Voice-activated syntax-directed editing

Programmers affected with physical disabilities such as carpal tunnel syndrome can only use traditional mouse/keyboard driven editors with great difficulty, if at all. We have developed a speech-driven programming model to provide a usable alternative for such users. While dictation engines are extant for free-form text entry, they do not perform in a satisfactory manner as a programming editor because of the much more stringent and numerous edit operations needed in this environment.; The speech-driven Java programming editor (which is named VASDE) developed here employs a syntax-directed approach to constrain and guide user input. The VASDE system is designed to operate using only a voice interface, as opposed to retrofitting an existing mouse/keyboard editor with a voice front-end. The highly guided approach minimizes the set of spoken commands that must be recognized at a given time. This approach also enforces a programmatic style that maximizes the ability of the user to produce programs with a minimal number of syntactic errors. An evaluation procedure has also been developed and applied to gauge the completeness of the individual implemented functions, as well as the appropriateness of the user interface of the VASDE environment.