By Andrea Piazza, Disability Specialist, Office of Accessibility Resources and Services

Do you find sharing information verbally much easier than typing or writing your ideas and thoughts? What if you could dictate your ideas into a speech recognition program that does the typing for you? What if we told you it’s FREE? You may already have this on your personal computer.

Window users, check out Window Dictation. This is already available in your operating system.

If you don’t have Windows, that isn’t a problem. Simply install Google Voice Typing. It has similar abilities, as well as apps to place on your other smart devices through Google Docs.

Both of these programs use commands to edit your text. This may be a good tool when working on your papers and emails.

This is one of the tools the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services may recommend for students to try. Please contact our office if you need accommodations due to a disability at disability.services@esc.edu. Melissa Zgliczynski or Andrea Piazza will discuss your needs with you. Please visit the office website for more information regarding the services and resources our office provides: www.esc.edu/accessibility/.