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Introduction

WordQ 2 is a word prediction program with a difference! It is simple to set up and use. It works directly within any Windows® 98 – XP standard application. When you type a letter, WordQ 2 predicts what you might want to write and displays a list of correctly spelled words from which you can choose. When you see the word you want, you can choose it with a single keystroke or with the mouse. If you need help deciding which word to use, each word can be read aloud before you make a selection. When you’ve finished typing your sentence, WordQ 2 can read it back to you. Great for hearing any mistakes such as missing words or punctuation.

When combined with SpeakQ, an additional program which gives the user speech input, it becomes a powerful speech enabled word prediction program. When using speech input, individuals are given immediate word and phrase choices in the word prediction window to assist with writing. Continuous speech also allows the user to enter text directly into their chosen text entry program.

It is a flexible writing tool that can be used for learners of different ages and writing ability.

WordQ

Installation

When you install WordQ, it places a program icon on the desktop. It is installed in trial mode. You need to register the product using the serial number on the rear of the software package. During installation you are given the option of North American or UK language options (for spelling) and whether you want to install the high quality Acapela speech engine or not.

Starting up – Choosing a vocabulary

Before using the program, you must first set up a new user then choose and save a vocabulary you want to use for writing. You are given the option of a starting vocabulary that suits the user’s level and country. There are 18 core word lists to choose from, for Canada, the UK and the US.

Each has a description of the level.

Starter	vocabulary for those learning to write. Contains about 5000 words
Intermediate	for writers at an intermediate level (grades 2-8). Consists of about 10500 words.
Advanced	for those who are writing at an advanced level. List includes about 15000 words. Used by those in high school and above.
Blank	contains no words. This is a useful starting point when you want to create your own list of words.
Standard core	These lists contain a limited number of words (for example function words, days, months, numbers, colours.)
Word core	consists of 500 function words only

After selecting the vocabulary list you want to start with, you are asked to give it a name (such as the name of the user.) A number of users can be added, each with a different user profile and vocabulary to suit their particular needs.

The Toolbar

WordQ has a floating toolbar that looks like this:

It can be positioned anywhere on the screen in the text entry program you are using or minimised.

	Lets you customise your vocabulary for the word prediction, choose prediction and speech options, assign hotkeys to various functions and create and open user files. (More than one user can be created.)
	Allows you to show or hide the word prediction box. F9 is the assigned hotkey.
	Turns speech feedback on or off (F10 is the hotkey).
	Enables you to read word by word, selected text with highlighting. (F11 is the hotkey.) Highlighting colour is black only.

Hotkeys can be altered through the Options menu.

The current topic dictionary you may be using for a particular activity is displayed in the floating toolbar.

Word Prediction

Vocabulary, topic dictionaries and learning new words

The writer can begin typing and predicting words straight away using the initial vocabulary selected. Some users will need a small vocabulary to start with, others will need words for a particular writing activity, while others still, will need an expanded word list.

Writers can have multiple vocabulary or topic lists available. It is possible to make available a number of topic lists. These are displayed separately in the WordQ toolbar window. This means that the user can turn these lists on and off according to the writing task.

To ensure the most accurate predictions, vocabulary lists need to be customised.

New words are added in the following ways:

• Manually add a new word to the existing list. Individual words can be easily added or deleted.
• Create a separate topic list by adding words manually and saving them. This method is useful if you want a small word bank (such as Australian States, or Australian animals.)
• Import a readymade topic file. (Twenty-eight sample topic lists are available.)
• Learn words from a text file into the existing list. Words are checked for spelling. Any misspelled or unknown ones are set aside in a spelling list. These words are only added to the main list after checking.
• Customised word lists can be created and saved as text files. Words and phrases can be incorporated into the list.

Vocabulary lists and usage samples (example sentences using a word in the prediction box – explained in the next section) can be exported for editing and sharing with other users. They are viewed in a spreadsheet program such as Excel.

Prediction Features

In-context prediction	Wherever you position your cursor in the document, such as in the middle of a word, the appropriate word predictions will be displayed
Creative spelling	WordQ will try to offer correct spellings of words in the word prediction window on the basis of phonetic spellings or typing errors. This feature can be turned on or off.
Usage examples	WordQ has 2000 pre-written sentence examples for the most commonly confused words. Words with these explanatory sentences are shown in the prediction window with an arrow next to them. Hovering over the arrow displays the sentence that is then read aloud (if speech is selected) with block highlighting. Usage samples are easily edited. You can even allocate two sample sentences to explain a word if you like. Sentences can be used for a range of purposes; even to provide word definitions if you choose.

Learning new words

Some word prediction programs enable new words that are typed in to be automatically saved into the users prediction dictionary, with or without a spell check, or when you quit from the program. WordQ manages “learning words as you type” a little differently.

Misspelled or unknown words (words not in the current vocabulary list) are put aside in the “spelling” section of “My Words” in Options menu. They will only be predicted once they have been checked and added to the current vocabulary list. It is possible to turn this feature off to keep new words from being learned.

Predicting ahead	WordQ predicts words as you type as well as words that may come next in the sentence.
Choosing word endings	By arrowing back once a word has been selected from the prediction window, more words starting with the word root are available.
Correcting errors	Undo a wrong selection by pressing escape. The last word will be deleted.
Punctuation	After selecting a word, WordQ can add spaces, adjust punctuation and auto-capitalise the first word of the next sentence.

Prediction window features

These features are changed within the Options menu

• Vertical or horizontal window
• Number of words displayed from 1-9,
• Change font, style and size
• Displays words and phrases in window
• Prediction window can follow the cursor or remain in a fixed position on the screen
• Display usage examples (sample sentences are attached to some words that are confusable eg there, their)
• Specify the order of words (“most likely” or “alphabetical”)
• Toggle prediction window on/off (F9)
• For users with visual needs, the prediction box window colours can be changed through the Control Panel.

Speech

WordQ comes with the Acapela speech engine. This offers high quality synthesized speech. This is a SAPI4 voice. Microsoft voices are also available. Australian sounding speech is not available at this stage with WordQ.

The program will speak text as you type, or speak selected text with word by word highlighting. The colour of the highlighting can be altered via the Control Panel. Text can be read aloud letter by letter, by word or at the end of a sentence. Highlighting is only available in Word, Wordpad, Notepad or Outlook. Word by word highlighting is not available in other applications. It is possible to read text from web pages (without highlighting)and PDF files in Acrobat Reader (if using the text select tool).

Speech is also available for

• Words in the prediction window
  
• Menus (including spell check lists)
  
• File names, buttons etc

Pronunciation of words can be altered as can volume, reading speed and pitch.

Auditory feedback for words in word prediction window

With speech on, hover over words to hear them spoken. Alternatively you can arrow down the list. To hear usage sample sentence spoken, hover mouse over arrow next to the word. The sentence will be displayed and read aloud with highlighting.

Selection method

Words in the prediction window are selected by number, (number line or number pad) or by clicking on the word.

SpeakQ

SpeakQ lets you write by speaking. It works in conjunction with WordQ. A writer can choose to enter text by using the keyboard, the word prediction features of WordQ, or speak straight into their piece of writing. Speech recognition and word prediction are integrated.

Why use speech input?

Speech input as a means of writing can be useful

• for those with severe spelling and/or writing difficulties
  
• for people with physical difficulties where text entry can be very slow by conventional means
  
• to increase text entry speed

Some drawbacks of current speech input software for people with reading difficulties and disabilities

Speech input requires the user to create and save a profile of the way they say words. They must read text during the training session. For those with reading difficulties, this is challenging, frustrating and sometimes not possible. It is generally not possible to customise training text. Continuous dictation may be difficult for some users.

It is hard to monitor recognised speech in some standard speech input programs. Voice recognition software does not integrate with word prediction. There are packages (such as Read&Write GOLD) that have speech input as an option within their suite of features, however it cannot be used with word prediction, only for continuous speech. Complex control and directions are often needed, with a large
number of different commands.

Considerations when using speech input software:

• The user needs to know what they want to dictate
• Speech should be clear with consistent pronunciation
• Dictation needs to be of a consistent pace
• The user needs to be able to visually identify an error or “hear” an error using text to speech feedback
• Amount of background noise when using the computer should be minimal.

Summary of SpeakQ features:

• Uses Microsoft Speech 5.1 Drivers
• Can use it with word prediction
• Contains simplified training texts and speech prompting to help the user read the text. You can even use you own training text
• Dictate directly into the document or into the word prediction box
• Dictate phrases or words
• Ongoing speech feedback of recognised words
• No verbal commands for actions such as navigation, opening and closing applications etc. No need to learn a lot of commands
• Verbal commands for basic punctuation
• User can type, use speech input or use word prediction to help them write

SpeakQ does not provide improved accuracy of voice recognition. Nor does it offer the user complete hands free access to the computer with mouse and menu navigation tools. It simply provides text entry and punctuation in conjunction with word prediction.

Starting up

When SpeakQ is installed, you will notice that the WordQ toolbar changes. New toolbar icons are Mic + Replay – both are assigned a hotkey. The microphone can be manually turned on or off and recognised text can be replayed.

The training process

Testing the microphone

Firstly you must test your microphone. A good quality microphone is an essential part of success in speech input. A microphone with earphones is recommended. (For a list of recommended microphone/headsets click here) When you create a new user from the Speech Recognition Options, you are prompted to go through the Microsoft microphone setup wizard where the volume level is adjusted, then the speakers and headset are tested. This requires you to speak a few sentences displayed as text.

Training your speech

The uniqueness of SpeakQ is the fact that reading texts for speech training can be customised to suit the user’s reading ability, interest, vision and other needs. They can select from a range of texts at three different levels – Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced.

At the start of training session you are asked to indicate whether you are male or female and more or less than 13 years old. If you are a male, and your voice is changing, then the speech recognition may not be accurate.

The training window presents chunks of a sentence for reading. The text is read aloud and highlighted. The user then speaks the text. Recognised text is displayed under the original text.

At any time the user can go back, pause or stop. The passage can be re-read. If words are not recognised, then the unrecognized words are displayed and spoken and the individual has the chance of speaking them again.

The training display can be changed in the following ways:

• Size and font of prompt text
  
• Size and font of dictated text
  
• Number of words presented and spoken at one time
  
• Wait time before prompt is repeated
  
• Word by word highlighting on or off.
  
• Speech volume, speed and voice

It is recommended that you train at least 3 different texts. In 15 minutes, a sample of 800-1000 words are saved. A progress bar at the bottom of the screen tells you how far in the training you have gone.

Create your own training texts

It is possible to create your own training texts from samples of your own writing. You may want students, for example, to use classroom learning materials to train the computer. You simply need to create some writing, without numbers, and save it as a text file, making sure you separate each sentence using the Enter key. Then break the sentence into segments of 5 or six words at a time using the # key. Save your training text files in a folder in C:Program FileWordQ2Training.

More training

When you start off using the speech recognition feature, you may find that the recognition of words is not quite as accurate as when you carried out the training. With practice, the recognition will improve. You can do additional training to improve recognition with text similar to that which you are going to write about.

Train words

This feature in the Options menu lets you add new words with unusual spelling, or pronunciation.

Starting to speak

The microphone automatically turns off whenever you

• click with the mouse
  
• use the arrow keys
  
• press escape
  
• select the microphone icon from the toolbar.

F8 also toggles the microphone off or on.
You can make corrections in your document without worrying about unwanted recognitions being inserted.

Speech feedback as you speak

SpeakQ can speak back any words it has recognised. This feature can be turned off.

Speech recognition modes

There are two modes for speech input in SpeakQ.

• Speak and select
  Spoken words and phrases are displayed as a list of choices in the word prediction box. The program enters what you say in the box after you make a pause. You then select from the list of words or phrases using the keyboard or mouse. You can speak individual words or phrases. SpeakQ will speak the first option in the list. Hovering the mouse over other choices in the prediction box enables each choice to be spoken aloud.

  If you speak a single word, then you may see several similar sounding words displayed.

  You cannot select the words from the prediction box by saying the corresponding number. You need to select with a mouse or keyboard. In this mode, you must type punctuation marks rather than speak them. The word by word pace is slightly slower when dictating through the word prediction box.

  Only words contained in your word prediction user vocabulary are suggested in speak and select mode.
  

• Speak continuously
  Words are typed into the document as you say them. Words outside the WordQ vocabulary may be recognised in this mode.

Computer navigation

This speech input does not have computer control like other more comprehensive packages. You cannot edit by saying “backspace” for example. There are a limited set of punctuation commands (18 in all).

• Period (in UK English we say “full stop”)
  
• Question mark
  
• Comma
  
• Colon
  
• Semi-colon
  
• Exclamation point (we say exclamation mark).

Making corrections

Recognised text placed in the document can be spoken aloud with highlighting, giving the writer feedback and assistance with editing. Using WordQ / SpeakQ, the writer can use the keyboard to type over any errors. They can press Escape quickly to undo the recognized phrase and redo it, either by typing from the keyboard or using the word prediction.

In summary

Both WordQ and SpeakQ were developed to enable people with writing difficulties to compete equally with others in their classroom or workplace. The focus is on simplicity rather than inclusion of many features and commands.

It is an option for children needing writing support in primary school and above, and would be a great starting point for those students who are beginning writers learning to use word prediction for increased writing independence and speed of text entry.

Training for speech recognition is user friendly and customizable. The skill of balancing typing with speaking may take a little practice, however the programs in general are easy to operate.

For busy teachers, being able to swap topic dictionaries or quickly add a list or single word is a time saver. Once topic lists are created, then the student can easily change lists to suit the writing activity themselves, making word prediction more accurate.