Freedom Scientific - Voice Assistant is not working “I didn’t hear that” error

Freedom Scientific - Voice Assistant is not working “I didn’t hear that” error

Problem

The Voice Assistant feature in Freedom Scientific products is not responding to spoken requests or an error message “I didn’t hear that” is spoken.


Applies to

  1. JAWS
  2. ZoomText
  3. Fusion

Resolution

Please ensure that the USB headset or microphone is physically connected to the computer system.  Then try the steps below to fix the problem.


For JAWS users

  1. Press JAWSKey+J or CONTROL+CAPSLOCK+J to open the JAWS window.
  2. Then press ALT+U to access Utilities > Voice Assistant > Settings.
  3. In Settings dialogue press TAB to reach Microphone Input Device drop down.
  4. Then press ALT+DOWN ARROW to open the drop down list then use UP/DOWN ARROW keys select the headset or the soundcard the microphone is connected to.
  5. Then TAB to OK and press SPACEBAR to confirm the selection.

For ZoomText/Fusion users

  1. Click the  ZoomText/Fusion taskbar button on or  CONTROL+CAPSLOCK+U to display the main ZoomText/Fusion window.
  2. Then click to open the Tools toolbar.
  3. Then click to activate the black down arrow within the Voice Assistant button menu and select Setting.
  4. Click the Microphone Input Device drop down and select the headset or soundcard the microphone is connected to.
  5. Then click OK button.

Windows settings

In some cases microphone permissions may need to be changed to allow the Voice Assistant to access the microphone.

  1. Press Windows key to open Start menu and type to search "Microphone Privacy" and launch that item in the search by pressing ENTER key.
  2. Then in the dialogue navigate down and make sure it is saying something like "Microphone access for this device is on" if you find it doesn't say this activate the "change" button below it and activate the toggle so it is turned on.
  3. Continue to navigate down to the section "Allow desktop apps to access your microphone".
  4. Then below in the list make sure you see the item Freedom Scientific Voice Assistant is there.

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