If you cannot use a touchscreen or a mouse to control your computer, you might use your voice.

Voice control is different than just using speech-to-text or talking to your smartphone’s voice assistant (“Hey Google” or “Siri”). These are useful tools, but often still require you to click some buttons with your hand. Full voice control gives you totally hands-free operation of your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

How does it work? In addition to a series of voice commands, you will be provided with a grid overlay or numbered tags labelling different parts of the screen. Call out the number for the area you would like to activate. This lets you click anywhere on the screen. You can also perform other mouse actions like dragging or scrolling by using your voice.

What kinds of voice control options are there?

Computer Accessibility Settings

Voice control might already be built into your computer. Visit the manufacturer’s support website to learn how to use it: Windows PC or Mac. On most devices the voice control option can be found under a category called “Ease of Access” or Accessibility” in your device settings menu.

Mobile Device Accessibility Settings

Your smartphone or tablet may have voice control built in. Visit the manufacturer’s support website to learn how to use it: Apple products (iPhone, iPad); Android products. On most devices the voice control option is found by going into device settings and opening the “Accessibility” menu.

External Software

Advanced voice recognition software like Dragon Professional is also available for robust, hands-free computer access.