Peer-reviewed research
Exploring Motor-impaired Programmers' Use of Speech Recognition
Sadia Nowrin et al., ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '22), poster, 2022 · DOI 10.1145/3517428.3550392
Read the originalRead on October 17, 2026
- What it is
- A four-page poster in which the authors interviewed programmers with motor impairments about programming by voice. It reports how they use Talon, Dragon and Voice Code, and what frustrates them about memorizing spoken commands.
- How much weight it carries
- Peer-reviewed conference poster. Qualitative interviews with a small group, so it describes experiences rather than measuring typing or coding speed. Platform descriptions reflect 2022.
Facts taken from this source
- The programmers with motor impairments interviewed in the 2022 study all used a combination of mouse, keyboard and voice to program.
“All used a combination of mouse, keyboard, and voice to program.” (Study participants)
- In a 2022 study of programmers with motor impairments, the interviewees said they were frustrated by long hours of memorizing unnatural commands to enter code by voice.
“The interviewees expressed their frustration with long hours of memorizing unnatural commands in order to enter code by voice.” (Abstract)
- Tavis Rudd's spoken Python language required users to learn a complex set of over 1000 commands.
“Tavis Rudd's spoken Python language requires users to learn a complex set of over 1000 commands.” (Related work)
- The 2022 paper says Serenade was created out of need when a co-founder was diagnosed with RSI.
“was created out of need when co-founder Matt Wiethof was diagnosed with RSI” (Related work)
- The 2022 paper says Serenade requires that spoken commands precisely match the commands the system understands.
“Serenade also requires that spoken commands precisely match the commands that the system understands.” (Related work)
- The developer of Talon left a full-time software engineering job and started building Talon after developing severe hand pain.
“developing severe hand pain, Ryan Hileman left his full-time job as a software engineer and started developing” (Related work)