If you have Nuance’s Dragon speech recognition software installed, you can use ClaroRead’s Dictate button to dictate with Dragon without having to open Dragon’s own toolbar. 

To dictate with Dragon from ClaroRead:

1. Position the cursor where you want your text to start.
2. Click the Dictate button on the ClaroRead toolbar.
3. Dictate your text, including any formatting or other commands that you want to use – ClaroRead supports the full range of Dragon’s voice commands.
4. When you have finished, either click the Dictate button again to turn the microphone off, or say “microphone off”. 
   

Note that you can also say “go to sleep” to put the microphone to sleep, and then “wake up” to turn it on again. This enables you to control dictation without having to use your mouse.

Echoing Dragon voice input

ClaroRead can “echo” each word or phrase that Dragon recognises. This helps provide user confidence, as well as accuracy of dictation, by confirming that Dragon has recognised your speech correctly. If your speech has not been recognised correctly, the echo helps to draw your attention to the misrecognition.

To enable ClaroRead’s Dragon echo feature:

1. Turn on Dragon’s Results box. From the Dragon toolbar, click Tools > Options and then open the Appearance tab. Select the Show preliminary results check box.
2. While you have the Appearance tab open, we recommend that you also set Auto-hide delay to Never hide.
3. Open ClaroRead’s Advanced Speech settings and make sure that the Echo Dragon voice input check box is selected.
4. Now, when you dictate text or a command, Dragon shows what it has recognised in the Results Box, which ClaroRead then reads aloud.

Note that the echo feature works best with a headset or headphones – otherwise, Dragon may recognise ClaroRead’s speech and go into a loop, repeating the original dictation endlessly.