The built-in Mavericks OS X speech recognition is a good piece of Voice recognition software to give you a taste of what speech recognition is like, but not as good as Dragon Dictate. This is mainly due to the complete lack of any correction capability. Here’s how it compares to Dragon Naturally Speaking, and how to enable the ‘Enhanced Dictation’ Mode which makes it a lot faster.

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Overview.

You may remember the launch of the first Macintosh in 1984. Steve Jobs said “today, for the first time ever, I’d like to let Macintosh speak for itself,” and the computer replies..

Click to read the specs from Nuance on their new Dragon for Mac 5. Or you can check out my own initial thoughts and review here. Achieve even better accuracy Dragon for Mac provides improved accuracy over version 4.x (15% out of the box accuracy improvement over v4 and a 35% increase over v3), with optimization for latest speech recognition technology and enhanced support for more accents. Every Mac is built with assistive technologies to support people who are blind or have low vision. The VoiceOver screen reader describes exactly what’s happening on your screen. Hover Text lets you instantly magnify a selection of text. And Display Accommodations support. Instantaneously create digital documentation without sitting in front of your Mac with the most widely used speech-recognition software available. Dragon for Mac is compatible with OS X Yosemite (10.10) and Certified eSupport is here to answer any questions you have about how to maximize the software. Mar 09, 2016 A Dragon for Mac v5 upgrade license will allow you to upgrade from either of the previous two versions, Dragon Dictate for Mac v3 and v4. Operating Systems. You can run Dragon for Mac 5 on OS X Mavericks (10.9), Yosemite (10.10), and El Capitan (10.11). This is the first significant advancement we see in v5.

“Hello, I’m Macintosh. It sure is great to get out of that bag.”

Then in the 1990’s we had ‘Plaintalk’ and ‘Macintalk’. These were attempts to make the Macintosh computer human. There was also ‘Speakable Items’ where you could dictate short commands to the Mac.

In OSX 10.8 (Mountain Lion) Apple introduced “dictation.” It was basically an OS X version of ‘SIRI’ where your speech would be sent off to a server to be recognised and the text would come back to your computer.

In OS X 10.9 (Mavericks), for the first time, there is a usable speech recognition engine built-in to Mac OS X. There was not a lot of fanfare about it. In fact it almost comes as a hidden feature. You need to turn it on by enabling a mode called ‘Enhanced Dictation’ in the System Preferences. Despite this understated introduction, I think it’s one of the best things about OS X Mavericks.

The only thing lacking from the built in Mavericks dictation is correction. If correction arrives in the next version of OS X, it will be a game changer.

The one major flaw: No correction.

Mavericks Dictation would be to be very painful to use as a long term solution because there is no way of correcting mistakes and therefore helping it to learn. If there is a word it gets wrong, it will be getting it wrong forever. It works OK for me, but if it made any more mistakes that it did it would be un-usable without a correction and training feature.

One of the redeeming features of speech recognition software like Dragon Naturally Speaking (on the PC) and Dragon Dictate (on the Mac) is that even though it makes the occasional mistake, it has a correction feature. If you correct a word it will learn from this. The more mistakes you correct the better it gets.There are lots of articles comparing the accuracy of Dragon dictate with the built in OS X dictation. But most of these articles fail to address this important difference. For example here at macworld they state that the accuracy of Dragon Dictate is 96.6 percent and for Mavericks’s Dictation is 89.6 percent. But no mention that the Mavericks has no learning ability. Here they compare the speed of dictation between the two programs. Again, they miss the biggest difference.The biggest difference is not the accuracy or the speed. The biggest difference is the ability to learn. Accuracy and speed can both improve as the software learns to adapt to your voice. This means that Dragon Dictate will continue to improve as you use it. The OS X built-in dictation will continue to be stuck with words it doesn’t understand.If you are thinking of speech recognition, the built in Maverick’s OS X speech recognition might be a good trial. If you like what you see, go and buy Dragon Dictate. If you don’t like it, stay away!

Enabling the “Enhanced Dictation”

To enable this you need to go into the System Preferences. Under “Dictation” there is a checkbox called “use enhanced dictation.” If you check this box it will download the speech files that you need.

See it in action

Unlike Dragon Dictate, there is no training involved. The built in, untrained speech recognition does a reasonably good job. Look at this:

Compare this with Dragon Dictate. Dragon Dictate is slightly better:

Here is an example of where the Mavericks OS X built-in dictation seems to be going a bit better:

Microphone

If you are going to attempt to seriously use the built-in OS X dictation, I suggest you get yourself a good microphone. You really need a good headset microphone with some noise cancellation that is either Bluetooth or USB compatible. I suggest you check out knowbrainer.com. I got a great Samson wireless headset from them.

Conclusion

The built-in Mavericks OS X speech recognition is in my opinion a good trail. It is almost as accurate as Dragon Dictate and will give you a feel for speech recognition provided (1) you have a good microphone and (2) you are expecting it to be a trial, not a viable long term speech recognition product.

It sounds like Nuance’s Dragon engine is what powers SIRI. If that’s the case, if Apple add correction to their Dictation app then Nuance’s Dragon Dictate would become completely obsolete. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future with Apple’s Dictation.

My suggestion is to try out OSX Dictation (in Enhanced Mode), and if you like it, go and buy Dragon Dictate.

Related posts:

Dragon Naturally Speaking arrives on the Macintosh!How to dictate to your Macintosh with good accuracyHow to buy Macspeech Dictate in AustraliaDragon for Mac FeaturesHow to stop Dragon for Mac 6 from crashingRoss Macdonaldsays:July 16, 2014 at 7:49 am

I have recently purchased a MacBook Pro Retina (unbelievable graphics!!!) and decide to try Maverick’s Dictation. To say I was disappointed was an understatement! I found that the time taken to go back to find and fix the mistakes probably took longer than typing the text in by hand. The real annoying part is that I can not train it to prevent it from making the same mistakes over and over again.
In the past I have used Dragon Dictation in Windows. Okay, it took half an hour of reading to have the computer recognise my broad Australian drawl. Each time I used it I would correct the mistakes. After a week or so I was down to one or two errors per page!
Give me Dragon over Maverick’s any day.
Reading how Apple strives for excellence, the concern I have is that in future editions of Maverick’s, Apple might include a “learning procedure”. If so all that money for Dragon might be wasted. Even still I think I will purchase a Mac version of Dragon and educate my MacBook Pro so it performs even better.
I hope this was useful.
Regards
Ross Macdonald

ReplyWaynesays:July 17, 2014 at 3:58 am

That was very a very useful comment Ross. Speech recognition is so variable and subjective it’s great to hear from other users. Yes I agree the lack of training and correction is a complete deal-breaker. So your trial of OS-X Dictation was worse than my vide above? I’d love to hear if Dragon Dictate goes better, and if it’s better out of the box or only after training. Did you see the link for Dragon Dictate download for $99? (I assume you have a good mic?)

ReplySydsays:November 17, 2014 at 5:39 pm

While I really do appreciate the time you spent comparing the different types of word recognition and I can see the benefits of both, I am really surprised that you, as a writer, would not take the time to grammar or spell-check your work. It seems that you’ve come to rely on the dictation software just a little too much.

I won’t point out the several mistakes (and I’m talking about in the main article, not the text on the video thumbs), but if you even re-read it, I’m sure you’ll find them. I am one of those people who feels it’s important to preserve at least reasonable writing or it will go the way that the “educators” are taking cursive writing: out of the system–another mistake.

In any case, enjoy your Samson!

ReplyWaynesays:November 17, 2014 at 10:26 pm

Oops – thanks. I’ll have a look at that!

ReplyKreggersays:December 11, 2014 at 12:07 pm

Does anyone know if there’s voice recognition that can be used to express commands to videos on YouTube? Say basic stuff like, pause, play, etc.

Thank you

Speech Recognition Mac Yosemite

ReplyKlaus Hecklesays:April 26, 2015 at 2:46 am

Thanks for your reviews!
How is it with Yosemite, has Dictate improved?
Apple says, the recognition would “learn”, is this true and if yes, does this apply for the online or/and the offline-version?

ReplyWaynesays:April 28, 2015 at 4:50 am

Speech Recognition For Mac Os X

Yes has improved very much with accuracy. It’s quite amazing out of the box. It seems pretty much on par with Siri and it seems more accurate than Dragon out of the box. But there is still no correction. So although it is better, it cannot learn by you telling it to correct your mistakes. For example it will not recognise me saying “Yosemite” and there is no way for me to train it so I simply cannot dictate the word “Yosemite” to it. With dragon I can train it to words it doesn’t know and it learns them.

ReplySean Brophysays:December 4, 2018 at 5:09 am

I have used dragon dictate for many years and found it to be really good. However, after upgrading to Mojave it no longer works in many applications, and when I tried to remedy this I found that they have decided to discontinue Dragon Dictate for mac. They did this 2 months almost to the day after taking $300 from me for the latest version. To say i am annoyed is an understatement. They had to have known it was about to be discontinued and still took my money. Alas, for any serious typing tasks the mac built-in in dictation is absolutely useless, massively annoying in the way it can not decide when to start new sentences random capitalizations etc., and is actually very counter productive. Beyond simply commands it is utter pants. If there are alternatives to Dragon
now that it has been pulled I am desperate to know about it.

ReplyJoysays:August 27, 2019 at 8:33 am

Exactly the same here Shawn, and I apologise that Mac dictation is so appalling it can’t even spell your name correctly the. Oh look a bonus word from Apple… sadly not arresting alongside Brandon capital letters okay so that made no sense(I said not a random saying no) nope I said round round. Obviously random and round are the same word. Not a random failure. You see how hard it is to just make a sentence? Any way Back to the plot what there is of it,I too was a ripped off by Dragon literally moments after purchase and also after purchasing a Mac Pro. As I am disabled and cannot use either hand, I Like so many disabled Mac users this is an appalling situation and I’m shocked that they don’t care about people who already struggle so deeply to communicate because of disability and pain. Apple dictation is even worse because it cannot be edited all trained or as OR and now I just said all these things and it’s just completely deleted it matters how bad it is it is genuinely impossible to communicate if you want this disabled and the unfortunate owner of an Mac computer given that despicable company Dragon Grey and another random word anyway wish you well. Anyone reading this do not buy apple and avoid Dragon.

Reply

Every Mac is built with assistive technologies to support people who are blind or have low vision. The VoiceOver screen reader describes exactly what’s happening on your screen. Hover Text lets you instantly magnify a selection of text. And Display Accommodations support color blindness and other vision needs.

Hover TextGet a quick size boost of what you’re reading.

Hover Text makes it easier to view text on your display. If a paragraph, caption, or headline is too small to read, just hover over it with your cursor and press Command. You’ll get a dedicated window with a large, high-resolution version of your selection. You can even choose the fonts and colors that work best for you.

VoiceOverHear what’s happening on your screen.

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VoiceOver does more than tell you what’s happening on your Mac. It helps you make things happen. It gives you auditory descriptions of each onscreen element and provides helpful hints along the way — whether you prefer using gestures, a keyboard, or a braille display. And it supports more than 35 languages, including multiple voice options.

VoiceOverIntegrated throughout macOS and every built-in app.

VoiceOver is unique because it’s not a standalone screen reader. It’s deeply integrated in macOS and all the built-in apps on Mac. And as developers update their apps to take advantage of the accessibility interfaces provided by Apple, their apps can start working with VoiceOver right away.

VoiceOverImproved PDF, web, and messages navigation.

We’ve refined VoiceOver to make it easier to navigate PDFs, websites, and messages. In Safari, improved conformance with HTML5 accessibility standards allows for more consistent navigation of websites. VoiceOver is now better at reading aloud tagged PDFs and email messages. If you start reading a website in a different language, VoiceOver can switch to the voice for that language automatically.¹ And you can add custom commands and workflows to your MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.

Audio DescriptionsHear the details in every scene.

Watch movies with detailed audio descriptions of every scene on your Mac. Movies with audio descriptions are displayed with the AD icon in the iTunes Store.

VoiceOverNavigate VoiceOver with simple gestures.

You can control VoiceOver using many of the same gestures you use with iOS. Touch the trackpad to hear a description of the item under your finger, drag to hear items continuously, and flick to move to the next item. Enable the VoiceOver Trackpad Commander, and the trackpad surface will represent the current window or document, so you can navigate quickly to any corner or edge with a tap.

VoiceOverA virtual controller with customizable commands.

VoiceOver features a virtual control called the rotor. Turning the rotor — by rotating two fingers on the trackpad as if you were turning an actual dial — lets you access an array of fully customizable commands. Use it to browse web pages more efficiently and intuitively. The rotor lists common elements like “headings,” “links,” and “images,” and lets you navigate directly to the element of your choosing.

VoiceOverPlug-and-play support for braille displays.

VoiceOver is the first screen reader to provide plug-and-play support for refreshable braille displays. Plug in or sync one of over 100 compatible displays, supporting more than 80 international tables, and the VoiceOver description is presented to you in braille. You can edit seamlessly in Grade 2 Braille, viewing your edits in the context of the actual line of text. Optimized for fast braille typists, VoiceOver makes working in braille easy and efficient. Converting between braille and text happens automatically so you see only Grade 2 Braille. And for sighted users who sit alongside you, there’s an onscreen braille panel that displays both braille and plain-text versions of the descriptions spoken by VoiceOver.

Dark ModeWorking hard gets easier on the eyes.

Dark Mode transforms the desktop and built-in apps with a dark color scheme that helps you focus on your work.² The fine points of your content take center screen as toolbars and menus recede into the background. Light text against darker backdrops in Mail, Safari Reader, Calendar, and more makes everything easier to read in low lighting conditions. And the Accessibility preferences for increased contrast and reduced transparency work with Dark Mode enabled.

DictationYou say it. Mac types it.

Dictation lets you talk where you would type — and it works in over 40 languages. So you can reply to an email, search the web, or write a report using just your voice. Navigate to any text field, activate Dictation, then say what you want to write. macOS also comes with more than 50 editing and formatting commands. So you can turn on Dictation and tell your Mac to bold a paragraph, delete a sentence, or replace a word. You can also use Automator workflows to create your own Dictation commands.

SiriStreamline the things you do every day.

Siri helps you do more with your desktop.³ Ask Siri to send messages, track down files, create reminders, search the web, and even turn on and off VoiceOver and Invert Colors, without interrupting what you’re doing on the keyboard. And because Siri is integrated with VoiceOver, you can ask it to find a file and hear the answer read out loud. If you prefer to communicate by typing, you can easily set Siri to “Type to Siri” mode.

ZoomMake your screen up to 20 times bigger.

Zoom is a powerful built-in magnifier that lets you enlarge your screen up to 20 times, so you can better see what’s on the display. You can zoom using full screen or picture-in-picture, allowing you to see the zoomed area in a separate window while keeping the rest of the screen at its native size. A shortcut key lets you pan the screen without moving the pointer while zoomed in. macOS can also flash the screen for notifications offscreen or speak text under your pointer. The hardware acceleration engine lets you boost the size of anything on your screen — text on a web page, family photos, or a place on a map.

Zoom DisplaySee content up close and at a distance simultaneously.

Now with macOS Catalina, if you have two displays, you can keep one zoomed in close while the other stays at a standard resolution. So you can tackle everyday work or give a presentation more efficiently.

Cursor SizeMagnify your cursor so it’s easier to use.

macOS lets you magnify your cursor so it’s easier to see where you are and follow along as you move around your Mac. Set the cursor size once and it stays magnified even when its shape changes. And when you swipe back and forth on your trackpad or quickly shake your mouse, the pointer grows so it’s easier to locate.

Contrast and Color OptionsInvert colors or enable color filters.

macOS lets you invert colors, enable grayscale, or choose from a range of color filters to support different forms of color blindness or other color vision deficiencies. You can select a common preset or fine-tune the color tint and hue to customize a display setting that works for you.

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Reduce MotionDecrease the movement of onscreen elements.

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If you’re affected by the motion of screen elements, you can turn on Reduce Motion to decrease movement in areas like Spaces, Notification Center, and the Dock.

Music, Podcasts, Books and TVNavigate and play with VoiceOver.

The Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Apple Books, and Apple TV apps are compatible with VoiceOver, so you can navigate and play all your content even if you can’t see the screen. Browse the apps as VoiceOver reads out headers, links, and other elements on the page.

Resources

User Guides

External Resources

Explore instructional videos with tips on using vision accessibility features in macOS.

Learn more about the Hadley Institute instructional videos at their website

Join a community of blind and low-vision users of Apple products.

Learn more about AppleVis.com at their website

Get information on the use of Apple products by those who are blind or low vision.

Learn more about Mac-cessibility Network at their website