Dragon is Voice based software so basically, we must provide voice commands to perform various keyboard and mouse interaction.

To know more information on How to start using dragon you can refer to Using Dragon Naturally Speaking to access a website blog.

If you are working in accessibility firm you often come across the need to test the web page using speech recognition tools like dragon. In this blog we will explore some ways of how to navigate and activate some web page elements.

How do we start?

• Check the website for navigation by voice.
• See if you can navigate through all the links/buttons/interactive elements and check if you can activate them.

Tip:
While navigating website to click a button or any other interactive element, say its name preceded by “click”.

For navigating and clicking different web page elements you can either make use of Keyboard interaction command or mouse interaction commands.

Voice Commands for Keyboard interaction:

The following table lists Voice commands for keyboard interaction testing:

Voice Commands for Mouse interaction:

The following table lists Voice commands for Mouse interaction testing:

These are the few basic commands, as you continue testing using Dragon you can explore more commands according to the interactive elements available on the page.

So, let’s get started by testing a page using some of the commands.

Open a web page using Dragon and navigate the page using Tab voice command to check if the interactive elements are keyboard accessible or not? Also check if a particular element is keyboard accessible ,the focus indicator is visible to users so that user can recognize the user’s current position .

Now let’s try some of the voice commands for keyboard and mouse interaction that we learnt in the above table.

Say Click <link name>, for example to activate Home link say click Home.

Say MouseGrid, Dragon will overlay a grid on the screen

Now let’s try the Mouse Grid, using the following commands:

1. MouseGrid
2. < Number of Grid > – Say the number you want to focus on

Repeat the above steps till you are able to  click the required link or button

We have learnt navigating and activation of various web page elements in this blog. In the forthcoming blog we will learn about the various commands to interact with form elements.

Having said that Dragon has a whole list of commands, you need to try them by yourself to explore more and more voice commands and getting well versed with it.

Do let us know what new things you learned with dragon and share your experiences in the comment section.

The post Cheat Sheet – Dragon Naturally Speaking Commands for Web Testing appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.

Alex has a love for numbers and finding answers through data. We were studying economics at the same university. One day, I noticed this guy talking away to his computer and not really using the keyboard. It got me intrigued. As we became friends, I got to know that Alex had very little mobility in his arms and he was using his speech to control the computer!

Alex uses Dragon Naturally Speaking and he makes it feel so simple and easy, that I just had to learn it.

So, let’s explore how Dragon Naturally Speaking works on the Web.

Dragon Works with multiple browsers, for the purpose of this blog we will be working with Internet Explorer.

Whenever we launch a browser for the first time after installing Dragon NaturallySpeaking, a prompt appears stating to install Dragon Web Extension. It will enable Commands that allow you to click Web page elements, such as buttons and links, navigate as well as access all the content and functionalities.

Let’s start with opening the browser, to open the browser give the command Open Internet Explorer. Now that we have opened the browser, let’s go ahead and open a website and say the following commands:

1. Go to the Address Bar.
2. Dictate the Web address. (For example, www.barrierbreak.com)
3. Go.

Now to navigate through the page, whether it is to a link, button or form controls, use the following commands

• Tab – To navigate from one element to another
• Click < link name > – To directly activate a link
• Page Up or Page Down – To go up and down a page

Tip:
If the computer is idle for some time, Dragon will go to sleep, give the command “Wake up” and Dragon will be ready to go!

So want to have some fun, find a few more Dragon Voice Commands in the table below:

Can we give mouse commands using Dragon? Yes, we can!

Let’s understand how Dragon uses a concept called the MouseGrid before we actually try it. The MouseGrid breaks up the screen into a transparent three-by-three grid over the screen with the sections numbered one through nine. Notice, that each grid has been assigned a number.

Now let’s try the Mouse Grid, using the following commands:

1. MouseGrid
2. < Number of Grid > – Say the number you want to focus on

You can repeat the process as many times as you need. When the grid area becomes too small to display numbers, you will be able to click the required link or button.

When the MouseGrid is enabled, we can use voice command “Click” to restrict the mouse movement and activate the element.

Using the MouseGrid, we can also access elements on a page that cannot be focused using the Tab command.

Navigating a web page using Mouse Grid is a tedious process but fun to perform!

Why don’t you give it a try and share your views on using speech recognition!

The post Using Dragon Naturally Speaking to access a website appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.