About Speech-to-Text/Dictation

Students with the appropriate accessibility supports may use the STT/Dictation tool when responding to Text Response items or entering notes. The STT/Dictation tool allows a student to dictate a spoken response that is transcribed in the item response area.

To begin dictating, the student selects the microphone button in the toolbar of the item response area.

The student can stop the dictation by selecting the microphone button in the toolbar again. The button automatically deactivates if no sound is detected for a specified period. If the student selects the microphone button again and starts dictating, the new text is appended to the previously transcribed text.

Students can dictate for five minutes at a time. The student can also control the punctuation and grammar of the text through speech commands to some extent. For example, the student can say, “New Paragraph” to create a new paragraph. It is ultimately the student’s responsibility to ensure the accuracy of the transcription, as well as grammar and punctuation.

The buttons in the formatting toolbar are disabled while dictation is on. Students cannot navigate away from the test page while dictation is on.