Why does Voice Control display a blue or red lozenge with an insertion point icon and how can I fix it for dictation?

Am no expert in this area, yet your request certainly deserves some response.

Fortunately, Apple Support documents the ways and methods of using Voice Control.

Here's what I found:

"When Command mode is on, appears in the text input area to indicate you can’t dictate to enter text."

Above is from this Apple Support article:Use Voice Control commands to interact with your Mac - Apple Support

So this suggests the red or blue lozenges will indicate you need to say "Dictation mode" to begin dictating ....

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More info if needed:

Eg: says

Say “Dictation mode.”

Dictate word by word.

Any words you say that aren’t Voice Control commands are entered as text. Dictation mode is on by default.

Say “Spelling mode.”

Dictate character by character.

Spelling mode is helpful when

you need to enter a password, a web address or another sequence of

characters that wouldn’t be recognised as a word in Dictation mode.

When Spelling mode is on, appears in the text input area.

To

increase accuracy when entering letters, you can use the letter’s

phonetic alphabet code word (for example, say “Alfa Bravo Charlie” to

enter “abc”).

Note: Spelling mode isn’t available in all Voice Control languages.

Say “Command mode.”

Voice Control responds only to commands.

Words and characters that aren’t commands are ignored and aren’t entered as text. Command mode is helpful when you need to say a series of commands and don’t want them inadvertently entered in a text input area.

When Command mode is on, appears in the text input area to indicate you can’t dictate to enter text.

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If interested: For tips on using Voice Control to dictate and edit text smoothly, there's a helpful (non-Apple) YouTube video online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWx64HznFiU

Also online is a: Voice Control, Switch Control, and Accessibility Keyboard User Guide for Mac - Apple Support

The Table of contents link on the welcome page leads to a list of various topics,

which in turm lead to detailed 'how to" articles.

All the best :-)

Thank you kindly for taking the time to reply, and to provide further info.

In that case, seems best to consult with the accessibility experts at Apple.

Although Apple integrates its accessibility features in many apps, wondering whether Voice Control may not work expertly in all apps ... (eg: Pages may be a better choice than Text-edit}. Also: some third-party (non-Apple) software manufacturers / developers / may lack accessibility coding in some or all of their products.

I understand that accessibility guidelines are freely available, but not all software developers have the skills, or are allowed the time, money, etc. by their employers, to implement the features.

(Eg: Accessibility guidelines for web-content: https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/)

You may want to reach out to Apple's Accessibility Support team:

See: How to contact Apple for help with accessibility features - Apple Support

or make contact via:

Apple's Accessibility Support Website

(NB: You can "Get Support" from the link at the bottom of their website:)

Accessibility Support - Official Apple Support

Else: It is those like yourself, who are familiar with, and use Voice Control often, who can contribute valuable feedback towards improving the use of this feature. If you wish to send feedback to reach those who work behind-the-scenes at Apple, you may want to include a link to this discussion.

To provide feedback about an accessibility feature on an Apple product,

you can email the Accessibility team: accessibility@apple.com. 

All the best :-}

Thank you kindly! :-)

Amazing! Grateful to know you no longer have that situation. Thank you :-)