Blind and Visually Impaired Community
↑
0
↓
Dragon Naturally Speaking - what employers already have it in place & fully functional? (self.Blind)
submitted by UserNme_AlreadyTaken
I'm seeking companies to apply to that have Dragon Naturally Speaking fully, continuously, & reliably functional.
While I'm very, very aware of the on-paper legal requirements regarding reasonable accommodations & accessible access, I want to WORK, not spend (another) chunk of my professional life fighting a never-ending legal battle against an agency/company with unlimited resources just to try & get basic ADA/Rehab Act legal compliance, while I lose even more valuable work experience, advancement opportunities, raises, trainings, benefits, etc.
Basically, I've lost too much of my career to 'fighting to get Dragon functional/fighting for equivalent accessible access to electronic and information technology' at my (federal) employer, & desperately want to find an employer who already has Dragon in place & fully functional so I can have the opportunity to just WORK.
TL;DR - seeking companies with Dragon Naturally Speaking/voice recognition technologies in place & functional
Crossposted to /r/disability
While I'm very, very aware of the on-paper legal requirements regarding reasonable accommodations & accessible access, I want to WORK, not spend (another) chunk of my professional life fighting a never-ending legal battle against an agency/company with unlimited resources just to try & get basic ADA/Rehab Act legal compliance, while I lose even more valuable work experience, advancement opportunities, raises, trainings, benefits, etc.
Basically, I've lost too much of my career to 'fighting to get Dragon functional/fighting for equivalent accessible access to electronic and information technology' at my (federal) employer, & desperately want to find an employer who already has Dragon in place & fully functional so I can have the opportunity to just WORK.
TL;DR - seeking companies with Dragon Naturally Speaking/voice recognition technologies in place & functional
Crossposted to /r/disability
fastfinge 3 points 6y ago
Why would any of them? In my experience, custom software is installed and configured when needed by a particular employee. An employer isn't going to get a site license for any access software; they're going to license it per-user instead.
Also, I'm not sure what this question is doing on r/blind. Dragon is for folks with physical disabilities that prevent them from typing; it isn't a screen-reader, and blind people, in general, don't use it.
Also, I'm not sure what this question is doing on r/blind. Dragon is for folks with physical disabilities that prevent them from typing; it isn't a screen-reader, and blind people, in general, don't use it.
UserNme_AlreadyTaken [OP] 1 points 6y ago
My understanding is that the JAWS screenreader software uses Dragon's speech engines to operate.
My hope is to find an employer where people are currently actively using Dragon, &/or JAWS with Dragon, to decrease the chances that I'll be back at square one, with yet another nonfunctional Dragon, at a new job.
If one IT assistive tech is functional & not being blocked by IT settings, it is far more likely that other IT assistive tech will be functional as well.
Hence my asking in r/blind.
My hope is to find an employer where people are currently actively using Dragon, &/or JAWS with Dragon, to decrease the chances that I'll be back at square one, with yet another nonfunctional Dragon, at a new job.
If one IT assistive tech is functional & not being blocked by IT settings, it is far more likely that other IT assistive tech will be functional as well.
Hence my asking in r/blind.
fastfinge 2 points 6y ago
No, JAWS and Dragon have nothing in common. There is a third party application that can allow Dragon to control JAWS, for those users who cannot type due to physical impairment. However, other than that, they're different programs, by different companies, that do entirely different things.
UserNme_AlreadyTaken [OP] 0 points 6y ago
They are both IT assistive technologies, at least that's my understanding. And both programs can be blocked from functioning by the same IT settings (& are at my employer).
Half the employees at my agency requested both JAWS & Dragon. Obviously, I don't know the specifics of why they did so. I just know that the internal IT guys said JAWS needed Dragon to work. Good to know that part is incorrect, at least.
I posted seeking assistance with finding an employer that has currently accessible IT.
My hope was someone would say 'yeah, assistive tech is functional at my employer' or something along those lines.
I'm confused why a request for assistance by a fellow person with disabilities is being met with condescension & derision.
Half the employees at my agency requested both JAWS & Dragon. Obviously, I don't know the specifics of why they did so. I just know that the internal IT guys said JAWS needed Dragon to work. Good to know that part is incorrect, at least.
I posted seeking assistance with finding an employer that has currently accessible IT.
My hope was someone would say 'yeah, assistive tech is functional at my employer' or something along those lines.
I'm confused why a request for assistance by a fellow person with disabilities is being met with condescension & derision.
fastfinge 1 points 6y ago
Because your expectations of employers are unreasonable. Most employers I'm aware of have perhaps 1 disabled employee, maybe as many as 2 or 3 in an an extremely large company. As a disabled person, you need to be completely familiar with the technology you need, exactly what it requires, and exactly what must be changed to make it work. Depending on company IT to tell you anything about JAWS or Dragon just isn't going to be effective. I know that's unfair. But 97% of fully blind people are unemployed, so the idea that the world is in any way fair is just so obviously fictional it hardly seems worth discussing.
Also, as a mod of this sub, I have read every comment on this thread. Nobody has treated you with "condescension & derision". You have been told you're being unreasonable, in polite, reasonable terms, by multiple people. Calling these posts "condescension & derision" is unacceptable. As you have taken offense instead of reading, I will no longer be responding to your posts in future.
Also, as a mod of this sub, I have read every comment on this thread. Nobody has treated you with "condescension & derision". You have been told you're being unreasonable, in polite, reasonable terms, by multiple people. Calling these posts "condescension & derision" is unacceptable. As you have taken offense instead of reading, I will no longer be responding to your posts in future.
-shacklebolt- 1 points 6y ago
There's probably no company that meets that standard unless it's a dictation service that ordinarily uses Dragon.
With any kind of accessibility software, no employer is just going to install it on every machine or have a license for the whole workplace (unless they have a lot of employees with the same disability, I suppose.)
When I get a job I have to tell my employer what I need, and they get it for me (if you're a rehab client in the US, sometimes they get it for you instead.)
Most blind people don't use dictation software because most of us don't happen to also have any disabilities that impact our use of our hands. But if I'd hit years and years of walls with my employer over a piece of software, and otherwise found the job suitable, I might just ask if I can buy my own copy of that software and use it at work. Dragon professional is like $300 to buy your own license for.
If the issue is how they are maintaining the software, the company that makes it should be providing support when there are issues. Unless your employer is actively doing something in their configuration which interferes with the operation of the software, what can they do?
With any kind of accessibility software, no employer is just going to install it on every machine or have a license for the whole workplace (unless they have a lot of employees with the same disability, I suppose.)
When I get a job I have to tell my employer what I need, and they get it for me (if you're a rehab client in the US, sometimes they get it for you instead.)
Most blind people don't use dictation software because most of us don't happen to also have any disabilities that impact our use of our hands. But if I'd hit years and years of walls with my employer over a piece of software, and otherwise found the job suitable, I might just ask if I can buy my own copy of that software and use it at work. Dragon professional is like $300 to buy your own license for.
If the issue is how they are maintaining the software, the company that makes it should be providing support when there are issues. Unless your employer is actively doing something in their configuration which interferes with the operation of the software, what can they do?
UserNme_AlreadyTaken [OP] 1 points 6y ago
My agency actively blocks Dragon from functioning, & terminates anyone who needs it/requests it (79 Dragon users terminated in 6 months, once it was brought to light that Dragon is being blocked from functioning by IT settings). It's not legal, but enforcement is left up to individuals with disabilities, & just the costs of the lawyer, let alone the almost decade it takes for the legal process to get anywhere, is too high a price for any of us to pay.
My agency's management is at a standstill with their IT contractor over who must pay for the manufacturer's support ($1,500 per user, annually) to get Dragon functional and keep it functional. And, of course, both are claiming they 'have no legal obligation to provide accessible access, to anyone' (after management approved the RAs, mind you).
Employees are not allowed to install anything on the computers, at all, & have zero control over the enterprise wide computer settings that are blockong Dragon & all IT assistive technology from functioning.
My understanding was that JAWS software uses Dragon's speech engines - this is also blocked from functioning at my agency.
However, my agency had claimed that Dragon was 'certified for use' on their system/computers....even though it has actually never been functional anywhere in the Agency (over 300,000 employees).
My hope is to find an employer where people are currently actively using Dragon, &/or JAWS with Dragon, to decrease the chances that I'll be back at square one, with yet another nonfunctional Dragon, at a new job.
My agency's management is at a standstill with their IT contractor over who must pay for the manufacturer's support ($1,500 per user, annually) to get Dragon functional and keep it functional. And, of course, both are claiming they 'have no legal obligation to provide accessible access, to anyone' (after management approved the RAs, mind you).
Employees are not allowed to install anything on the computers, at all, & have zero control over the enterprise wide computer settings that are blockong Dragon & all IT assistive technology from functioning.
My understanding was that JAWS software uses Dragon's speech engines - this is also blocked from functioning at my agency.
However, my agency had claimed that Dragon was 'certified for use' on their system/computers....even though it has actually never been functional anywhere in the Agency (over 300,000 employees).
My hope is to find an employer where people are currently actively using Dragon, &/or JAWS with Dragon, to decrease the chances that I'll be back at square one, with yet another nonfunctional Dragon, at a new job.
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc • HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.