Page 388 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

find their way into a newer program, such as Mozilla Thunderbird, in a

matter of minutes.

Speech Recognition and Dictation

Microsoft makes a distinction between speech recognition (speaking to
open programs and click buttons) and dictation (talking to type out words).
Not many people use the speech-recognition feature, which is old and a

little complex. For a guide to using Windows Speech Recognition,
download “Speech Recognition,” a PDF appendix to this chapter. It’s on
this book’s “Missing CD” page at missingmanuals.com.

The dictation feature isn’t especially recent or accurate, either (especially
when compared with pro dictation apps like Dragon NaturallySpeaking).
But at least it’s no longer hidden away. Pressing + H opens the dictation

bar so you can begin talking to type in almost any program. (On a
touchscreen, hit the on the touchscreen keyboard instead.)

The dictation bar says “Listening” when Windows is listening (it stops
listening after a few seconds, with a little chime to let you know), offers the

icon to start and stop the listening, and an button to exit the whole
feature. Some tips:

You can dictate punctuation. Say “peaches comma plums comma

and apples” to get “peaches, plums, and apples.” (It helps if you
pause before a punctuation mark.)

To dictate something with weird spelling, say “Start spelling”

and then speak the letters. You can either say their names (“C, A,
T”) or use the pilot’s alphabet (“Charlie, alpha, tango”). (You can
capitalize a letter by saying, for example, “uppercase A.”) Say

“stop spelling” when you want to resume whole-word dictation.

You can edit by voice, too. You’ll really enjoy “strike that” (or

“delete that”), which nukes whatever you just uttered—handy