13.0

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.

Important options

After you create your profile, Dragon presents a special message if it determined that your computer’s

characteristics wouldn’t allow optimal performance. This message informs you that Dragon has adjusted the

defaults for two of its options as follows:

 The Speed versus Accuracy slider was moved toward speed.

 The Natural Language Commands for Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Corel WordPerfect

were disabled. (The lesson “Controlling your Desktop and Applications” addresses these large sets of

flexible commands. Note: not all editions and languages of Dragon contain these commands.)

Later, you can reverse these changes through Dragon’s Options dialog, depending on your particular needs: you

can enable or disable the Natural Language Commands for any of these four applications individually, and you

can experiment with various settings of the Speed-versus-Accuracy slider.

Note: Other options on the Miscellaneous tab include having Dragon start in its sleep state (useful for persons

who cannot use their hands), as well as disabling the “tracking” of menus, buttons and other interface elements or

disabling the automatic opening of the Dictation Box where Dragon does not have Full Text Control (for example

in PowerPoint or Emacs). Details about these important concepts are accessible from the DragonBar’s Help

menu.

The Help includes suggestions for optimizing Dragon’s performance on your computer. For instance, you can

choose to disable the ability to open items from the Start menu or the desktop at any time, even if they are not

visible. You can also choose to disable the shortcut commands for Facebook and Twitter, and shortcut

commands to create new emails, tasks or appointments.