Voice controller testing
Voice controllers work by listening to spoken commands. For example, you can say ‘click button’ or ‘scroll down’ to control the webpage.
Voice controllers help people with motor and cognitive impairments. They help people with motor impairments to use your service where a mouse or keyboard may be difficult or painful. They also help people with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, where writing may be difficult.
You must make sure your product or service works using at least one common voice controller.
How to test
You can use the test record templates in the Tools and Resources section for step by step guidance on how to test with common voice control software.
Complete each test marking it as passed, failed, not checked or not present. Keep your results as evidence.
Types of voice control software
Dragon on Windows
Dragon is licensed software for Windows which you will need to buy and install before you can use it.
Dragon works well on Firefox, and Chromium based browsers like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. It also works well on Internet Explorer, but Internet Explorer may not support all the features of websites which have been coded to modern standards which could create false negatives in your tests.
Voice Access on Windows 11
Voice Access is built into Windows 11. To turn it on, in the Start menu, select:Settings > Accessibility > Speech then turn on the Voice access switch.
For more detailed instructions on setting up Voice Access, you can read Microsoft’s Set up voice access guide.
Speech Recognition on Windows 10
Speech Recognition is built into Windows 10. To turn it on, in the Start menu, select:Settings > Time & language > Speech. Then under under Microphone, select the Get started button.
For more detailed instructions on using Speech Recognition, you can read Microsoft’s guide on how to Use voice recognition in Windows.
Note that Voice Access replaces Speech Recognition in Windows 11. If you’re using Windows 11, then Speech Recognition may not be available.
Voice Control on macOS
Voice Control is built into macOS. To turn it on, choose:System Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control
Voice Control is only fully supported by the Safari browser. So make sure all testing is done using Safari.
For more information on Voice Control, read Apple’s guide on how to Use Voice Control on your Mac.