Focuses entirely on the FREE features of the Alexicom AAC app for iOS. Includes instructions for basic editing, scanning, screen settings, TTS and word prediction, other features, and tips and tricks.
1. Alexicom AAC:
Focus on
Free Features
Dr. Karen Suhm
October 26, 2012
2. Before we begin:
This presentation focuses entirely on the
free features of the Alexicom AAC app.
Many of these features are also available in
our free Alexicom AAC app for Android, but
the target audience of this presentation is
iOS users.
Our philosophy is that if you have the
hardware, you should be able to make your
own pages for free.
3. Today we will discuss:
Quick summary of free features
Basic editing
Scanning settings
Screen settings
TTS and word prediction
LAM user data tracking
Other features
Advanced tips & tricks
4. Alexicom AAC free features –
immediately available to you pg 1/4
• 36 editable demo pages
• In-app page creation and editing
• The ability to create an unlimited number of
speaking, linking pages that never expire
• Camera image acquisition directly in the cells
• Text-to-speech and recorded audio
• Show / dim / hide cells
• Adjust dimmed cell opacity and response
5. Alexicom AAC free features –
immediately available to you pg 2/4
• One and two switch scanning
• Sequential and row/column scanning
• Auditory preview
• Bluetooth and direct touch scanning
• Supports RJ Cooper, AbleNet blue2, and
APPlicator switches
• Hold time filter for unintentional presses
• 1x-3x cell magnification
6. Alexicom AAC free features –
immediately available to you pg 3/4
• TTS enabled text buffer
• Voice / pitch changes
• Word prediction with a 150k word library
• Optional word learning, frequency of word use
• Full sized keyboard accessible with one touch
• International language support, including right
to left text entry
7. Alexicom AAC free features –
immediately available to you pg 4/4
• Automatic home page loading
• Data tracking - 30 day log in LAM format for
PeRT analysis
• Post messages to Facebook / Twitter / Email
• iCloud backup
• Fully compatible with Voice Over
8. Basic editing
Enable ‘Editing’ in settings
Press Edit at top of ‘Select page’ screen
Select any page to edit it
Create a new page by pressing [+]
You may also edit pages on the fly
When editing a page, there are two modes:
Cell Edit Mode
Show/Hide Edit Mode
Disable editing when finished to prevent
accidental editing or deletion
9. Two ways to enter Editing Mode
From ‘Select a page’
From user mode page
11. Creating a new page
Enable Editing, then
press [+]
Enter page name, # of rows, #
of columns, picture width.
**Recommendations in Info.
12. Basic editing – Cell Edit Mode
Each cell has its own Edit & Clear buttons
Press the Edit button in a cell to edit it
Image source
○ take a photo
○ use an image from your camera roll
Label – text above the image
Spoken – text to be spoken by TTS
Record audio using ‘Rec’ button
Link – page to load when cell is pressed
Press Update to save changes
14. Toggle between Editing Modes
Show/Hide Edit Mode –
for hiding/dimming cells
Cell Edit Mode – for
changing cell content
15. Basic editing – Show/Hide Mode
In Show/Hide mode, each cell has Show,
Dim, and Hide radio buttons
Select Dim to obscure a cell
Use the opacity slider in Settings to adjust the
opacity of dimmed cells
Use the ‘Dimmed cells remain active’ toggle in
Settings to control dimmed cell response
Select Hide to completely hide a cell
For difficult days or vocab building over time
17. Page after being edited in Show/Hide
Edit Mode – hidden and dimmed cells
18. Dimmed cells remain active On/Off
On = dimmed cells still speak and link
Off = dimmed cells are disabled
Opacity slider – 0 to 100%
0 = completely invisible
100% = completely visible
Note: If you set opacity to an extreme, you may get
confused (hidden working, visible not)
19. Scanning
Compatible switches:
RJ Cooper’s Bluetooth switch or switch
interface
AbleNet Blue2
Inclusive TLC APPlicator
Any device that generates
○ {space} and {enter}
○ {~1} and {~3}
The screen may also be used as a button
○ Single / double tap
20. Compatible Bluetooth Switches
1 3
2
1) RJ Cooper’s Bluetooth switch
(can also buy the ‘guts’)
2) AbleNet Blue2
3) Inclusive TLC APPlicator
22. Scanning settings
Scanning Off/On – Main scanning switch
Step-scan Off/On – Use 1 or 2 switches
Row/column scanning Off/On –
Off = sequential scanning mode
On = Select row, then select cell in row
Auditory scanning Off/On – voice preview
for low vision, cognitive impairment
Use AT&T Voices – for hearing impaired
Off = use CMU TTS for preview
On = use AT&T audio for preview
23. Scanning settings (cont’d)
Tortoise/hare slider – controls scan rate
Hold time slider – filters unintended
screen taps and button presses
Scan sound Off/On – Ticks as each cell is
highlighted, overridden by auditory preview
Include header buttons Off/On – scan
Speak, Speak & Clear, Clear, Undo buttons
Direct touch only – screen is a button;
keeps keyboard from popping up when no
Bluetooth switch is detected
27. TTS and word prediction
Enable TTS On/Off – Main TTS control
Adjustable CMU Flite TTS properties
Male / female voice toggle
Rate of speech slider
Pitch slider
Variance slider (more or less robotic)
Use the CMU voice in Cell Edit Mode to
generate speech output for buttons
Type text into the text buffer for
spontaneous communication
28. TTS and word prediction (cont’d)
Enable word prediction On/Off – Main
control
Custom word learning On/Off – adds your
words to the dictionary
Track frequency of word use On/Off –
keeps track of word usage and offers
most frequently used words first
Dictionary reset On/Off – clears your
custom dictionary and word frequency data
30. Data tracking
30-day log of user button presses
Data is in LAM format for PeRT analysis
Copy, save, email, and print logs
Data tracking On/Off –
When Off, does not record ANY data
Data tracking REC indicator is located at top
center of user mode screen
Handle the data responsibly – respect the
user’s privacy!
32. Other features
International character support
Auditory feedback On/Off – makes
Bidibeep! noise on selection
Automatic home page loading
Avoids the ‘Select a page screen’
Automatically loads the page you specify
Upper left button returns to home page
Page name is case sensitive
To disable, go to MAIN iPad settings
33. Other features (cont’d)
Backup to iCloud – default is NO
When on, Apple may purge content in low
memory situations
When off, content is NOT backed up
but is guaranteed to be there
For iCloud backup to work, you must also
enable iCloud in main iPad Settings
Restores whole iPad, not app-by-app
Social Media On/Off – Control access to
Facebook, Twitter, Email
35. Advanced tips and tricks
Use Safari to get images from Google
Type the search term into the Search bar
Select Images (Default is Web)
Hold an image to save to camera roll
Use Squaready app to “squarify” images
Free
Saves in 640 x 640, our favorite size!
36. Page made with Google Images & Squaready
Also shown: Hide/dim cells and Int’l char support
37. Advanced tips and tricks
Use Nocs app + Squaready app to make
text buttons
Free
15 fonts +
Great for Twitter
39. Advanced tips and tricks
iOS 6 – guided access
Lock into the app on Home button triple press
Complete control over the device
○ Disable specific controls
Use with our Auto load home page feature
○ Start from ‘Select a page’ screen for wider
access
○ Widen access further to allow certain tabs
Must enter passcode to leave the app, take a
screen shot, or even turn the device off
40. Before I say thank you…
Any questions?
Demo requests?
More info on features?
Accessibility issues?
Specific problems to solve?
Anything else?
41. Thank you
for attending!
If you have any questions,
please contact
support@alexicomtech.com
We believe everyone deserves to be heard!