Speech recognition

About this course

What is speech recognition?

About this course

This self-study course has been developed by Load2Learn, a service providing accessible curriculum textbooks and images to support dyslexic, partially sighted or blind learners who have difficulty reading standard print.

It is part of the “Creating and using accessible curriculum resources self-study course” available on Load2Learn. Licenced under Creative Commons.

What is speech recognition?

Speech recognition is a technology that allows spoken input into your devices, such as talking into your computer or mobile phone which then uses what you have said as an input to trigger an action. The technology is being used to replace other methods of input like typing or clicking.

Examples of speech recognition:

• Siri on the iPhone – you can use voice instructions such as “call Andrew” to make a phone call, or “switch on Bluetooth”.
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking – this software makes the computer type as you talk into it. From capturing ideas and creating documents, to email and searching the web.
• Cinema listings phone line and customer call centres – where you have to give voice responses to the automated options to be taken to the next step of the call.
• Kinect for Xbox – uses motion capture and voice recognition to operate the console without the need for a controller.

Activity 1

Watch the “” video on YouTube.

The video is presented by a learner with dyslexia and dyspraxia who finds writing difficult and uses Dragon NaturallySpeaking to do his homework.

• Think about the points raised in the video. Which are the most relevant to your work?
• Think about the main benefits shown in the video and relate them to the learners in the case studies. Which case study learners would you recommend this technology to?
• What do you think the disadvantages may be?
• Think about what the barriers may be for implementing this technology in your setting? What would have to happen in your setting overcome these barriers?

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