Sunday, March 26, 2023

Use Dragon faster and more efficiently with add-ons

 


Dragon add-ons help eliminate the need to write custom commands. Additionally, third-party Dragon add-ons often make it faster and easier to navigate the computer, seriously turbocharging Dragon. If you need to work at a fairly fast pace or if you are a programmer, using a Dragon add-on is a “must.”

There are a number of add-ons out there. I can’t really say which one is the best because the choice depends on your workflow. You may want to use one or several add-ons. All of these apps have a free trial period. So, you may want to try them all.

The Dragon add-ons are as follows:

  • KnowBrainer (command utility with thousands of commands, VerbalBasic programming language, and dictation in non-Dragon friendly applications)
  • SpeechStart+ (minimalist command center with Windows resizing and microphone commands)
  • DragonEcho (an assistive tool for people with low vision, or no vision users)
  • DragonBench (a tool for measuring the speed and accuracy of Dragon)

I worked as an executive assistant and used SpeechStart+ in conjunction with Dragon for navigating Google Chrome, Google Workspace, Windows, and Microsoft Word. I would not have been able to do my job without using SpeechStart+. Scheduling was a large part of my job and this app was the best add-on that I found for navigating Google Calendar and Google Workspace in general. I like SpeechStart+ for its simplicity; there are not a lot of commands to remember. Also, I like its option to use small circles to identify clickable elements and easy to use window resizing commands.

I still use SpeechStart+ and have added Speech Productivity Pro 7 to my stack. I use the SP 7 Pro voice-enabled calculator, dictation box, and Internet search tool practically every day. Three years ago, I would have never imagined

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