Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11 [Old Version]

A Speech Recognition Comparison
Let me start off by saying that I had never used speech recognition before Windows Vista, and I had never used Dragon NaturallySpeaking before version 11.5. I’ve seen several videos comparing the two programs, but nothing ever in depth enough to give a disabled person a real opportunity to make an informed decision. I now am quite savvy on Windows Speech Recognition, and have had about a month’s worth of experience with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.There is no comparison, first, in price point; Windows Speech Recognition comes free with Windows 7 (all versions), and I would assume will be included with Windows 8. Dragon comes in many variants ranging in prices from $40.00 for the Home version, to over $500 for the Professional version. My experience with Dragon is specifically the Home and Premium versions, so I will not attempt to compare beyond what I know. Since price could be especially important to some users, we have to give this round to Windows Speech Recognition. Free is free after all.Let’s move onward to accuracy. Windows Speech Recognition (from now on referred to as WSR) can be very accurate with a lot of training, and a seriously good microphone, but even so, is not even close to being as accurate as Dragon is right out of the box. Apparently Nuance has dedicated years and resources to making the program as accurate as possible, and they have exceeded expectations. It is surprisingly eerie watching everything you say appear exactly as you say it, with nearly 100% accuracy. Although WSR gets the edge in dictation speed, this point definitely goes to Dragon NaturallySpeaking.Given what I said in the previous paragraph, one might consider that to be the only criteria for choosing between these two contenders, but that would be a wrong assumption, and a dangerous one, if you’re looking for more than just dictation. You see, being extraordinarily accurate is, in my opinion, the only thing that Dragon is good at. As a disabled person, I understand that speech recognition must do more for us than just allow us to write legible emails, Tweets, and blogs. It must give us control of our chosen computers. WSR is a true champion in this arena. Although Dragon has some nifty features tied directly to specific Windows programs, I found it difficult just getting it to launch certain programs. If I ask WSR to run a program, and it doesn’t quite understand which program I’m referring to, it at least puts up a window with multiple suggestions that one can choose from. Dragon, on the other hand, just waits stupidly for something it understands. Dragon apparently can’t see all that well, either. If I use it to click the Start Button, and then say the name of the program or document within the visible list, it simply refuses to do anything. In complete opposition, WSR happily launches most programs directly, but given the same Start Button scenario, has no problems “seeing” the item and selecting it by voice. In the unlikely event that it cannot launch the item, WSR has one more trick up its sleeve–the Show Numbers command, which will put a small number box next to every clickable item. Say the number, then okay, and your item is clicked. This one feature makes WSR indispensable as a computer control program, but there’s more.Being able to create macros is an essential part of computer control. The ability to create strings of commands to perform complex functions should be available to all disabled users for a reasonable price. Dragon has this functionality, but only in the Professional version, and as I pointed out, at an extreme cost. In contrast, WSR, through Microsoft, has a downloadable, and free, macro creation utility called Windows Speech Recognition Macros. If you find the creation of macros daunting through that interface, there is another program that you may find useful; Windows Speech Recognition Toolkit. This is not a free program, but the purchase price (around $20.00) makes it a worthwhile addition to speech recognition. It not only simplifies the creation of macros, but it has other useful tools, such as audio transcription, text to speech, profile management, dictionary management, etc.Some may find my last point a bit niggling, and granted, it is more in line with being an annoying lack of functionality than it is a necessary feature. With that said, I find it an incredible oversight in Dragon to make no audible signal letting you know that the program has started to listen. With WSR, every time you say the words “start listening”, or “stop listening”, the system makes a sound to let you know that the command has been followed. Within the interface, this can be turned off, or on, so that if you happen to not like the sound, you can dispense with it. In Dragon, I could find no facility for doing something similar. Needless to say, if you happen to not be looking at the computer, and perhaps you start having a conversation with someone, Dragon can start listening and make all sorts of commands happen of which you’re completely unaware.I have written this article with WSR. Could the writing have gone smoother under Dragon? Absolutely, by virtue of not having to correct text as often, and if that were the sole merit and sum of the usefulness of speech recognition, then Dragon Naturallyspeaking would be the smart choice for almost every user. It may still be the smart choice for many, but when faced with the desire to have the utmost control over your computer, and at a price tag that is actually affordable, Windows Speech Recognition becomes an option that outshines its pricier opponent.

This is a good product for those who articulate well but for youth with special needs it takes a great deal of time to program and then must be trained for just the one computer