Version 13 End-User Workbook Note: Closing all programs before installing is recommended. For the latest documentation, please see www.nuance.com: The Quick Card includes important notes about installing Dragon and connecting your microphone, as well as reference tables for punctuation and other special characters, numeric data, and commands. Another important resource is the User Guide, which covers installation. Copyright 2014 Nuance Communications, Inc.
End-User Workbook (Revision 0 -- July 2014) Unless indicated otherwise, the material in this workbook applies to all editions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and the screenshots are from the Professional edition. This workbook assumes that Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 is now installed on your PC. For details on the installation process, please see the User Guide on www.nuance.com/dragon.
Goals and Prerequisites Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets you speak naturally to perform actions such as creating or editing documents, using e-mail, finding online maps, news, images, and more. By reducing keyboard and mouse usage, you can gain productivity AND avoid physical strain (on wrists, shoulders, neck, eyes…) “Speaking to” your computer may feel strange at first. Be patient with yourself! This workbook aims to efficiently present what an end-user should know.
Table of Contents Goals and Prerequisites ............................................................................................................................................. v Efficiency and hands-free usage .............................................................................................................................. v Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................................................
New line and new paragraph .................................................................................................................................. 33 The Results Display and its options ....................................................................................................................... 34 Dictating Prices, Units, Dates, Times, Addresses… ...............................................................................................
Accessing a specific item on a Web page ............................................................................................................ 70 Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking for E-mail ............................................................................................................ 72 Shortcut commands..................................................................................................................................................
Getting Started and Creating a Profile Dragon NaturallySpeaking is speaker-dependent software. It relies on information specific to you, including what words and phrases you use often, how you sound, what audio device you use, and what software settings you have. It stores this data in a set of files, referred to collectively as your “user profile” or just “profile.” Each person who uses Dragon must have his or her own profile. Your profile is very important.
If you want to test your microphone independently of Dragon, you can use Sound Recorder, a Windows accessory (accessible from the Start menu in Windows 7, and the Start screen in Windows 8). You may also wish to check the audio settings at the level of Windows: see the “Recording devices” section of the Control Panel. (In the example illustrated here, both Bluetooth and USB are available.) This is accessible by right-clicking the loudspeaker icon on the System Tray.
Dragon’s Upgrade Wizard can automatically detect eligible profiles present on your computer. (This wizard is available any time from the Windows Start menu or Start screen, under Dragon NaturallySpeaking Tools.) Use its Remove button as needed so that only the desired one(s) appear. If a profile you want is not in the list (for example because it is on an external disk), use the Browse button to designate it. Once the list contains only the profile(s) you wish to upgrade now, click Next.
The wizard gives you an opportunity to choose from a number of broad accents. If unsure which accent to pick, see the Help. Note: Dragon will later adapt to the sound of your voice, as you dictate more and more and run the Accuracy Tuning process. Step 3: On the next screen, indicate which type of audio source you are about to use. Note: even in editions that support transcribing recordings (Premium and higher), we suggest starting with a microphone source type.
The Help and the Nuance website contain details for special audio sources such as Bluetooth wireless or the Dragon Remote Microphone app for iOS and Android devices (source available in editions Home and higher in Dragon 13). The Hardware Compatibility List on the Nuance website contains specifics such as the recommended settings for a particular model of microphone or recorder.
Dragon’s transcription feature (available in editions Premium and higher) can be particularly useful to exploit what you dictate while observing something (such as during a field inspection) or after an event (such as a meeting or a class). Once you have set up your profile for transcription use, you can use Dragon to transcribe your spoken recordings.
Step 4: The next step is the microphone check. Read the boxed text in a clear voice, the way you plan to speak when working with Dragon. Here, punctuation is recommended but not required. When Dragon lets you know it has heard enough, click Next. It’s best to read the boxed text exactly as it is written. However, if you cannot read it, feel free to speak some sentences of your choice for about 30 seconds. Dragon then verifies that your sound system is acceptable for speech recognition.
Now that your profile is created, we encourage you to explore Dragon’s options to suit your preferences, including changing numeric keypad hotkeys. (This is particularly relevant to laptop users, and people who like to use their numeric keypad for data entry.) This workbook’s lessons will progressively introduce you to options that most users should consider. Below are two of them.
Now that your profile is created, you could start dictating, but before you do, we recommend you take a look at the Help menu. Also, it’s a good idea to begin personalizing the Vocabulary as soon as possible, since this plays a crucial role in accuracy and efficiency. Note: If you’ve used a previous version of Dragon, we suggest you read the What’s New. Copyright 2014 Nuance Communications, Inc.
Key points about getting started with Dragon Each person who wants to use Dragon must have his or her own profile. Creating one is a short process guided by a series of screens. Profiles from versions 11 and 10 can be upgraded with the Upgrade Wizard. (Important: After upgrading, launch Accuracy Tuning from the Audio menu). Make sure your microphone is properly connected and positioned, and the appropriate audio source is selected.
Learning More and Getting Help Dragon NaturallySpeaking offers so many tools, commands, and features that it would be impossible to cover them all in detail in this workbook. This lesson presents several ways to find more information as you start using the software—be sure to take advantage of the available resources! Please see the card that comes in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking box.
Another way to open the Help iby saying give me help. You can use the Help window’s Table of Contents, Index, and Search tabs. For instance, entering the word “punctuation” in the Search field brings up topics including “Dictating punctuation and symbols” and “Selecting characters and words.” Note: like in search engines, you can indicate phrases by putting quotation marks around them. From the Help window, you can also print articles of your choice or mark them as favorites.
Note: When the Interactive Tutorial opens, Dragon automatically turns off its microphone. In each lesson, you practice an important habit: turning the microphone on and off. While going through the simulations, you must speak just the current prompt and do so in one breath (without pausing within it). The User's Guides The latest User's Guide is available as a PDF on the Nuance website alongside the Quick Start Guide, the Bluetooth User Guide, and other resources.
Why Personalizing the Vocabulary is Essential Transcribing a person’s speech presents acoustic challenges, such as accent and ambient noise. There is also a lexical challenge: for the transcription to be precisely accurate, familiarity with the terms used is necessary.
Customizing the Vocabulary—Using the Vocabulary Editor Dragon’s Vocabulary Editor lets you view what can be transcribed from the computer’s active memory; it also allows you to add new entries, as well as edit existing entries—including their Spoken Forms and Properties. Let’s explore the Vocabulary Editor’s interface: Step 1: Say Edit Vocabulary (you can also use the DragonBar’s Vocabulary menu or the Accuracy Center).
CAUTION When adding an entry to the Vocabulary, be sure to spell and capitalize it correctly! Otherwise, it will appear misspelled in your documents every time you dictate it. Some of the "words" in the Vocabulary Editor aren't single words. Of course is listed. So is as well as.
products, trademarks, building names, as well as glossaries of terms and acronyms. Starting from such lists doesn’t just save time; it may also help add these items with their official, correct spelling! The importance of spoken forms Radio programs often tell their listeners “let us know how to pronounce your name” because some names could be pronounced in several ways and some are not pronounced “the way they are written” (due to silent letters, for instance). This is true for more than just names.
Written Form: The Man from U.N.C.L.E Spoken Form: the man from uncle Written Form: St. Clement's Hospital Spoken Form: Saint Clements Hospital Written Form: Soddy-Daisy, TN. Spoken Form: Soddy Daisy Tennessee Written Form: Trenton-Mercer Airport Spoken Form: Trenton Mercer Airport Adding Spoken Forms allows you to dictate in the way that is most natural, but also quickest for you.
In the Word Properties dialog box, you can also choose one or even two alternate written forms. For example, you may want: the spelling “organise” instead of “organize”, the spelling “email” instead of the hyphenated “e-mail”, the abbreviation “fig.” instead of the word “figure” just before numbers, as in “fig. 3”, the title Professor instead of its abbreviation. Note: in the Vocabulary Editor, entries whose properties were modified are marked with a “P” icon. Copyright 2014 Nuance Communications, Inc.
Key points about the Vocabulary Editor and Properties You can access the Vocabulary Editor with a command like edit vocabulary, through the Accuracy Center, or through the Vocabulary menu of the DragonBar. In the Vocabulary Editor, custom-added entries are marked with a red plus sign; choosing Custom Words Only from the Display drop-down list allows you to see just the custom entries. You can locate an item by entering it in the Search field (enter either the Written form or the Spoken form).
Importing Lists of Vocabulary Entries You now know how to add words and phrases one by one in the Vocabulary Editor. If you have many entries to add, this is not the most efficient method, particularly if you already have some relevant lists in electronic form. If available in your edition, you can use the import feature to add many Vocabulary entries at once, even if they have Spoken Forms. Observe the sample import list in the illustration below, and identify the motivation behind each entry.
Step 3: Say import custom words, or use the DragonBar’s Vocabulary menu to pick “Import list of words or phrases.” Step 4: On the resulting dialog box, click the Add File button. The Add File window appears. Locate the file containing your list and click Open; the name of the file you designated is now displayed in the File List. If you have other lists to import, add their files in the same way. Step 5: Click Next. The software will import the listed items into the Vocabulary.
Customizing the Vocabulary from Existing Documents You now know about importing lists of entries into the Vocabulary. Another efficient way to boost your accuracy is to let Dragon analyze text that is similar to what you are likely to dictate: the Add Words From Documents tool use many documents at once to “harvest” potential words to add to the Vocabulary, as well as to “adapt to the writing style” (i.e., learn frequency information).
Step 4: On the Add Documents box, click Add Document. On the resulting window, locate and select the relevant document(s), then click Open. Note: You can select multiple files at once by holding down the Ctrl key or by pressing Ctrl A (the Windows keyboard shortcut for “select all”). Dragon will now analyze the text contained in the designated documents. This may take a moment—if there is a lot of text to analyze, you should run this tool when you do NOT need to use Dragon for something else.
Once you click Next, Dragon gives you the option to provide acoustic training for the selected words. Feel free to take this opportunity to pronounce them, but know that you can skip this step and provide training later just for those words that seem to need it, as explained in this workbook and the Help.
Customizing the Vocabulary from Your E-Mail As you learned, Dragon can adapt its Vocabulary based on designated documents. It also has the ability to quickly learn from your usage of several e-mail programs: Lotus Notes, Microsoft Outlook, and Windows Mail, as well as Web-based email including Gmail, Outlook.com and Yahoo.
Key points about customizing the Vocabulary from e-mail: Dragon can quickly adapt its Vocabulary from your use of e-mail in Lotus Notes, Microsoft Outlook, , Windows Mail, or Web-based email thanks to a tool available in its Vocabulary menu and Accuracy Center. This tool performs two functions: it finds and lists potentially useful contact names to add, and it also analyzes your sent e-mails to “adapt to the writing style”, i.e. to refine the word usage information in the Vocabulary’s Language Model.
Starting to Dictate: Controlling the Microphone When ready to dictate, you must ensure that Dragon NaturallySpeaking is able to hear you. Your microphone must be connected and positioned correctly, and Dragon also needs to know whether to “listen.” This lesson shows ways to turn Dragon’s microphone or on off and introduces the DragonBar. Note: If you are using a Bluetooth microphone, make sure that it is not only powered up, but also active (that is, in “call mode”).
For more information, including using voice commands to switch the DragonBar in and out of “Tray Icon only”, see the Help. Remember that you can quickly search Dragon’s Help by voice by naming one or more search words or phrases, for example: “search Help for DragonBar display.” Copyright 2014 Nuance Communications, Inc.
The DragonBar includes several menus, a message area, and a microphone icon that you click to turn on and off. The microphone icon is also available in the system tray (on the Windows Taskbar, usually in the lower-right near the time display). TIP: You may want to check that your operating system does not hide Dragon’s tray icon among other icons. (The illustration below is from the Notification Area Icons section of the Control Panel in Windows 7.
Putting the microphone to sleep is useful when you need to put Dragon “on hold" for a moment. However, leaving it in that state for a long time is not recommended, so do turn the microphone off if you will not be dictating for a while (and are physically able to turn on the microphone manually.) Note: You can set Dragon to have the microphone asleep when your profile opens, waiting for your command to “wake up”, so that no manual action is needed to turn the microphone on.
Key points about controlling whether Dragon “listens” Dragon “listens” whenever its microphone is on. Remember to turn the microphone off (or put it into its sleeping state if appropriate) when you are not dictating, like before answering the phone, speaking to someone, or clearing your throat; this is a simple but important habit you should develop quickly.
Starting to Dictate: Your First Dictation You can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to dictate into virtually any Windows application. Further in this workbook, you will learn how to start programs by voice (but one doesn’t need to have started a program by voice in order to dictate into it.) What you dictate will be inserted wherever your insertion point (cursor) is located in your document.
The Results Display and its options Exercise 2: Study the following text sample then dictate it in a blank document. (Ignore any errors for now.) The more I use it, the software will adapt to the way I sound and the words I use.
“ open quote … ellipsis or dot dot dot ” close quote & ampersand or and sign ( open paren or open parenthesis -- dash ) close paren or close parenthesis - hyphen TIP: You don’t always have to say hyphens: thanks to its built-in Vocabulary, Dragon can automatically include hyphens in items such as 3-year-old, above-mentioned, after-tax, ad-libbed, ankle-length, anti-infective, as well as famous hyphenated names like Abdul-Jabbar.
Dictating Prices, Units, Dates, Times, Addresses… Dragon NaturallySpeaking follows spacing and capitalization rules: for example, it inserts a space after comma but none before, and it capitalizes at the beginning of sentences and paragraphs. In this lesson, you learn about contextual automatic formatting that allows you to naturally dictate prices, times, dates, abbreviations, contractions, units of measure, street addresses, e-mail addresses, URLs, ISO currency codes and other special text.
TIP By default, Dragon applies its automatic formatting rules even if you pause within the segment (the option “Allow pauses in formatted phrases” lets you turn this off.) If you need to dictate sequences of 7, 10 or 11 digits and do NOT want them formatted as phone numbers, one trick is to say “numeral” just before. Exercise 2: Dictate the following address.
Numbers Mode When you are about to dictate a sequence of numeric data, consider switching to Numbers Mode. When in this mode, the software tries to recognize everything it hears as number-related (or as a command). Step 1: Say numbers mode on or choose Numbers Mode from the DragonBar’s Modes menu. (Notice the status message in the DragonBar.) Now that Dragon is in Numbers mode, you can: dictate numbers and punctuation (hyphen, dollar sign…). For decimal point, say dot or point.
Exercise 7: Dictate “access code: 75Zq/7”, then practice with character sequences of your choice. (Pause briefly after the colon, then say “spell 7 5 cap zee cue slash 7”. Try to not pause at all during the sequence; if you paused, just resume by saying “spell” immediately followed by the rest of your sequence.
Correcting Dragon’s Errors in Your Dictated Text Human beings sometimes can’t recognize words correctly—especially if the speaker and the listener come from different regions, if the speaker is discussing an unfamiliar subject, or if the words are not well articulated. In addition, when we hear a word for the first time, we may not know how to spell it. Some people’s first or last names can be spelled different ways (like Gene/Jean, Hansen/Hanson).
IMPORTANT: In Dragon’s commands, represents the relevant segment on the screen (which could be more than one word and could include numbers or punctuation marks). When you give the ‘correct ’ command, be sure to say what appears on the screen, not what you had intended. Note that it can be useful to provide some context for the word(s) you intend to change: for instance, to correct "a" in the phrase "Carol sent a request," you may want to say “correct sent a” or "correct sent a request.
With this option set, saying commands that start with “correct” opens the Spelling Window. So does using the Correction button on the expanded DragonBar, or pressing the Correction hotkey (the numeric minus by default, as seen in the Options dialog). As you will see, there are many ways to indicate in the Spelling Window what should have been recognized—including typing, or spelling out individual characters, hence the name “Spelling Window.” Here is an example.
At its top is what was transcribed, and below is a list of alternate transcriptions, each preceded by a number. Here is what you can do: If what Dragon should have transcribed is listed: say choose n (the number of the correct line). You can also pick the correct choice by double-clicking it or using down arrow and Enter key. If no choice is quite correct but one is close, you can save time by modifying it instead of entering it yourself: click it, or say modify n or edit n.
Exercise 1: Look at the following sample, dictate it, then use the correct command to fix any errors. (This sample was designed to create errors! All the names here could be spelled in different ways.) Until further notice, the BHDP meeting will be held in room B31 (not B40). Special invitees this week: Stephen Hess, Anne Petersen, and Gene Wood. TIP: If several consecutive words are incorrect, correct them together.
The playback icons, similar to those on a music player, allow you to begin playback, speed up playback (useful for large sections of text), stop playback, and skip backwards or forward. The Transcribe button launches the transcription of recorded dictations (for details, see the video, FAQs, and other resources on our website, as well as the Help topics, including the Auto-Transcribe Folder Agent). The Extras toolbar is supported in the Classic DragonBar.
Key points about correcting recognition errors Refining your profile using the features gathered in the Accuracy Center can prevent many errors, because it helps Dragon become familiar with how you sound and what words and phrases you use often. Be sure to explore the Vocabulary Editor and add words and phrases (with Spoken Forms and/or Word Properties such as alternate forms, as warranted).
Editing Text by Voice Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets you use your voice to move around within a document and edit the contents— whether or not that document was originally created by voice. As you learned, the software transcribes your dictation wherever the insertion point is. (The insertion point is usually shown as a blinking vertical bar some call the cursor.) This lesson presents some of the commands to select text and move the insertion point. Mouse and keyboard can still be used, of course.
select line, select next 3 paragraphs, select previous 5 words, select next character… as well as select rest of line. Note: You can use similar commands to delete (delete line, delete next three words…) and copy (copy line, copy rest of line…) You can also select the entire content of the field or document with the command select all. You can “unselect” a selection by saying unselect that or deselect that. (Another way is to move the insertion point with a move right command, for instance.
Note: If these commands are enabled, Dragon will try to recognize as one of them any phrase starting with one of these verbs followed by a word (or words) present in the text: e.g. “bold measures” or “cut corners.” Since Dragon recognizes commands only if they are spoken as one flow between two pauses, this could happen if the phrase is said in isolation—for instance, if the speaker is creating a list or had just hesitated as one often does when composing out loud.
1. If dictating short entries, you may want to just use what does work in all text fields: dictate normally (most applications allow this) and, if and when necessary, say ‘spacebar’ (or press the spacebar), say ‘cap’ before a word to force its capitalization (you can also address capitalization after the fact), say ‘move ’ commands or reposition the insertion point by hand, etc. 2.
Replacing and inserting The select commands are very useful when you wish to change some of the text on your screen. As you would with mouse or keyboard, you select the relevant segment then you overwrite it by dictating or typing. For instance, if your text reads "100 Main Street" but you wish to change it to "500 Washington Street", say select 100 Main (pause) 500 Washington.
Say six o’clock The sentence should now read “We could meet at your office at 6:00.” 3) Say select in through next The segment “in the Boston area for a few days the week after next” is highlighted. Say in your area on Tuesday July fifteenth Let’s say we now want to add a few words inside this paragraph. 4) Notice the insertion point’s current position. Say insert after dinner, then say if you have time. 5) Say insert before exclamation mark (observe the move), then say comma I hope.
Key points about editing text You can use Dragon to edit a document by voice whether the document was dictated or typed. The editing commands can address small or large amounts of text, even several paragraphs or the entire document (select all). At first, uttering the whole command can be tricky for commands that quote words from your text, such as select… through… and insert before . As usual, deciding what you are going to say before starting to speak is recommended.
Formatting Text by Voice Whether text was originally dictated or typed, Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets you use your voice to control font (Arial, Courier…), font style (bold, underline…), font size, alignment (center, right-align…), color, and more. Note: In order to preserve your train of thought, it’s a good idea to prioritize dictation over formatting: first dictate your document (or at least finish dictating your paragraph, list, or idea), then revise your words if needed, and only then apply formatting.
Dragon also has two special commands for quotes and brackets: you can say "Empty Quotes," or "Empty Brackets" to have Dragon insert a pair of quotation marks or brackets so you can dictate something within them. TIP: The Command Browser’s Keyword Filter lets you explore additional command wordings for the application(s) you frequently use, as seen in this screenshot. For instance, in Word and WordPerfect, you can say “turn bullets on” and “turn bullets off” as well as “format that bulleted and bold.
format that 20 point, format that 12 point, etc. –- gives the selection to the point size specified format that bold italics format that caps bold format that bulleted and plain Exercise: Dictate the following to experiment with giving format commands as you dictate and afterwards. I’m pleased to say I finally read The Grapes of Wrath. It was TERRIFIC! Although it is quite long, I read it surprisingly quickly. TIP To undo the last action, say undo that.
Key points about formatting documents The “X that” commands apply to the current selection or, if there is no selection, to the last utterance (what was dictated since the speaker last paused). Remember to pause briefly before and after saying these commands.
Controlling the Operating System and Applications Dragon NaturallySpeaking can do much more than type and format your dictated text: it lets you use your voice to find information, open a specific website, start programs, open desktop items, switch between open windows, maximize or minimize windows, choose menu and submenu items, navigate dialog boxes, click buttons, press keys, move or drag the mouse pointer, and more.
Note: These Desktop search shortcuts, like the Web search shortcuts, can be disabled or enabled on the Commands tab of Dragon’s Options dialog. Their option also controls the Help search shortcut (“search Dragon Help for…”) Controlling programs and windows You can use your voice to open any item present on your desktop (including files, folders, and shortcuts): just say open followed by the item’s name. (You can also use the verbs start, launch or show.
Note: This works at any time, even if the desktop is not visible. This is a powerful feature, but if you don’t need it, consider disabling it. (See the checkbox on the Commands tab of the Options dialog.) Dragon has a similar option for Start menu items: you can start a program or other item that is in the Start menu by its name. For instance, start DragonPad, open Internet Explorer, start Notepad, start Paint, or start Windows Explorer. This works at any time, even if the Windows Start menu is not open.
“Clicking” menus, buttons and other interface controls To "click" on an application menu or submenu, just say its name preceded by the word “click” (or not depending on the option for menus—see below). For instance, for a menu labeled Insert, say Click Insert. (The application must have the focus, which you can usually tell by the appearance of its title bar.) When accessing a submenu, pause briefly after the name of the menu.
. TIP: By default, some Microsoft applications show only the most used menu items. For optimal voice usage, consider changing this default. (This may be located in the application’s Tools menu: open the Customize dialog and check the box “Always show full menus.”) In addition to menus, Windows program interfaces may contain controls such as buttons, checkboxes, tabs, and radio buttons. How do you access these by voice? You guessed it: “say what you see” (preceded by “click” if required).
This workbook presents several of Dragon’s dialog boxes, which often contain controls labeled Cancel, Yes, No, or OK. As you follow the instructions and perform the exercises in each chapter, you may wish to take the opportunity to practice accessing the controls by voice. Exercise 1: Previous lessons introduced you to the Options dialog box; we will use this dialog box to practice accessing buttons, tabs, and other interface controls. 1. Open Dragon’s Options dialog, then its View tab. 2.
that looks interesting, make sure it’s highlighted in the list then use the links on the Command Browser’s menu to show all its wordings (for instance, to include all optional words or to expand ellipses). IMPORTANT: If it detected that your PC’s resources would not allow it to perform with both speed and accuracy, Dragon may have disabled its Natural Language Command sets for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and WordPerfect.
Special considerations for Windows 8 In Windows 8, Microsoft introduced major changes for end-users compared to previous operating systems, but it offers an interface similar to the familiar desktop (minus its Start menu button). Applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel open in that “classic” interface. The Start menu of previous operating systems doesn’t exist in Windows 8, but equivalent functionality is provided by the Charms bar and the Start screen.
Key points about controlling your computer by voice At any time, no matter what is visible, you can open a Start menu or desktop item by saying start, launch, show or open immediately followed by the name of the item. These two powerful capabilities can each be disabled or enabled from the Options dialog. You can switch between windows with commands like switch to WordPad and list windows for Dragon.
Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking with the Internet What you can do on the Web with Dragon depends on what Web browser you are using. Some commands that are supported in Internet Explorer are not supported in Google Chrome. See the Command Browser for supported commands for each browser. This lesson introduces commands for typical Web-related actions, including shortcut commands. The Command Browser lists many more.
an institution or Web-based application: for example, you could say “open top site for Facebook” or “open top site for Nuance Communications.” Before these shortcut commands are executed, Dragon gives you a chance to edit the search string: it opens a small dialog box which lets you revise, replace, or augment your keywords. This lets you make your search commands very precise, which means you will find more quickly what you wanted.
Here is an illustration of Learning Center content for Internet Explorer, including commands specific to this Web browser. Navigating to and within a Web page (Internet Explorer) Say go to address to go to the address bar; after entering a URL, say go there or press Enter. Say go back or go forward to click the Back or Forward buttons; say go home to access the homepage. Say add to favorites to add the current site to the Favorites list. Say refresh page or reload page.
Accessing a specific item on a Web page These commands require the setting "Enable commands in HTML windows," which is on by default and can be found on the Commands tab of the Options dialog. IMPORTANT: Dragon is always looking to match what it hears to possible commands. For HTML windows, you can choose to require ‘click’, because saying a word or phrase in isolation may activate a link instead of being transcribed—see the Commands tab of the Options dialog. This option is on by default.
Say click text field or edit box to move the insertion point to the first text field on the screen. If you want to dictate into the next text field, you can say next control. Say click image to click on an image. (Note: on the Web, some items may be designed to look like text but are actually images.) Say click check box to select (or unselect) a check box. Say click radio button to select a radio button (round option button).
Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking for E-mail “Voice-typing” in itself is a great benefit for e-mail usage, but for certain e-mail applications, Dragon lets you do much more. This lesson introduces important commands and tips for using Dragon with e-mail, including shortcut commands and popular Web-based email programs.
Commands for your installed email program You can start your default e-mail program by saying Start mail.
move to To [field] move to CC | BCC [field] move to Subject | Body [field] Note: In these commands, the word “field” is optional, and you can substitute “go” for “move.”) Dragon has hundreds of mail-related commands. To find wordings for an action that interests you in a particular mail program, use the Command Browser: in its Browse mode, use the “Context” drop-down list to pick the program, then use “Keyword Filter” to enter one or more words related to that action.
Web-based email and the Dragon extension Whenever you use Dragon on the Web (whether for email or for something else), your experience will depend on several factors, including: The design of the particular web page at that time The particular settings in your browser and in the Web-based application What browser (and what version of that browser) you use. For example, you cannot use commands like “Go to Address Bar” with Google Chrome.
Navigate fields in any order In a new email, commands enable you to navigate the fields in any order (as opposed to tabbing from one field to the next). TIP: Regardless of this feature and Dragon, it’s prudent to leave the To field blank until you’re ready to send! (Also prudent is setting up some other protection, such as an automatic delay before the program actually sends.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Microsoft Word In “Controlling the Operating System and Applications”, you learned about Natural Language Commands. Since Microsoft Word is an application many people use, this chapter lists built-in commands for this word processor. Remember that if your system resources are low, enabling Natural Language Commands could decrease Dragon’s speed.
Find a word. Find and replace. Set page orientation to Landscape Print pages 3 to 7. Print the selection. Print [this] page View page layout. Change view to print layout. Zoom to 50 percent. Zoom to full page. Change zoom to page width Set page width to 8 inches Show|Hide paragraph marks Double-space the document.
Note for WordPad users: In Windows 7, WordPad has an unnamed button instead of a File menu. To click it, you can say “click application menu”. Copyright 2014 Nuance Communications, Inc.
Dictating and editing in Microsoft Excel You can use Dragon to dictate and edit content into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Many Excel-specific commands are built into the higher editions; the Learning Center shows some, and the Command Browser lets you discover the full set. In addition, the Help describes commands to fill or hide rows or columns, sort, sum or average values, widen columns, and more (see Help example below.
Full Edit: To edit the existing contents of a cell. Select the cell and say "Edit Cell" or "Press F2" to open the cell for editing; the insertion point is automatically placed at the end of the cell. As you dictate, the background changes to blue. Commands such as "New Line" operate within the cell. TIP: To quickly enter a predictable series of values, such as days or months, you can use commands such as “Monday through Friday across” or “July through December down.
Now let’s practice entering numeric data rapidly into a row. Step 1: Say move to cell B16 or move to cell Bravo 16 to move to the Breakfast row. Dictate a numeric value such as six dollars and fifty cents. Step 2: Say move right one to move to the next Breakfast entry. Fill in the rest of the row. Key points about editing cells in Excel You can navigate between cells using absolute commands such as move to cell A1 or relative movement commands such as move up one, move right two, etc.
Boosting Productivity with Custom Commands In previous lessons, you learned various built-in voice commands to perform actions such as formatting text, searching the Internet, creating a new e-mail, creating a new appointment… The higher editions of Dragon also allow the creation of custom commands. There are several types of custom commands; this workbook presents the “Text-and-Graphics” type, which allows you to define boilerplate for Dragon to paste wherever you utter the command.
Step 5: In the Content field, enter what you want Dragon to paste when you say your command. (You may find it helpful to enlarge or even maximize the Editor’s window so that a larger Content field is visible.) TIP: If the text you want already exists in electronic form, you can save time: highlight the desired segment in the original document, then say “make that a command”. Dragon will automatically open the Editor and paste the selection in the Content field.
Optional: If desired, format the text entered in the Content field: you can use the buttons (bold, left-align, center…) below it. Clicking the Aa button opens the Font window, where you can choose the desired font style, size, color, etc. TIP: In cases where you want the content to match the formatting of what preceded it in your document, check the Plain Text checkbox (see the bottom right of the MyCommands Editor).
To create a field in a command’s Content box, click the Variable button at the bottom of the MyCommands Editor. By default, each field appears between square brackets as "[default value]". (If you prefer delimiters other than square brackets, you can indicate that in the Commands tab of the Options dialog.) After saying the command name, which pastes the “DragonTemplate”, you can: type or dictate a specific value in each placeholder —> The placeholder is overwritten, and delimiters are removed.
Step 6: With your command highlighted, click Edit in the Task pane (or use the Script menu). The MyCommands Editor will open, displaying the command’s attributes and content; you can now edit the command as desired. Remember: the Description field is useful for entering comments such as where and when the command should be used, or reminders like “make variations of this ASAP” or “change this after we move”.
Key points about custom commands In the higher editions, you can quickly create custom commands to insert blocks of text and/or graphics in your documents. This is done in the tool MyCommands Editor, which you can bring up by saying add new command. If the boilerplate text already exists in an electronic document, you can copy and paste it into the MyCommands Editor’s Content box, or say make that a shortcut.
Performing Audio Checks and Acoustic Training As described earlier, personalizing Dragon’s vocabulary is a small investment of time that makes a big difference in how accurately the software can work for you. In addition, when misrecognitions do happen, using proper correction technique allows Dragon to learn from its mistakes. In certain cases, you may also want to perform acoustic training to improve accuracy.
Step 1: In the Vocabulary Editor, locate the word you wish to train by entering it in the Written Form field. (If you have just added the word, this will not be necessary, as the word will already be displayed at the top of the list.) Step 2: Click the word in the list so it is highlighted, then say or click Train. The Train Words window opens.
Key points about acoustic training In general, the best thing you can do to make Dragon recognize your speech even better is to use the software regularly, personalizing the Vocabulary (editing Spoken Forms or Word Properties as warranted, designating specific documents for Dragon to analyze, running or scheduling the Accuracy Tuning process…) and correcting misrecognitions as warranted.
Using Multiple Vocabularies (editions Professional and up) Every Dragon NaturallySpeaking user automatically has at least one Vocabulary. Editions Professional and above, allow you to have several Vocabularies. The advantage of having several Vocabularies is being able to customize each one to perform best for very different topics or styles of dictation. (It is relatively rare for a person to need more than three or four.
Step 3: Dragon will then offer to perform a basic adaptation of this new vocabulary based on documents found on your computer, or sent emails (this is similar to what Dragon offers when you create a profile).. This automatic process may take a while, and is not as powerful and targeted as the other vocabulary tools. You can choose Cancel, then customize your new vocabulary using what you learned in previous lessons.
Opening a Vocabulary During your dictation session, you will be able to switch to a different Vocabulary, by saying open recent vocabulary, for instance. If you have multiple Vocabularies for the same profile, this will be reflected in the Open User Profile window, which will appear when you start Dragon. The Open User Profile window also shows the different dictation source(s) that may be available for the User profile(s) present on your computer.
Key points about multiple Vocabularies If you dictate on two or more very different topics, using different customized Vocabularies will maximize your recognition accuracy (in supported editions). Each Vocabulary can be customized using the tools in the Accuracy Center—adapting to documents you designate, for instance. If you have several Vocabularies, you will be prompted to choose one when you start Dragon.
Acoustic and Language Model Optimization Vocabulary customization and proper correction of recognition errors both help Dragon recognize your dictations more accurately. “Accuracy Tuning” is a functionality you can use to further “tune” your profile’s accuracy for your specific usage. It has two aspects: It can refine your User profile using the latest acoustic data archived from any corrections and acoustic training you performed.
Step 2: Check the checkbox for Acoustic Optimization and/or Language Model Optimization as desired, then click Go. Note: Language Model optimization is typically much faster than Acoustic Optimization. Scheduling optimization and Data Collection For convenience, Dragon lets you schedule a specific time and frequency for these optimizations.
In addition to Accuracy Tuning, Dragon allows you to enable and schedule another periodic task: the automatic sending of anonymous data on your usage of Dragon (such as which optional settings you have, which commands you use often, how often you make corrections, which language you use, which processor is on your computer, what version and edition of Dragon you have), over the Internet. This Data Collection option helps Copyright 2014 Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance’s Research & Development team learn what customers around the world need, in order to improve future releases of Dragon. You can choose to disable or enable it at any time. The Data tab of the Options dialog. Note that it includes the setting for the frequency at which Dragon makes a backup of your profile (by default, Dragon does it every five times your profile is saved). Copyright 2014 Nuance Communications, Inc.
Key points about optimization Acoustic and Language Model Optimization can automatically “tune” your profile by “reviewing” the acoustic data and/or text data it has gathered from your usage of Dragon so far. Optimization can be launched at any time from the DragonBar’s Audio menu or the Accuracy Center. It can also be scheduled, so that Dragon performs it at a specific frequency and time. Language Model optimization is typically very fast. You can schedule it to run daily.
Renaming, Deleting, Copying or Transferring a Profile As you learned, each person who uses Dragon NaturallySpeaking creates a User profile, which the software holds in a set of files that contains, among other things, acoustic and lexical data. When you add a personalization to the Vocabulary (spoken form, alternate written form, capitalization property…), correct a recognition error, read a training text, or change an option, Dragon can save these changes in the open profile.
Key points about exporting and copying a profile In editions Premium and above, exporting and importing profiles is done through the Manage User Profiles dialog box—available through the DragonBar’s Profile menu or by saying manage user profiles. You must export the profile from the original computer, then import it to the recipient computer.
Practice Exercise: Creating a Memo by Voice Open DragonPad or another supported word processor. Using your new dictation and formatting skills, try to create the following document entirely by voice. After you have created the sample signature block shown in the sample below, replace it with your own signature information. Take this opportunity to practice looking up keywords in the Help to find out more ways to accomplish a particular task.
What’s New in Version 13.0? Web experience The Dragon Web extension now gives Full Text Control in Chrome and Firefox as well as in Internet Explorer, in most websites. In order to use Dragon in the supported browsers, you must enable this add-on. Note: There are some differences in functionality between browsers. When you are in Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome, see the Learning Center for commands you might want to say, as well as tips.
Web navigation and use of Web-based email. It is automatically presented at the end of the profile upgrade as well as after a new profile is created. Note: In the simulations that contain the punctuation “period” one can use the pronunciation “full stop” instead. Shorter Profile Creation Process For the first profile, the profile creation wizard simply assigns the profile a name rather than asking you to enter a name (if you want to rename the profile later, use the Manage Profiles dialog).
What’s New in Version 12.0? Here is a list of changes and additions compared to Dragon11.5. If you are upgrading from a previous release, please see also What's New in Dragon 11 and What's new in Dragon 11.5. Options to require "Click": Now saying "Click" is required for everything, by default By default, as it does for hyperlinks, Dragon now requires you to say "Click
Rich Internet Application support: enhanced experience for Gmail and Hotmail In addition to its existing functionality for Web browsers, Dragon 12 includes browser extensions—also known as plug-ins or add-ons—for two popular Web-based applications: Gmail and Hotmail. In these two Rich Internet Applications, the Dragon extensions give you Full Text Control in text fields and enable spoken commands for important tasks (excluding sending). In Dragon 12.
Disable command functionality: Dragon has many powerful command capabilities which you can choose to turn off if and when you don’t need them. (This can be particularly helpful for beginners or anyone who sometimes wishes to focus on producing text.) Turning off these options can help avoid unintended actions, such as clicking a button in your email program. To turn off the ability to open Start menu and Desktop items even when they are not visible: go to Tools > Options > Commands.
Note: Language Model Optimization is much quicker than Acoustic Optimization because the data it processes is just text. State-of-the-art speech model for powerful PCs: If yours is a powerful PC with two or more processors, Dragon automatically selects the BestMatch V, its latest and greatest speech model, when you create your user profile.
the tips in either direction. Note that until you use the Next button, Dragon will present the same tip each time the window opens. DragonBar minimized in the System Tray: If you like to keep the DragonBar minimized as a Tray Icon only, now you can display its content by voice command as well by right-clicking the icon. Just say "Open Dragon’s tray menu.
Note: If you are upgrading a user profile for use with a 16 kHz Bluetooth microphone, you must add the microphone to the profile as a new audio source. (Professional and above only) Exporting custom words with their properties: When you export your custom words (for safe-keeping or for use in other user profiles), you can choose XML as the output format instead of txt, so that Word Properties (such as special spacing or spelling) will be included.
What’s New in Version 11.5? If upgrading from a version prior to Dragon 11, please also see What's New in Dragon 11, below. Reminder: The Feature Matrix, available on the Nuance website, lists the feature differences between the editions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Improved User Profile Upgrade wizard: The wizard makes it easier to see how many profiles will be updated.
Customer Service and Support. Updated application support: Internet Explorer 9 commands are added for using the One Box (which combines Web address entry and the search box) and for pinning shortcuts to Web pages to the Windows Start menu. After Dragon 11 introduced support for OpenOffice.org Writer 3.1 and 3.2, Dragon 11.5 extends that support to 3.3. Earlier versions of Dragon introduced support for Windows Live Mail 2009. Dragon 11.
Help (includes Accuracy Center) Help Note: To access the DragonBar menus by voice, say "Switch to DragonBar" then the menu name. Once a menu is open, you can open any of its items by saying its name. Dragon's control menu, accessible by clicking the Dragon logo to the left of the microphone icon, provides clearer choices (Docked to Bottom, Floating…) and direct access to the Dragon Options. The former "Close" choice is now labeled "Exit Dragon." Copyright 2014 Nuance Communications, Inc.
New Results Display, and the former Results Box When dictating, there’s no need to wait for Dragon to “catch up” with you — dictating in long phrases allows Dragon to transcribe more accurately than dictating slowly and with numerous hesitations. As you speak, Dragon 11 indicates that it is processing by displaying a small Dragon logo at your insertion point, and when you pause, your dictated words appear in your document.
Also, to shorten the list of commands displayed for specific contexts, Global Commands are omitted by default. You can easily include them in the list by selecting the check box for "Include Global" on the Command Browser toolbar. Improved recognition when multiple processors are available Dragon now automatically detects computers with multiple processors and at least 2 GB of RAM, improving recognition by working with this hardware. See Advanced - Choose Models for details about Advanced settings.
Index abbreviation, 22 Office 2007, 66 accents, 3, 16 Options, 38, 39, 40, 41, 49, 51, 56, 57, 60, 65, 67, 68, 73, 75, Accuracy Tuning, 7, 94, 98, 99, 100, 102 Options dialog, 9, 12, 32, 35, 40, 46, 49, 109 Acoustic Optimization, 7, 99 Outlook, 30, 31, 69, 75, 77 acronyms, iii, 16, 18 paren, 39 audio system event, 2 pause, 36, 37, 38, 42, 44, 50, 55, 58, 59, 61, 63, 66, 88 backup, 101, 109 phone number, 41, 42, 44 Boilerplate Commands, 86, 88 punctuation, 5, 6, 13, 19, 20, 24, 37, 39, 43, 44, 46, 54, 55
Copyright 2014 Nuance Communications, Inc.
