Apple OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard -Talking to your computer

This section introduces the voice recognition feature in OS X

Note: Mac key convention: ' Ctrl ' is used for 'Control', ' Apple ' is used for 'Command' and ' Alt ' is used for the 'Option' key.

Note: For keyboard access, make sure ' Full keyboard access ' is turned on - you can turn it on or off; by pressing ' Ctrl ' + ' F1 ' at any time.

Step 1

Make sure you are in ' Finder ' - press ' Apple ' + ' Tab ' if necessary to cycle through open applications until you return to ' Finder '.
Click on the 'Apple ' menu or press ' Ctrl ' + ' F2 '.
Click on ' System Preferences... ' as shown in Fig 1 or press the down arrow key to highlight it and then press ' Enter '.

Fig 1

Step 2

Click on the ' Speech ' icon or press ' Tab ' repeatedly (you might need to press ' Ctrl ' + ' F7 ' first) to cycle through the icons until the ' Speech ' icon is highlighted and then press the ' Spacebar '. Fig 2

Fig 2

Click on the ' Speech Recognition ' tab or press ' Ctrl ' + ' F7 ' (once or twice) to highlight one of the and then press the left or right arrow key to select the 'Speech Recognition ' tab if it is not already selected.
Next click the ' On ' radio button next to ' Speakable Items: ' (no keyboard shortcuts). Fig 3

Fig 3

This will open the Speakable Items window. Fig 4

Fig 4

To issue a command press and hold the ' Esc ' key on your keyboard while speaking.
'Speakable items ' can recognise a number of commands, they are listed in the ' Speakable Items ' folder. To look at them click on the ' Commands ' button and click to select ‘Open Speakable Items Folder’

Step 3

When you are happy with your settings click the ' Close ' (red) button at the top of the ' Speech ' window or press ' Apple ' + ' W ' to close the window and return to the Finder desktop.

Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings cannot be changed due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help.

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