This post is part of a new series that will document my efforts to create healthier working environment. The topics discussed in this series are not specific only to legal project management professionals. They are applicable to any sedentary, knowledge worker.
Due to years of spending far too much time on the computer, I've developed repetitive stress injuries for which I'm currently undergoing physical therapy. As part of a holistic, long-term solution, I'm making in number of changes to my working environment, the equipment that I work on, and my work habits. Among these changes is my attempt to once again try speech recognition to draft text and operate my computer.
My first attempt at using speech recognition software was a failure. About four or five years ago, I purchased Dragon Naturally Speaking version 8. At the time, I found it difficult to use, especially for e-mail and Web applications. I found it far less efficient than keyboarding, uninstalled it from my computer, and the CD has been gathering dust ever since.
Recently, I upgraded to Windows 7 and I've been trying to use its speech recognition functionality as much as I can to relieve the pain and discomfort of typing. For the most part, I am very impressed and am using it and more and more each day. This entire post was drafted in Moveable Type using Windows Speech Recognition (WSR). It is also surprisingly easy to operate Windows and many programs with WSR. It is nowhere near perfect, however, and there are a number of annoyances and limitations that require workarounds.
The greatest limitation is the inability to use WSR with many non-windows programs. For example, my preferred browser is Google Chrome. But WSR's "dictation scratchpad" simply does not work consistently when using Google Chrome. Also, for reasons I cannot fathom, there is no way to manually trigger the dictation scratchpad in WSR for Windows 7. If WSR does not recognize the text field you are out of luck.
For the sake of my health, I can live with switching back to Internet Explorer. There are other applications, however, for which there are no adequate Microsoft substitutes. For example, I use Evernote throughout the day, every day. I've tried Onenote, but it doesn't meet my needs like Evernote does. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any way to dictate into Evernote using WSR.
My solution has been to use Microsoft Speech Recognition Macros with a macro that Marty MarKoe of eMicrophones.com shared with me. The macro, which Marty created using eMicrophones's WSRToolkit program, automates the process of firing up Windows Wordpad, copying text dictated into WordPad, and pasting it into the third-party's applications text box. While it is an inelegant kludge, it allows me to use WSR anywhere I can enter text.
While I'm still getting used to operating my computer by voice, I am able to do a great deal of my computing without touching the keyboard or mouse. Surprisingly, most of my frustration is encountered when dictating, not when navigating in and among programs. I've always been a keyboard shortcut fan, I know many of the shortcuts for common functions in most of my programs, which helps operating the computer by voice. The "show numbers" function, which overlays numbers on program icons, is also very helpful. Also, many of my most commonly used Web applications, such as Gmail, Google Reader, and Toodledo, offer extensive keyboard shortcuts. Therefore, I'm able to browse, read, and act upon mail, news, and task items without resorting to a pointing device.
As for the quality of the dictation itself, I am impressed overall. Initially, I found I had to make many corrections, which was frustrating. But I have learned to adjust my dictation style and Windows has been learning from my dictation and documents. Word recognition is getting better every day. There are some annoyances, however, that I still struggle with. For example, hyphenating compound adjectives. I often forget to dictate the hyphen while I'm speaking and it is very difficult to go back and hyphenate the words after the fact. I am also missing the many macros I've created with Active Words. I'll have to recreate them as Windows Speech Recognition macros, a task I am not looking forward to.
WSR helps a great deal in relieving the discomfort caused by typing. While I'm still investing in some high-end ergonomic keyboards and other devices, WSR was something I could do immediately, without needing to purchase anything new, or waiting for a delivery. I'll be writing about other steps I am taking in the weeks to come. In the meantime, I'm very interested in any experiences and tips you can share with me. Please post them in the comments.
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