Windows 7 Windows 7 Speech Recognition

[chairman]

Will an individual with a severe disability be able to use the in-built speech recognition in Windows 7 to operate and control the PC totally hands free? Also, can the user create custom commands or macros for non Microsoft applications, such as in Firefox? Any information will be greatly appreciated.

 

[cybercore]

Welcome to the windows7forums.com, Chairman.

Speech recognition is quite possible in Windows 7, but you need a) a good professional microphone and b) to take some effort to "train" speech recognition to get tuned to a speaker's voice.

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In Microsoft Windows 7:


Before you can use the speech feature, there are some things that must be done. Unlike keyboards and mice, where the finger pressure is converted into a constant electronic pressure, voice has variations. So the software must be trained.

• First of all, there is a hardware issue. One needs a very good microphone. Avoid cheaper microphones since they tend to pick up a lot of background noise.

• Secondly create a voice profile and train the computer to identify the speaker’s voice and pronunciation. There is a speech training tutorial.

-> Click the Start button
-> Click Control Panel
-> Click Ease of Access
-> Click Speech Recognition
-> Click Take Speech Tutorial


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Some useful links on speech recognition:


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List of speech recognition software - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Windows 7 features - Accessibility - Microsoft Windows



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[chairman]

Thanks for the reply, cybercore... I will check out the links you provided. I have been using a third party speech recognition software (DragonDictate) and surprisingly, given that it is more than 10 years old and a 16 bit application, it still runs on Windows XP! I am able to create very helpful/useful custom commands using this software and would really like to find out if I am able to do the same with the speech recognition in Windows 7. It would be good to hear some feedback from a totally hands free user of the Windows 7 speech recognition software.

 

[boblamb]

Hi chairman,

I also have a disability (in my case, RSI).

I think the navigation and clicking of Windows 7 WSR is a bit clumsy. However, I found a software that is made especially for disabilities, and extends the Windows 7 commands. I use it almost always (I'm using it now.). The software is called Voice Finger , and the developer also had RSI.