Fact · Accessibility and health
Before formal research, users of speech recognition software reported voice problems ranging from a dry throat to being unable to speak for more than half an hour a day.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“The problems and symptoms reported varied from a dry throat to being unable to speak more than half an hour a day.”
Voice fatigue and use of speech recognition: a study of voice quality ratings, Christel de Bruijn and Sandra Whiteside, Proceedings of Interspeech 2007 (ISCA), 2007, 1. Introduction.
Open the original (DOI 10.21437/Interspeech.2007-384)- What it measures
- The reports came from computer magazines, mailing lists for users of speech recognition software and the bulletin of the UK Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. The authors note that only two formal studies had examined the question at the time.
- What it does not show
- Anecdotal reports collected from the media, not measured rates. They come from the era of discrete dictation software, and their frequency among users is unknown.