Thread: Talk the talk

The best new accessibility tool in Vista is modestly tucked away in small letters under the option for 'Use the computer without a mouse or keyboard', Speech recognition is included with all versions of Vista, and is a vast improvement over the version included with Windows XP. It's worth setting up the microphone correctly, working through the tutorial and trying the mercifully short training exercise.

Having done this, speech recognition works amazingly well. Simply start the program and tell it to 'Start listening'. Now, to open Notepad, say 'Start, All Programs,
Accessories, Notepad' into the microphone. If it works, open another program by saying 'Start, All Programs, Games, Freecell'. It's even possible to choose between different open windows (simply say 'Switch to Notepad') or type text (try saying 'the quick brown fox'). With a little practice, it's possible to control most parts of Windows without even touching the keyboard or mouse.



The speech-recognition system even makes a very good job of distinguishing between commands and dictated text. For instance, if you want to type the word 'start' rather than open the Start menu, then say 'literal start'. If it mishears your dictation, then saying 'correct that' produces a numbered list of alternatives to what it thought you said.

Say the number of the correction you want, followed by 'OK', If you don't see the correct text just say it again or spell it out. If you're at a loss for words, then saying 'What can I say?' brings up the Speech Recognition Help.
All in all, it's hard not to be impressed by the accessibility features in Vista. Some will find that they make the difference between a computer that's unusable and one that's useful, and even those who usually have no problem using a PC might find that the tools explained here can make life easier.