Webinar: Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) – The History, Current Technologies, and Practical Tips
Don’t miss this HLAA Webinar on Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR): The History, Current Technologies, and Practical Tips, Wednesday, May 27, 2020 presented by Linda Kozma-Spytek, Senior Research Audiologist in the Technology Access Program of Gallaudet University.

Automatic speech recognition (ASR) is a computer technology that is used to identify and process the human voice. It has become ubiquitous with the proliferation of voice services like Google Assistant, Alexa and Siri. There are many uses of ASR beyond these voice-activated, interactive personal assistants. When ASR is used to convert the words a person has spoken into text, it can be a very useful accessibility tool for people with hearing loss. Such uses can include speech-to-text for live, face-to-face conversation, captioning for meetings and telephone conversations, and more. We’ll take a brief look at the history of ASR before diving into its many uses, examples of the available speech-to-text ASR technology and some practical tips for making the most of using these kinds of applications.
Registration is required for HLAA webinars. Should you have any questions, please contact webinars@hearingloss.org.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Helpful Hints and Tutorials
- Zoom concerns have been addressed and procedures will be modified as Zoom continues to update their software. The main security issue was with open meetings. When you register, it creates a unique link for a password protected session.
- Use a computer. If possible, attend the meeting on a computer rather than via a smart phone or iPad. This will give you the best layout to view the captions as well as other meeting features.
- Captions will be provided either on the Zoom screen or through enabling subtitles on Zoom. How to See Closed Captions in ZOOM
- Check your time zone. This meeting will take place live at 2 p.m. ET, 1 p.m. CT, 12 p.m. MT and 11 a.m. PT. If you are in a different time zone, please adjust the time so you do not miss the meeting.
NOTE: HLAA does not offer Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for participation in our webinars.