Voice dictation can be used in place of a hardware input device for typing. Its use requires relatively clear speech to work well.
Voice dictation software is not particularly good at interpreting terms which are specialized in nature, such as medical or engineering terms. They may need to be spelled out.
Punctuation is often stated by naming the punctuation mark itself. This creates ambiguity when trying to state a word which coincides with the name of a punctuation mark. Voice dictation software attempts to distinguish the intent by measuring the intonation and speed of the speech.
| Desired Text | Speech Required Using macOS Dictation |
|---|---|
| Hello, it is nice to see you today. | “Hello COMMA it is nice to see you today PERIOD” |
| The comma and period are common punctuation marks. | “The comma and period are common punctuation marks PERIOD.” |
Voice dictation may accept other commands, such as a command to begin a new line or new paragraph.