Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking for browsing could be easy task but using dragon for web testing needs some hands on with commands that are commonly used.
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.
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 | Action |
|---|---|
| Tab <n> times i.e. 10 times | Will cycle through all the navigation elements just like as you will do it with tab key. |
| Click link | All the possible links on the page are numbered so that user can choose a particular number. |
| Click <link name> | To activate that particular link. |
| Click <radio button> | To select said radio button. |
| Click <checkbox> | To select said checkbox. |
| Click list box | To access drop down and then say show choices – If more than one match: choose <n> or hide numbers or cancel. |
Voice Commands for Mouse interaction:
The following table lists Voice commands for Mouse interaction testing:
| Voice Commands | Action |
|---|---|
| MouseGrid | Position the mouse. A 3 X 3 grid appears on the screen, with each region numbered from 1 to 9. |
| Move mouse <direction> i.e. mouse left, mouse right etc | The cursor will move up, down, left, right. |
| Mouse click | Performs action of activating or opening something. Similar to mouse left click |
| Mouse double click | Performs action similar to mouse double click. |
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:
- MouseGrid
- < 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.