Search Outloud with Voice SearchThis is the second in a series of posts I’m writing about add-ons for Google Chrome that can make web browsing more accessible.  Today, I’m highlighting an extension that offers powerful voice recognition for anyone searching the web. There are several extensions in the Chrome Web Store that will do the same thing.  I’ve tried a couple of these. The one I’m focusing on here isn’t necessarily the best, but it does work well.

Voice Search enables you to use voice recognition to search just about anywhere online for almost anything.  To activate Voice Search, after visiting the Chrome Web Store and installing it, you click on the mic icon that installs on the extension bar just to the right of Chrome’s address bar.

This brings up a second microphone icon that must be clicked. The dropdown menu beside the mic, lists where you can search, but you don’t need to select this with the mouse.  If you wish, you can simply say where you want to search before saying the search topic.  The list of search engines is customizable via the extension options.  Options for Google Chrome extensions are accessed by right-clicking on the icon in the extension bar.

I’ve tested ‘Voice Search’ with the built-in mic on my Toshiba Tecra r700, and it has worked remarkably well.  I’ve been especially impressed by how well it has recognized relatively obscure search terms such as “Comox Valley”, where I live now, and “Mussoorie, India”, where I have lived in the past.

Here’s a video that does a great job of demonstrating the power of ‘Voice Search’ with a wide range of voices–male, female, child, adult….

It is worth noting that one of the settings in the Voice Search options is to add a speech input button (the mic icon) to all text boxes.  This works in relatively small text boxes, but not in larger text fields. For example, I was able to use voice recognition to input the title of this blog post, but I am not able to use it to dictate the content of the post.

It is also important to note a caution about Voice Search that is clearly stated in the Chrome Web Store:  ”This extension can access your data on all websites.”  I think this means that you probably will not want to use Voice Search when doing your online banking.