The assistive technology market is awash with products and solutions designed to make life easier for people. One of the most popular is the Dragon speech recognition solutions from Nuance Communications.
Dragon accessibility software has become an essential accompaniment to Daisy Bradley’s PC, enabling her to effortlessly dictate and control it using her voice.
A New Way of Working
Registered blind over two years ago, Daisy came across Dragon accessibility software following an Access to Work assessment for her visual impairment.
Find Out More About the Access to Work Scheme.
Previously, Daisy was based in a busy office, however, a move to a quieter office and the ability to work from home resulted in her previous version of Dragon being upgraded to a more recent one.
Describing how the two versions of Dragon compare, Daisy stated:
“The performance and ease of use of the latest version of Dragon is a significant improvement. It’s very easy to use and the headset supplied with it is comfortable.” – Daisy Bradley
Training For Success
To ensure that Daisy was getting maximum value out of her speech recognition software, she was trained by authorised Nuance reseller partner, VoicePower Ltd.
Four half-day training sessions were organised, covering Dragon’s key functions. Describing her experience with VoicePower, Daisy was positive, claiming it was:
“It was excellent, top-class, and the team at VoicePower clearly know their stuff, not just about how to get the best out of Dragon, but about what else I would need to help me.” – Daisy Bradley
To that end, VoicePower created shortcuts and quick clicks for Daisy. She added:
“The service and training were personal and tailored to my needs. It helped me continue working and has made working easier for me.” For the time that she may need additional help, the quick reference guide can be called upon, while for any other queries: “I just go back to Voice Power. They’re always there.”
Staying Productive All Day Long
Using Dragon, Daisy now replies easily to emails and keeps on top of her inbox, while creating Word documents.
“Dragon has made Word very easy to use, and I really like the Voice Command functions that help me control the PC. It really is ideal for my type of disability and certainly easier than learning Braille.” – Daisy Bradley
Daisy is not alone in being able to benefit from using Dragon every day. Its accuracy rates of up to 99% combined with its ability to transcribe up to 160 words a minute, make it a must-have for anyone in any profession who needs to create documents quickly and accurately.
Dragon’s compatibility with popular Microsoft Office applications means opening up, drafting and sending emails can be controlled by voice, as can searching the internet, while its read-aloud text-to-speech feature makes identifying and correcting errors a simple task.
The latest version of Dragon also boosts productivity further, thanks to its built-in microphone support, a new, modern interface and expanded voice capabilities for popular web applications. By making navigation and text-entry tasks dramatically faster and easier, Dragon allows users to reach their full potential by helping them get more done on their computers.
Based on Daisy’s experience with Dragon and the value it adds in a professional work capacity, she is keen to recommend it and has already done so to a teenager who shares her condition.
Work, Rest or Play – It’s Easier with Dragon
Daisy’s praise for Dragon isn’t limited to its ease of use or accuracy:
“It is a remarkable product, given that what it is doing behind the scenes is so complicated and so complex, yet it is effortless to use. It is an impressive achievement and the developers behind Dragon should be praised for persevering with it to create a wonderful and highly useful product.”
