1.2

7 MacSpeech DictateChapter 1 — Introduction
Speech Mode Indicator
The speech mode indicator text in the top right of the status
window tells you MacSpeech Dictate’s current mode. It will
say either “Dictation”, “Command”, “Spelling” or “Asleep.”
Recognition Window Button
The recognition window button (picture of branching arrows)
is highlighted when there is a dictated phrase with multiple
recognition options available in the Recognition window.
Current Profile
The current profile text in the bottom right of the status window
is the name of the currently active user profile.
The Recognized Text Indicator
As you speak, the words as MacSpeech Dictate recognizes
them appear below the Status window in white, shadowed
text. Whether this text appears is determined by whether the
Show “Recognized Text” preference is checked in General
Preferences. The default is for the text to appear.
The Recognition Window
The Recognition window (Figure 1-2) shows Dictate’s
recognition of the words you dictated. This window will
appear dynamically during dictation depending on how the
Recognition Preferences are set. It includes a list of close
alternatives to choose from in case the program doesn’t
recognize your most recent word or phrase.
Figure 1-2
You can pick one of these options by saying “Choose <x>” or
“Pick <x>,” where <x> is the number of most accurate option.
Each time you do this will activate the Phrase Training fea-
ture which helps Dictate continually learn more about your
speech.
The Available Commands Window
The Available Commands window (Figure 1-3) provides a
list of commands that are available to be spoken. This list
varies depending on what is happening on the screen. You
will see different lists of available commands in this window
as the context changes.
Typing a word or phrase in the Search field in this window will
limit the display to only the commands containing that word
or phrase.
Figure 1-3
User Modes
The specific things you can do using speech vary widely,
but they boil down to two main things: entering text and
controlling your Macintosh. In order to accomplish these
tasks, MacSpeech Dictate provides you with the following
operating modes:
Dictation Mode
You will probably use Dictation Mode the most. In Dictation
Mode, MacSpeech Dictate types what you say into a text
area in the active window. That text area can be in a word
processing document, a text field in a dialog box, or even text
that renames icons in the Finder.
All commands available in Command Mode are also avail-
able in Dictation Mode. In order to execute a command in
Dictation Mode pause briefly before and after saying the
command. For Example:
This is a sentence that has been dictated PERIOD
[pause] Select All [pause] Copy Selection
The above sequence will type the dictated sentence, then
select the whole document and copy it to the clipboard.