked by default. If words are not typically capitalised, but they are in your document, you may like Dragon to be alerted of such instances. You can then if necessary add capitalised instances to the vocabulary. We suggest in most situations this should be left at the default setting of Unchecked.

6. The final Check box is “Adapt to Writing Style”. We suggest that you may want to Uncheck this box by pressing the “Space Bar” when it is focused. The box is Checked by default. Your writing style could wildly fluctuate depending upon the document or Email message you are creating. All we are interested in doing is adding Custom Words. Press “Tab” to move to the “Next” Button and press the “Space Bar”.

7. You are now focused within the “Add Documents” Dialog Box. More than one document can be added. Press “Tab” to move through the Dialog Box.

8. The “Add Folder” Button will invite you to browse to a specific folder on your computer containing documents.

9. The “Add Document” Button will allow you to browse for a specific document. In our example, we will be using this Button. Press the “Space Bar” on this Button.

10. You can now browse to a document on your computer to be analysed. Documents can be in the following formats: ASCII Text (.txt), Microsoft Word (Doc, Docx or DOCM), Rich Text Format (RTF), Corel Wordperfect (WPD), and Hypertext Markup Language (HTM, HTML, SHTM and SHTML). Simply locate the document on your computer and press “Enter” to add it to the document list.

11. When a document has been added, you can either repeat the process by adding a further document (press “Space Bar” on the “Add Document” Button again), or examine the content of the Dialog box by pressing “Tab”. You will note that the Document List, (which can be analysed by pressing the “Up/Down Arrow” keys), contains the name of your recently added document or documents. There is also a “Remove” Button which will allow you to remove the selected document from the list, and a “View” Button which will open the file in the default word processor assigned to opening the specific type of document.

12. Assuming you are satisfied with the content displayed in the Document List, press “Tab” to reach the “Next” Button and press the “Space Bar”.

13. You have now reached the “Document Analysis” screen. Assuming Dragon has been able to analyse the previously selected documents, and no errors have occurred, press “Tab” to reach the “Next” Button then press the “Space Bar”.

14. The next screen displays a list of all the words found which are not in the Dragon dictionary. Use the “Up/Down Arrow” keys to move through the available choices. When a word is selected, press “Tab” to interact with it. You will note the following Buttons are available. “Edit” will allow you to change word properties, including whether you would like the word to always be written in lower case unless you specify differently by saying the word “Cap” preceeding it, and to change the “Spoken Form” (discussed previously in this tutorial). The “Next” Button will add the words into the vocabulary when any word properties have been changed. Press the “Space Bar” to move to the next stage.

15. Optionally, this screen allows you to train the pronunciation of a word or words previously added. Press “Tab” to reach the “Check All” Button and press the “Space Bar” on this. You can now go through the process of training each word as described in the section of training Custom Words earlier in this tutorial. Generally speaking this is unnecessary unless the pronunciation is markedly different from the way in which the word is spelled. You can always go back into the Vocabulary Editor later and train them if you wish.

16. If you do not wish to train words, press “Tab” to reach the “Next” Button and press the “Space Bar”.

17. Finally, a summary screen is displayed. Press “Tab” to reach the “Finish” Button and press the “Space Bar”. The process of adding words from specific documents is now complete.

Viewing Words in the Vocabulary Editor

J-Dictate makes the process of viewing words in the Vocabulary Editor accessible. This means you can view all words added, train them if they are not being recognised correctly or delete them if necessary.

To enter the Vocabulary Editor:

1. Press “Control+Shift+F12” to bring into view the “Dragon Bar Menu”.

2. Press the letter “V” for “Vocabulary” and then “E” for “Open Vocabulary Editor”.

3. Dragon NaturallySpeaking contains many words in the Vocabulary Editor, so the first Edit Field now in focus allows you to search for a word or phrase. Optionally, please type the word you wish to search for now, then press “Tab”.

4. You can now use the “Up/Down Arrow” keys to move through the list to hear the available words. Pressing “Insert+Up Arrow” once will read the focused word, press twice quickly to spell it.

5. If you continue to press “Tab” through the Dialog Box, you will find a number of Buttons in order to change its properties, (for example whether Dragon should place one space after it or capitalise the next word), train the pronunciation of the word (see above), or delete it from the Vocabulary.

6. The remaining control in this Dialog is a Combo Box through which you can change the view to display only specific types of words, such as “Custom Words” (those only you have added), words containing digits, and so on.

If you do not wish to modify any of the words, and are only using the Vocabulary Editor to view the words Dragon understands, press “Escape” to exit the Dialog box.

Useful Dictation Strategies

In this Chapter, we will work through some voice commands which you can say while you are dictating text.

The next Table describes words you can say to manage capitalisation and the dictation of numbers.

|Command |Description |

|“New Line” |Presses the “Enter” key once. |

|“New Paragraph” |Press the “Enter” key twice and capitalise the next word. |

|“Cap (Word)” or “Cap (Next Word)” |Capitalises the next word to be dictated. The term, “Word”, |

| |refers to the next word you are about to speak. For example, |

| |“Cap London”. |

|“Caps On” |Everything dictated from this point will be initially |

| |capitalised. |

|“Caps Off” |Everything dictated from this point forward will obey |

| |conventional capitalisation rules. |

|“All Caps (Word)” |Fully capitalises the next word to be dictated. The term, |

| |“Word”, refers to the next word you are about to speak. For |

| |example, “All Caps London”. |

|“All Caps Off” |Everything dictated from this point forward will obey |

| |conventional capitalisation rules. |

|“No Caps (Word)” |Ensures the next word to be dictated is in lower case. The term,|

| |“Word”, refers to the next word you are about to speak. For |

| |example, “No Caps London”. |

|“No Caps On” |Everything dictated from this point will be in lower case. |

|“No Caps Off” |Everything dictated from this point forward will obey |

| |conventional capitalisation rules. |

|“No Space Word |A Space character is not placed before the next word to be |

| |dictated. |

|“No Space On” |Every word dictated from this point will not contain spaces |

| |between them. |

|“No Space Off” |Every word dictated from this point will contain a space in |

| |between. |

|“Numeral” |The next figure you dictate will be represented as such. For |

| |example, “Numeral 10” will type the figures 10. |

|“Roman Numeral” |The next figure you dictate will be represented as a roman |

| |numeral. For example, “Roman Numeral 10” will type the letter |

| |“X”. |

|“Numbers Mode On” |Will ensure everything dictated from this point will be |

| |represented as figures, useful for spreadsheets. |

|“Numbers Mode Off” |Terminates “Numbers Mode” and conventional dictation rules apply.|

|“Spell Mode On” |This should be used if you are about to dictate either letters or|

| |numbers. |

|“Spell Mode Off” |Terminates “Spell Mode” and conventional dictation rules apply. |

Dragon NaturallySpeaking is a very intelligent application and will obey rules of presentation, for example it will capitalise the first character of a new sentence.

You should find that the majority of place names are recognised, together with names of people. If such a word is not recognised then please use any of the techniques described in the previous Chapter to educate the software in order that it does recognise the term when you speak it next.

Under most circumstances, you are able to dictate postal (or zip codes) without having to activate any of the “Special Modes” listed above, for example “Spell Mode”.

Deleting Text

J-Dictate is all about using the keyboard together with your voice to increase productivity. Therefore under most circumstances, we recommend that you use traditional keyboard methods of selecting and deleting text for editing purposes. However, you can say the word

“Backspace”

Followed by a number so as to erase text to the left of the cursor position, such as “Backspace 2” to delete two characters.

Similarly, the voice commands

“Delete Character”,

“Delete Word”,

“Delete Line”,

“Delete Sentence”, and

“Delete Paragraph”

May also help.

Adding a Text Note.

A Text Note is used to reproduce a passage of text with a voice command. Usually a Text Note consists of a few paragraphs, (perhaps a signature for a letter), however potentially it could reproduce many pages, saving you a good deal of typing.

In order to create a Text Note:

1. Ensure that the text you wish to reproduce in the future is copied to the Windows Clipboard.

2. With Dragon NaturallySpeaking running, press ALT+Windows+W.

3. A Dialog Box will appear requesting that you type the name for the Text Note. Please think carefully about the name. The end result is that you are going to say the phrase “Text Note”, followed by the name you are about to type. So in the example above, you may type the word, “Signature”. When you reproduce the text in the future therefore, you will be saying, “Text Note Signature”.

4. Press Enter.

5. Now wait for approximately 10 seconds while the Text Note is created.

6. Place the cursor in a document or in any other text edit area.

7. Say the phrase “Text Note”, followed by the name you gave to it.

8. Examine the document. You should see that the text has been reproduced.

Email, Web Browsers and and Additional Dictation Environments

Introduction

In this short Chapter, we will learn how to dictate a message within an Email message and talk about some other ways in which you may like to use J-Dictate.

Email

Dictating an Email message is exactly the same as dictating text into a Microsoft Word document. We will use Microsoft Outlook as our preferred Email client in the below example, however it is possible to use other programs such as Mozilla Thunderbird.

Below is an excellent example of how the human voice and keyboard skills can be shared to create a message within Microsoft Outlook:

1. Press “Control+N” to create a new message. JAWS will announce that you are in the “To” field.

2. If necessary at this juncture, activate the microphone in the usual way by pressing “ALT+Windows+F11”, and preferably dictate the person’s name to whom the message is to be sent. This method will work if a contact with the same name has been stored in your Outlook Address Book or it can be found in the program’s “Auto-Complete” list. If the latter is true, you will want to press “Enter” in order to select the desired name, or “Down Arrow” repeatedly to select a different item. Alternatively it may be helpful to type the person’s name.

3. Now press the Tab Key to reach the “CC” field, and repeat the process for entering an E-Mail address as described within Step 2.

4. Press Tab again to reach the “Subject” field, and dictate the message summary by ensuring the microphone is active and speaking normally.

5. Finally, press Tab once more to reach the “message body” field. Dictate the text using the dictation style you learned in Chapter 1.

6. When complete, be sure to deactivate the microphone by pressing “ALT+Windows+F11”, and review the text carefully by using the keyboard and listening to the text which has been dictated.

7. Press “Control+Enter” to send the message.

Microsoft Internet Explorer and Additional Dictation Environments

Using the voice as an additional means of input when working with the Internet is a great way of speeding up overall access.

Again it should be stated that what J-Dictate is providing is the addition of the voice as a further means of input, not enabling one to use the voice as an alternative method of computer control. Therefore, for example, it is possible to dictate text into Edit Fields when the JAWS for Windows “Forms Mode” has been activated, or dictate the “URL” (web page address) you wish to visit once the “Open” Dialogue Box or the Internet explorer Address Bar is displayed. In fact, in any situation where one would normally enter text using the keyboard, it is possible to dictate text using dragon NaturallySpeaking and have it echoed back by the use of the J-Dictate middleware technology.

Searching for Information on the Internet

Dragon NaturallySpeaking can use what are known as “Web Shortcut” Commands.

The web browser does not have to be open when using a web shortcut command. Dragon NaturallySpeaking will recognize when a ”Web Shortcut” Command is used and opens the default browser automatically.

For Example, you can say

“Search Google for Italian restaurants in Cardiff”, or

“Search Ebay for records of the 1960’s”, or

“Search Youtube for Elvis Presley”, or

“Search amazon for Office Chairs”, or

“Search Wikipedia for Barbara Castle”.

Posting to Twitter or Facebook

While it is possible to dictate text directly into Twitter or Facebook clients designed specifically for the visually impaired, Dragon NaturallySpeaking gives you the ability to post a status message to both social media platforms without having to use their respective websites or special programs.

To post such a message, simply say,

“Post to Facebook”, or

“Post to Twitter”,

Followed by the message you would like to send. For example, say

“Post to Facebook I am going to be in London this evening. Would anyone like to join me for dinner?”

If this is the first time you have posted a status update on Facebook or Twitter, you will be confronted with a web page with a simple form to complete. You will need to log into the social network using the fields provided and allow the Dragon NaturallySpeaking application to interact with your account. This is a one time process.

Under normal circumstances however, after you have dictated the status update, an Edit Field will appear with a transcription of the text spoken. This is useful as you can check its accuracy, together with adding any other terms such as referencing a person’s username for a Mention on Twitter, or including a Hash Tag.

When the text is accurate, press “Enter” to send.

Mentioning or Sending Direct Messages to Twitter Users

Chances are as you become more acquainted with Twitter you will want to send a Direct Message to someone who is not immediately on your Twitter timeline, or you want to mention someone as part of a conversation. Using voice recognition technology this can become difficult. Some Twitter usernames are complicated to remember and spell out, so we’ve made it easier for you to deal with this process.

Our objective in this exercise is to create two voice commands per user. The first will allow you to mention a person in a conversation, and the second is for the purpose of sending a Direct Message to the individual concerned. So lets learn how to set up these commands.

1. First, you’ll want to find a user to store. This can be from your regular timeline, so go ahead and move through the list of tweets in your Twitter client of choice until you locate the person you wish to create the commands for. We’ll assume we have a tweet from a lady called Abigail.

2. Ensure that the username is copied to the Windows clipboard. In some popular Twitter clients for the visually impaired, this can often be achieved by pressing Control+U, followed by Control+C.

3. Press ALT+Windows+N. You will be asked for the real name of the person, or an abbreviated form. Do think about this carefully. The end result of this process is that you are going to say the word,

“Mention”,

followed by the name. So be sure to make it easy on yourself. The person’s first name may well be sufficient if he or she is going to be a regular correspondent. Please go ahead and dictate the name now, or type it in on the keyboard.

4. Press Enter.

5. After a short pause, you will hear that the command has been created.

6. Now lets create the second command. Again, with the user’s name copied to the Windows Clipboard, press ALT+Windows+D.

7. As before, you will be asked for the person’s name, and you will want to keep the name the same as you did for the previous command so as to avoid confusion. Please type or dictate this now.

8. Press Enter.

9. After a short pause, you will be informed that the command has been created.

We will now test the commands we have created. First, we’ll send a public message to Abigail.

1. Focus in a composition field for creating a new tweet, mentioning a user or for sending a direct message.

2. Start your tweet with the phrase

“Mention Abigail” or “Direct Abigail”.

This term is then echoed back to you.

3. Press Insert+Up Arrow. JAWS will either announce the term, “At”, followed by the Twitter username, or the letter “D” followed by the username.

4. Now say

“The book you recommended last week is wonderful”.

5. Finally, press Enter.

Dictating into Other Applications

In most cases, you ought to be able to dictate into any application and have the text echoed back to you using J-Dictate. This includes Instant Messenging applications such as Skype, where it may be faster to dictate text rather than typing when within a chat conversation.

The Dragon NaturallySpeaking Dictation box

In most circumstances, there should be no difficulty when dictating into many applications, particularly those which are supported by Dragon NaturallySpeaking. However, if you encounter a situation where you dictate text and Dragon is not understanding you at all, then you will want to use the Dictation box. For example, if you activate the microphone, you dictate text, and nothing is being transcribed, then you are confronted with such a circumstance.

One very common situation users find themselves in when using Dragon NaturallySpeaking is Microsoft Outlook. Due to security restrictions on the computer hosting your technology, (or if the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Addin is not allowed through by Microsoft Outlook), Dragon will have difficulty in reproducing text you dictate into the Body Field of an Email message. Again, this is an environment where the Dictation Box may help.

In order to deploy the Dictation box, press “ALT+Control+F10”. Focus is now in an Edit Field where text can be easily dictated or typed.

When you are ready to transfer the contents of the Dictation Box to the application which had focus prior to pressing “ALT+Control+F10”, press the “Tab” key repeatedly until you reach the “Transfer” Button, then press the “Space Bar”.

DICTATING USING A PORTABLE RECORDER (Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium and Higher)

Introduction

It is possible to dictate text into a portable audio recorder while you are away from your computer and Dragon NaturallySpeaking has the facility to transcribe it into text editable windows, such as a Microsoft Word document or Email message within Microsoft Outlook. This process is known as Audio Transcription and J-Dictate is able to provide you with support while working through this process.

What You Will Need for Audio Transcription

Before we even contemplate purchasing appropriate hardware for the purpose of Audio Transcription, you will need a high level of skill and confidence in using J-Dictate technology. It is not recommended that you attempt Audio Transcription until you have at least had some weeks or even months practising dictating into the computer with your voice.

Hardware Requirements

It is important that you talk to a J-Dictate supplier about the best type of recorder to use. Each time you dictate into a portable recorder, it will create an electronic file of the recording using a specific file format. This file is typically accommodated on a Compact Flash or secure Digital storage card. It could also be stored on the recorder’s own internal drive for transfer to a computer. While the Dragon NaturallySpeaking software is capable of transcribing dictated text derived from a variety of file formats, we would recommend that a recorder is chosen which can record either in .Wav, .MP3 or .WMA format or where the native recording format can be converted to .Wav, .MP3 or .WMA file types.

Another consideration in product selection includes how “accessible” or “usable” the recorder is from a visually impaired person’s perspective. Are the controls on the recorder well defined and easy to manage? Is it easy to locate and review the audio recordings which have been made? Can the audio recordings be reviewed at a faster speed than offered with the conventional playback facility? Does the recorder have a loud speaker for listening to the recordings if required? Is the “battery life” offered as part of the recorder’s specification sufficient for your needs and will a spoken or audible prompt advise you of the battery status? Can the recorder be used for anything else other than for Audio Transcription, for example to listen to audio books or other files? Can you transfer the files from the recorder to the computer using Windows Explorer without special proprietary software? These and other factors may be important for you to consider when purchasing a suitable recorder.

Finally, the recording quality is a very important consideration. When dictating into such a device, the background noise level must be low. By “background noise”, we are referring to the extraneous sound usually associated with internal recorder microphones or the surrounding sound of the environment in which you are dictating. Use a recorder producing minimal background sound from its internal microphone or perhaps consider using an external microphone, although this somewhat restricts the flexibility of convenient dictation.

Within this Chapter, we have only provided limited information concerning the choice of recorder to be used. Your J-Dictate supplier will be able to give you much more detailed information largely based upon experience in this field concerning suitable devices. However we would strongly recommend the use of the Plextalk Pocket (developed by Plextor) or the DM5/DM7 (manufactured by Olympus). All the functions of these recorders provide audible prompts, their controls are well pronounced and in fact they fit all the requirements of our above “check list”. Your J-Dictate supplier will be able to give you the details of purchasing such a recorder if you wish and certainly, Hartgen Consultancy are able to do this as well.

Using Apple’s iPhone is also worthy of consideration. The iPhone contains a built-in screen-reader called VoiceOver. There are apps which can be installed onto the device to allow you to make recordings and transfer them elsewhere. Please consult your J-Dictate supplier for details of which apps are best suited to this situation and how they can be used with VoiceOver.

Accuracy

The question most often asked by people wishing to know more about Audio Transcription is how accurate will the transcription be when converting audio to text? This depends upon so many factors, most of which have already been mentioned: the acoustic environment and the quality of audio reproduction to name but two.

Although it is not necessary to pause after each phrase or sentence as would be the case when dictating into a computer, it is essential that you enunciate your words clearly. When people realise the fantastic potential and flexibility they now have in the form of dictation into a recorder, they often forget the dictation constraints which are normally forced upon them when dictating into a computer. In the most part these still need to be observed when dictating into a recorder. Extra care should be taken when dictating text in this way, being sure to announce each word naturally but clearly and of course punctuation, line or paragraph breaks, and formatting commands should all be spoken when appropriate. Obtaining training from your J-Dictate supplier is an excellent starting point for using such a recorder effectively since your Trainer can assist you in creating a voice Profile for the recorder and can provide additional dictation techniques so you can gain optimum results from it.

There is a decision to be made concerning the way in which the sound from the recorder is interpreted by the computer. You could:

• Create a new Voice Profile specifically dedicated to the recorder. This is the recommended solution, however if you are not a reader of Braille or print it does present some challenges. We will walk you through the process of adopting this approach should you decide to use it.

• Using your own existing Voice Profile. Given the increased voice recognition accuracy offered by Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 13, our extensive testing has proved extremely positive using this method. In summary, you can dictate text into a portable recorder and Dragon NaturallySpeaking (along with J-Dictate) can transcribe the audio into text. This is by far the easiest solution as no further training is required. We will walk you through this process and explain a possible disadvantage to using this method in the next paragraph.

• You can create a separate Voice Profile using a microphone in exactly the same way as you created the first Profile you regularly use for dictation. The Profile, however, will be used exclusively for the voice recorder. The obvious question to ask if contemplating this method is why you should do this rather than use your original Profile. The answer lies in the correction of text. If you dictate text into a recorder, and during the transcription inaccuracies occur, you can use the “Correction Box” to correct the errors. However, those errors should only be interpreted by Dragon NaturallySpeaking within the context of using a portable recorder and not when you are dictating directly into the computer. Those corrections, therefore, should be kept quite separate from regular dictation and so having two Profiles is an advantage.

Making a Test Recording

Before you even think about creating a new voice Profile specifically for your recorder (see below), or dictating text for Audio Transcription, it is important to get used to using the recorder. First, get some experience in handling it and using its controls. Find out how to start, pause and stop the recording. Learn how to review the recordings you have made.

Once the basic skills have been learnt, practice dictating some text into the recorder and listen back to your results. Speak close to the recorder’s microphone but not too close so that the resulting output becomes distorted. Leaving one or two inches between your mouth and the microphone in a similar way that you adopt when you use a computer-based microphone with J-Dictate would be a good starting point. When you play back the recording, can you hear every word or punctuation sign you have dictated? Does background noise exist accompanying your speech delivery? Remember, if you are struggling to hear what you have spoken then the computer software certainly will and it is unlikely the recognition will be of a good standard.

Creating a Voice Profile for an Audio Recorder

We will now create a voice Profile for our audio recorder. If you are using your existing Voice Profile, or you have created a second Profile with a microphone as described above for use with a recorder, this section can be bypassed.

Please ensure that Dragon NaturallySpeaking is running with your current voice Profile successfully loaded, then work through the following steps:

1. Press “Control+Shift+F12” to bring into view the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional menu system.

2. Use the “Down Arrow” Key to move to the “Profile” menu item and press “Enter”.

3. Press “Enter” on the first item entitled “New”.

4. You may be advised that the creation of the new Profile cannot be created until the existing one is closed down. Press the “Space Bar” on the “Proceed” Button which will unload the new Profile from memory.

You are now ready to create the new voice Profile and you will be asked for the name you wish to assign to it. We suggest that you use part of the name of your voice recorder, such as “Plextalk”. Type the name and press the “Tab” Key until the “Next” Button is reached and press the “Space Bar” to activate it.

The next screen may well ask you for details of the language in which you speak and possibly your age group. These settings are inherited from the previous profile you created, so you can press “Enter” here to move to the next step.

The next screen is entitled “How Do You Talk to Your Computer”, relating to the audio device being used for dictation. The primary group of controls in this Dialog Box consists of a List view of sound sources. Press the “Down Arrow” Key repeatedly to move through the available choices. You would either select the item corresponding to your device or more typically you should select “Digital Files on Disk”. While some recorders have “special software” required for the transfer of files, the accessibility of the software cannot be guaranteed. We therefore suggest that a recorder is used for dictation which can record in WAV or MP3 format.

Now press the “Tab” Key until the “Next” Button is reached and press the “Space Bar” to activate it.

JAWS will now announce the screen caption “your profile is being created”. A pause will then ensue of approximately 30 seconds duration while the initial Voice Profile is created.

You are now presented with a summary screen describing the steps which will now take place to transfer your audio to the computer and to create the Profile.

Now press the “Tab” Key until the “Next” Button is reached and press the “Space Bar” to activate it.

You now need to select a passage of text for reading. In view of the challenges ahead which we will describe shortly, we would suggest that the passage you select from the list contains very easy and straightforward language. We recommend “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” which is the third item down. Press “Down Arrow” to reach this item and then press “Tab” once to reach the “View” Button. Press the “space Bar”.

You are now taken into an Edit Field containing the text of the passage you need to read into your chosen recorder.

Reading the Training Text into a Portable Recorder

Reading the training text with which you are now faced is by far the most challenging exercise you will encounter when working with such a device. You need to provide Dragon NaturallySpeaking and J-Dictate with at least four minutes of continuous audio so that your voice Profile can be created. How you do this will depend upon a number of factors:

1. By far the easiest way and the method which is going to produce the highest overall reproduction is if you can fluently read the text in Braille. If you have a Braille display attached to your computer, you can read it from the Edit Field which is now in focus. Ensure prior to switching on the recorder and reading that you are sitting upright with a good posture but relaxed. If you do not have a Braille display, but you have a Braille embosser or perhaps a “note-taker” with a Braille display, select and copy all of the text from this window and paste it into a document within a text editor or Microsoft Word. Save the file and create a hard copy of the passage or transfer it to your “note-taker”.

2. You could listen to a segment of the text delivered by the JAWS software through headphones attached to your computer, and speak the text into the recorder simultaneously.

3. If you have enough vision to read printed text for a short period, you may care to transfer the text into Microsoft Word and print it for reading. Transferring the text into a Microsoft Word document will give you the opportunity of adjusting it to your preferred font style and size.

4. As a last resort, you could listen to a segment of the text, switch on the recorder, speak it, pause the recording, listen to the next segment, and repeat as necessary. This process could however take some time, but if working with a Trainer, the same method can be used but this time the Trainer will announce the text for you.

When the recorder has captured at least four minutes of audio, switch the recorder off and probably using Windows Explorer, copy the resulting file into a suitable location on your computer.

Creating a Voice Profile for Use with an Audio Recorder Continued

1. From the editable window containing the training text passage, press “Tab” once to the “Close” Button and press “Space Bar”.

2. Press “Tab” repeatedly to reach the “Next” Button and press “Space Bar”.

3. You are now requested to select the file containing the text you read. The exact path of the file can be entered into the edit Field which is in focus or a “Browse” Button can be accessed by pressing “Tab” and then “Space Bar” to activate the Button. Please remember if browsing to select the appropriate file format used by the recorder in the “Files of Type” Combo Box within this Dialog, such as .MP3 or .Wav. Select the file and once done press “Tab” repeatedly to reach the “Next” Button and press “Space Bar”.

4. You now have an opportunity of checking that the file being used for adaptation is what you had in mind. Press “Tab” once to reach the “Listen” Button and press “Space Bar”. A small fragment of the file will be played back to you. If you are satisfied that this is indeed the correct file, press “Tab” repeatedly to reach the “Next” Button and press “Space Bar”.

5. Press “Space Bar” on the “Start Adapting” Button now in focus. The Profile will be created. This could take from just a few minutes to over an hour.

6. When the adaptation process has completed, press the “Tab” Key until you reach the “Next” Button, then press “Space Bar” to activate the Button.

The process of setting up the profile is now complete. The next screen contains a “Finish” Button on which you should press the “Space Bar”.

Transcribing Audio into Text

Having now created and customised the new voice Profile relative to the audio recorder if you have elected to do this, you should create a new file on the recorder and carry out some basic dictation. We will not give you specific text to dictate as by this point you should be very familiar with using J-Dictate technology.

Having dictated the text, observing the guidance notes set out above regarding speed and clarity, stop the recorder and transfer the file to the computer. Take a mental note of where you have placed the file on the computer’s hard disk because in a short while you are going to need to recall it.

Now start Dragon using the shortcut on the Windows Desktop or Start Menu. After a short pause, (if multiple Profiles exist), J-Dictate will announce that you have a number of voice Profiles installed and to use the “Up/Down Arrow” keys to locate the Profile you wish to use and then press “Enter”. Locate the Profile for the audio recorder and press “Enter”. After a short pause you will be advised that “the computer is ready for you to talk to it”.

Launch the application into which you wish your text to be transcribed. This could be a Microsoft Word document or the body of an Email message within Microsoft Outlook. Ensure that the cursor is positioned at the precise point where the text should be transcribed.

Press “ALT+Windows+T”. This provides J-Dictate with the name of the window into which the text should be transcribed and it will be confirmed through speech and Braille.

Press “Control+Shift+F12” to launch the Dragon menu system, select “Tools” by pressing “T” and then “T” for “Transcribe Recording”.

You are now in the “Transcribe Recording” Dialog Box containing a number of Controls.

First, you are presented with a number of Links and Radio Buttons. Press “Tab” until you reach the Radio Buttons.

Press the “Down Arrow” key to focus upon the item “Let me choose the window”. This setting will be remembered from this point forward every time you transcribe text. Indeed you will notice in this Dialog Box there is a Check Box so as not to show this screen again. It may be useful to check this box by pressing the “Space Bar”.

Press “Tab” until you reach the “Next” Button and then press the “Space Bar”.

Next is displayed an Edit Field requesting the name of the full path of the file to be used for the Audio Transcription including the drive and folder location. Some recorders give the recorded files long complicated names which are not easy to type, so you may like to take advantage of the “Browse” Button by pressing “ALT+B”.

Use the resulting Dialog Box to locate the file for Audio Transcription. It is useful if you can always transfer your recorded files into the same folder since the “Browse” dialog retains the last folder used.

Simply then press “Down Arrow” to the required note and press the “Enter” key.

However the file has been entered, you can if you wish examine the contents of the file name Edit Field, which should now be populated with the file name you wish to use for the Audio Transcription.

We are now ready to commence Audio Transcription. Press “Shift+Tab” to reach the “Transcribe” Button and press “Space Bar”. Alternatively, from anywhere in this new Dialog Box, press “ALT+T”.

The text window you previously stored as the transcription edit window by pressing “ALT+Windows+T” will be automatically located and the Audio Transcription will begin. Periodically, you will hear a sound play as it is transcribed which is a good indicator that things are progressing as they should be and in this way you can effectively monitor when the transcription has concluded.

Improving and Using the Voice Profile

There are a number of things you can do either during dictation or afterwards in order to improve the recognition accuracy and your dictation experience when using Audio Transcription.

• Proof read your transcribed text. When using J-Dictate technology, whether you are composing a document or email message we would always recommend that the text is thoroughly proof read by using the standard screen-reading and review commands. When using Audio Transcription proof reading is even more important. When the Transcription is completed, the cursor will be at the end of the text, so press “Control+Home” to move to the top and then review it carefully, preferably in a controlled way with the “Arrow” keys.

• Educate the Profile. If errors have occurred, select (or highlight) the text containing the error. Rather than selecting the incorrect word only, it may be helpful to select a word or two either side of the incorrectly recognised word so as to select an entire phrase for best results. Once done, press “F10” to deploy the “Correction Box”, locate the incorrectly recognised word with the “Arrow” keys and correct as necessary. Finally, press “Enter” to dismiss the “Correction Box”.

• Use the recorder consistently. If you use the recording device's built-in microphone, always hold the device at the same distance from your mouth. Some users rest the device on their jaw for the most consistent results.

• Use the “Pause” function. Make good use of your recorder’s “pause” function. When using J-Dictate ordinarily, if you are unsure what to say at any point you would place the microphone into a passive condition. This cannot be done with a portable recorder so use the “Pause” function instead. When you are ready to begin dictating again, release the “Pause” control and speak into the microphone.

• Resume your dictation. With many recorders, it is not possible to edit your dictated notes. Therefore, the

“Resume With”

command may be helpful.

The

“Resume With”

command gives you the ability to go back to a particular word and re-dictate from that point. To do this, pause briefly while dictating and say

“Resume With”

followed by the word or phrase you wish to return to. For example, when you are dictating the sentence:

"Enclosed are the books that you requested",

to replace the words after "books", say

"Resume With books and CD’s that you ordered.”

Then continue to dictate the remainder of the text.

Backing Up Speech Files

Introduction

Each time you use the computer with J-Dictate, especially if you educate the technology concerning how you pronounce different words and phrases, your voice profile you initially created when speaking the enrolment training text is improving. At a later date, you may create a number of sets of speech files/voice profiles for different situations and we will describe how to do this later.

As time goes by, your voice profiles will develop and provide you with ever increasing voice recognition accuracy. For this reason it is crucial to ensure that you regularly back-up your voice profiles in case they become corrupt or problems occur with the software on the computer.

Within J-Dictate we have provided a tool which makes the backing-up of all the speech files a simple and intuitive process.

Backing-Up Speech Files to the Computer’s Hard Disk (Drive “C”)

This method of back-up allows you to make a copy of your speech files to the computer’s local hard disk often referred to as drive “C”.

To back-up your speech files, please follow these steps:

1. Press “ALT+Windows+H”. The J-Dictate help system appears.

2. Press the “Down Arrow” key repeatedly until the Link “Backup voice profile to drive “C” is selected, Then press Enter.

3. The back-up process begins and may take a few seconds. JAWS will be unresponsive at this stage. When the back-up process is complete you will be advised of this.

Backing Up Speech Files to a Selected Drive

While backing up your speech files to drive “C” on the computer can be useful and is easy to do, it is possible that you would wish to make a copy of them to a selected network drive or USB memory storage device. Adopting this procedure, at least from time to time, will give you peace of mind since if the computer hard disk fails; you have an external permanent copy of the files for later restoration.

To back-up your speech files to a selected drive using the keyboard, please follow these steps:

1. Press “ALT+Windows+H”. The J-Dictate help system appears.

2. Select the link entitled Backup voice profile to selected drive.” When it has been selected by pressing “Down Arrow” repeatedly, press “Enter”.

3. An Edit Field appears with a prompt requesting that you enter the drive letter to which there is attached a storage device or hard disk ready to receive the files, such as the letter “E” or “F”. Alternatively, a full path pointing to a folder can be typed here, such as “E:\temp”.

4. Once this is typed press the “Enter” key.

The back-up process begins and may take a few seconds. JAWS will be unresponsive at this stage. When the process is complete you will be advised of this.

Towards the end of this book, we will discuss restoring your speech files back to the point when they were last backed up, however this in most circumstances is unnecessary.

More about Voice Profiles

Introduction

It may seem quite some time ago when you undertook the initial training, where you spoke a passage of text into the microphone. This took place during the installation and configuration of your J-Dictate software. This is known as creating a Voice Profile or a set of speech files.

It is possible to create more than one set of speech files which you may wish to do for several reasons. For example, you may wish to have more than one voice profile to accommodate two separate microphones, or perhaps due to a disability your delivery of speech may change as the day progresses. Creating two voice profiles would assist in this regard.

If you have multiple voice profiles installed on your computer, when the J-Dictate software launches it will detect that a number of profiles exist on the machine and you are prompted to use the “Up/Down Arrow” Keys to move through them. Each profile will have a name which you have assigned to it when it was created.

When the desired profile gains focus, the Enter Key should be pressed and the appropriate speech files will load. Once done, you will hear the words

“The computer is ready for you to talk to it”.

Creating a New Voice Profile

To create a new voice profile:

1. Press “Control+Shift+F12” to bring into view the Dragon NaturallySpeaking menu system.

2. Use the “Down Arrow” Key to move to the “Profile” menu item and press “Enter”.

3. Use the “Down Arrow” Key to locate the “New User Profile” menu item and press “Enter”.

You are now ready to create the new voice profile and you should consult the J-Dictate “Installation Guide” for precise instructions about how to do this as you are now focused within the Dragon NaturallySpeaking “New User Wizard”.

Restoring Voice Profiles

There may be a small number of occasions when the voice profile or profiles need to be restored back to a time when they were previously backed up. For example, if the software is completely unusable due to a computer failure.

Should such an event occur, it is strongly recommended that you contact your J-Dictate supplier for advice and guidance concerning restoring the speech files. However, should you wish to go ahead and restore the files to a previous backed up instance, please adopt any one of the following procedures:

Restoring Speech Files from Drive “C”

1. Ensure Dragon NaturallySpeaking is closed down.

2. Press “ALT+Windows+H”. The J-Dictate help system appears.

3. Select the Link entitled “Restore voice profile from drive C.“ You can do this by pressing “Down Arrow” to reach it, and then press “Enter”.

4. The restore process will now begin and could take a few seconds. JAWS will be unresponsive at this stage. You will be advised when the process is complete.

Restoring Speech Files from a Selected Drive

1. Ensure Dragon NaturallySpeaking is closed down.

2. Press “ALT+Windows+H”. The J-Dictate help system appears.

3. Select the Link entitled “Restore voice profile from selected drive.” You can do this by pressing “Down Arrow” repeatedly to reach the Link, and then press “Enter”.

4. Type the letter of the drive where your back-up files are located and then press Enter. If the back-up is located in a folder, please type the path to that instead.

5. The restore process will now begin and could take a few seconds. JAWS will be unresponsive at this stage. You will be advised when the process is complete.

Final Note

Should you need to completely re-install your Dragon NaturallySpeaking related applications and wish to restore your copied speech files please contact your J-Dictate supplier for help and support.

Useful J-Dictate and Dragon NaturallySpeaking Keystrokes

The following is a list of all the keystrokes discussed in this document.

|Keystroke |Description |

|“ALT+Windows+H” |Brings into view J-Dictate Help. |

|“ALT+Windows+F11” |Activates and deactivates the microphone. |

|“ALT+Windows+M” |Verifies the microphone status. |

|“ALT+Control+E” |Rotates between the various Echo Back modes. |

|“ALT+Control+C” |Reads correction choices if text is selected. |

|“ALT+Windows+W” |Allows you to create a Text Note. |

|“Control+Shift+F12” |Activates the Dragon Bar menu. |

|“F10” |Activates the Correction Box. |

|“ALT+Control+F10” |Activates the Dictation Box. |

|“ALT+Windows+T” |Sets the audio transcription edit window. |

|“ALT+T” |Begins audio transcription. |

|“Grave Accent” |Provides spoken assistance when creating a new Voice Profile in |

| |Dragon NaturallySpeaking. |

|“ALT+Windows+N” |Creates a voice command for mentioning a Twitter user. |

|“ALT+Windows+D” |Creates a voice command for sending a direct message to a Twitter|

| |user. |

Should you wish to change any of the global keystrokes from the JAWS Keyboard Manager, please refer to the below items.

• ToggleMicrophone.

• Microphone Status.

• ToggleDictationEcho.

• SayCorrections.

• StoreTranscriptionWindow.

• LaunchMyWords.

• ImportMyWords.

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