Ipad apps review ms 1

Review of some of the IPAD apps for Augmentative and Alternative Communication by Marion
Stanton. Rview date: 12th March 2011.
I can’t guarantee that I have fully understood every capability of all of these apps but, as far as I have
been able to use them, this review consists of my personal view of the advantages and
disadvantages for various populations that use AAC.

MyPECS

Pricing (at time of writing) approximately £20
Range of communication options: 11 categories with between 3 and 41 options depending on the
category. Tends towards life in the USA (e.g. Corn Chips in the food category).
Editing possible: Can upload your own pictures and modify existing buttons. Can create 2 additional
sets for three users. Can create schedules as well as communication icons. I found some descriptions
of how it can be used on the website.
Consistency of icon size: All icons the same size except the replay button. Can configure to several
size options.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): Name, icon size, language (English or
Spanish), male or female voice, edict mode, placement of configuration button, image source to
upload photos, display clock, open image when pressed option, background (most of the
backgrounds are quite busy but there is a light and dark grey, black, white and high contrast yellow
option), text colour.
Swiping or static screen: need to be able to swipe screen.
Rotates between landscape and portrait? No, portrait only.
Size of cells: several configurations available.
Voice output? YES
Quality of voice (if applicable): good, synthetic, USA
Word prediction (if applicable): N/A
Enables phrase building? NO. Whole phrases on icons selection.
Clarity of selections: Clear photographs.
Ease of use: medium. I was a bit surprised when clicking on the picture took you back to the index
page rather than playing the message.

www.contactcandle.co.uk

SmallTalk conversation

Pricing (at time of writing) free or very cheap
Range of communication options: about 66 commonly used phrases. USA based phrases.
Editing possible: I could only work out how to delete phrases and not how to get them back!
Couldn’t find instructions on website. There is a setting that I think lets you back to default under I
Pad settings.
Consistency of icon size: All icons and phrase buttons the same size.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): I only found delete and change name.
Swiping or static screen: need to be able to swipe screen.
Rotates between landscape and portrait? Changes between them and acts very differently in the
two orientations (see pictures above).
Size of cells: good size.
Voice output? YES
Quality of voice (if applicable): good, synthetic, USA
Enables phrase building? NO. Whole phrases on icons selection.
Clarity of selections: Clear pictures.
Ease of use: medium.

TikeNotes

Range of communication options: This is a spelling programme that requires literacy but you can
save phrases and build up a phrase based set of options.
Editing possible: N/A
Consistency of icon size: Icons are different sizes.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): Lots of different languages on keyboards,
can adapt font size. Very useful for emailing messages and saving work. Help menu available.
Swiping or static screen: static.

Rotates between landscape and portrait? YES
Size of cells: mostly good size.
Voice output? NO
Quality of voice (if applicable): N/A
Word prediction (if applicable): YES
Enables phrase building? YES. You can type a phrase and save it for future use. You can email the
phrase or copy and paste it to a voice output app but this is long winded.
Clarity of selections: Very useful bunching of letters for selection which gets to the choice quite
quickly.

Speak it

Range of communication options: This is a spelling programme that requires literacy but you can
save phrases and build up a phrase based set of options.
Editing possible: N/A
Consistency of icon size: Icons are different sizes.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): Lots of different languages on keyboards,
can adapt font size. Very useful for emailing messages and saving work. Help menu available.
Swiping or static screen: static.
Rotates between landscape and portrait? YES
Size of cells: mixed.
Voice output? YES
Quality of voice (if applicable): Good (USA)
Word prediction (if applicable): NO
Enables phrase building? YES. You can type a phrase and save it for future use. You can email the
phrase or convert it to an audio file for email.
Clarity of selections: Based on the Ipad key board.

Icomm


Range of communication options: category based.
Editing possible: YES but need to pay to upgrade (about £5).
Consistency of icon size: Icons are same size.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): Need to upgrade to configure.
Swiping or static screen: swipe.
Rotates between landscape and portrait? NO only available in portrait.
Size of cells: stable
Voice output? YES if you upgrade.
Quality of voice (if applicable): not known (I haven’t upgraded)
Enables phrase building? NO
Clarity of selections: Good

iConverse

Range of communication options: Limited number of choice buttons.
Editing possible: YES but quite basic and only a few options.
Consistency of icon size: Icons are same size.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): Not sure. Very basic.
Swiping or static screen: static
Rotates between landscape and portrait? NO only available in portrait.
Voice output? YES either recorded or synthetic.
Quality of voice (if applicable): good recording. Basic synthetic voice.
Clarity of selections: No text with the common buttons.
Ease of use: medium


Tap to Talk

Pricing (at time of writing) free but you need to take out a monthly subscription to edit and add
your own pages.
Range of communication options: 6 categories. Limited number of choice buttons.
Editing possible: YES if you take out a monthly subscription.
Consistency of icon size: Icons have two sizes with a smaller size for function buttons.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): Not sure. Very basic.
Rotates between landscape and portrait? YES.
Voice output? Synthetic.
Quality of voice (if applicable): OK (USA).
Clarity of selections: Clear pictures with text which you can choose to turn off. Stable layout. Similar
to basic conventional device.
Ease of use: Good. Icons reasonable size and well spaced.

TapSpeak Button

Range of communication options: Like a virtual Big Mack but with a feature that allows you to store
many pre-recorded phrases which can be selected on the left hand side.
Editing possible: YES. The app relies on your editing it.
Consistency of icon size: A large single message button or a range of smaller choices in a list on the
left hand side.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): It is possible to change button type
between shapes, photographs or PCS symbols. You can configure required tap duration and
allowance for movement.
Rotates between landscape and portrait? YES. Rotating to Portrait gets rid of left hand list and
leaves you with single message icon for cause and effect switching and turn taking.

Voice output? records your own voice.
Quality of voice (if applicable): good.
Clarity of selections: choice between shape, photograph or PCS symbol. Can choose to have large
text label.
Ease of use: Good. Well supported by website that can be accessed from the app. Very easy to
record messages.

TapSpeak Choice


Range of communication options: Like a virtual Big Mack but with a feature that allows you to store
many pre-recorded phrases which can be selected on the left hand side.
Editing possible: YES. The app relies on your editing it.
Consistency of icon size: A large single message button or a range of smaller choices in a list on the
left hand side.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): It is possible to change button type
between shapes, photographs or PCS symbols. You can configure required tap duration and
allowance for movement.
Swiping or static screen: static but you need to be good at swiping to edit it. I found it quite hard to
get the hang of.
Voice output? records your own voice or use sample library voice.
Enables phrase building? YES if you programme it to do so.
Clarity of selections: choice between shape, photograph or PCS symbol. You can change the labels
to say anything you want it to.
Ease of use: Good. Well supported by website that can be accessed from the app. Very easy to
record messages.

TapSpeak Sequence


One I haven’t downloaded yet. Here is Will Wade’s review:
Submitted by willwade on Sun, 01/09/2011 - 10:14


Create sequences with photos and recorded sound that are stepped through with a tap (release needed) or tap. PCS symbols
soon to be added
TapSpeak Sequence for iPad revolutionizes how parents, speech therapists, vision therapists, schools, and institutions
create and use message sequences to help disabled children learn to communicate. Use TapSpeak Sequence instead of
sequential message switches to record and customize messages without losing any previously recorded sequences.

Kids with cerebral palsy, autism, cortical vision impairment (CVI), pediatric stroke, or any disability that impairs their ability
to communicate can make use of this app.

Features:
- Unlimited number of sequences
- Unlimited sequence length
- Unlimited phrase recording length
- Select from a number of geometric symbols and colors
- Use your own photographs or drawings
- Tap response is configurable to accommodate kids with varying motor skill levels
- Basic usage tracking
- Reorder phrases in a sequence, modify existing phrases

Many more features coming including:
- Standard picture symbol set support
- Resizable and moveable visual targets
- Configurable background (low/high complexity)
- Comprehensive usage tracking and reporting
- More sample sequences

Proloquo2go


Range of communication options: A basic dynamic screen vocabulary using Symbolstix symbols.
Editing possible: YES. You can add to pages, edit icons on pages and create new pages.
Consistency of icon size: The back button and the delete and clear are smaller than the icons and
the delete requires two taps. It is difficult to get the key board to fit to the page and still have
reasonable sized icons.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): You can go to the setting menu on the ipad
and select Proloquo2go. There you can change the appearance of the display, Grid, colours, text and
images. You can also change the way you scroll, restrict editing, change how the speech works,
support grammar, change setting for holding and tapping and adjust prediction settings.
Swiping or static screen: The larger the icons the more you need to swipe.
Size of cells: can be changed from very small to one cell per page.
Voice output? Synthetic (UK).
Word prediction (if applicable): Has been produced for the standard ipad keyboard which can be
accessed via Proloquo2go.
Enables phrase building? YES
Clarity of selections: has colour coding as well as stable dynamic display.
Ease of use: Good. Fairly easy to programme. Symbols get very small if you have a lot of text on an
icon.

Easy Speak


Pricing (at time of writing): Free or very cheap.
Range of communication options: Word prediction attached to the iPad keyboard.
Editing possible: YES. You can add to the prediction dictionary.
Consistency of icon size: The speak, clear and prediction selections are a different size to the keys on
the letterboard.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): You can get to settings from the typing
page where you can change volume and voice speed, select a male or female voice and remove your
customised words.
Swiping or static screen: Static.
Size of cells: Fairly small.
Voice output? Synthetic (UK).
Word prediction (if applicable): Has been produced for the standard ipad keyboard .
Enables phrase building? YES by typing them. You can save phrases and choose to have them
predicted.
Clarity of selections: OK.
Ease of use: Good apart from the narrow prediction bands.

Locabulary

Pricing (at time of writing): Free or very cheap.
Range of communication options: Enables phrase building with automatically changing screens. Also
has a basic spelling board.
Editing possible: YES. You can add our own phrases and create your own categories but without so
many follow on pages. .
Consistency of icon size: Fairly similar and quite large.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): You can get to settings from the front page
where you can change font size and select a male or female voice. You can also set the Locabulator
to detect where you are from a range up to 10.9 miles. I’m not sure what the purpose of this is as it
couldn’t locate me in my little corner of Cumbria.
Swiping or static screen: Swiping up or down on some pages.
Rotates between landscape and portrait? NO. Portrait only.
Size of cells: generous.
Voice output? Synthetic (USA).
Quality of voice (if applicable): ok on phrase pages but poor on the keyboard page.
Enables phrase building? YES.
Clarity of selections: Good.
Ease of use: Good.


Alexicom AAC

Pricing (at time of writing): Free or very cheap but then you have to pay for edit facilities on line.
Range of communication options: Basic dynamic screen communication pages using photograph
images.
Editing possible: YES. There appears to be potential to substantially custom a number of pages but it
has to be done on line through the website.
Consistency of icon size: Very similar and quite large. Good back button.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): Can be set for scanning and selecting. You
can also select zoom and bounce modes. Accessed at the bottom of the front page.
Size of cells: GOOD.
Quality of voice (if applicable): Good.
Enables phrase building? YES.
Ease of use: Fair. Made a bit complicated by having to go on line to edit but there is lots of editing
support on the website.

ICanSpeak

Pricing (at time of writing): Approximately £18

Range of communication options: Slightly different to a dynamic screen as icon changes either
appear by pop-ups or partial dynamic screen changes in the central window. A large range of options
available by category without having to go through many levels. You can also access the ipad
keyboard by tapping the sentence bar.
Editing possible: It appears that an editing facility is in the planning stages.
Consistency of icon size: Very similar but quite small.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): Found on page 10 of the activities section
you can change the look of the buttons and put speak word on or off.
Size of cells: Small.
Quality of voice (if applicable): Poor.
Enables phrase building? YES. This is one of the best features. I was able to string a few sentences
together but when I couldn’t find the word I wanted I had to resort to the ipad keyboard by tapping
the sentence bar. However, it does give the iPad keyboard voice output which is useful.
Ease of use: Fair. Good for someone who has little problem with fine motor control.

Imean

Pricing (at time of writing): Approximately £3
Range of communication options: ABC and qwerty keyboards plus a number board with math’s
icons. Enables student to save work.
Editing possible: NO
Consistency of icon size: Fairly good size.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): None
Rotates between landscape and portrait? NO. Landscape only.
Size of cells: medium.
Voice output? None.
Quality of voice (if applicable): N/A
Word prediction (if applicable): YES but basic.
Enables phrase building? Only through spelling.
Clarity of selections: Very clear. This is the best feature.
Ease of use: Good but Voice output would make such a difference to this app.

TouchChat HD

Another one I haven’t downloaded yet. I do however know that there is a version (not included in
the review that follows) which includes Nancy Inman’s WordPower at a cost of approximately £180. I

have been informed that a $10 un-editable version without speech will shortly be available for
evaluation.

Here is Will Wade’s review:

Submitted by willwade on Sun, 01/09/2011 - 10:14

4 Vocab packages: VocabPC, Multichat 15, Spelling (with 4 cell word prediction) & Primary. Wordpower and iEssence available
as well as in-app purchases. Edit on the PC & Share pagesets with others.
TouchChat AAC for iPhone and iPod*

TouchChat is a full featured communication solution for individuals who have difficulty using their natural voice. TouchChat
is designed for individuals with Autism, Down Syndrome, ALS, apraxia, stroke, or other conditions that affect a person ’ s ability
to use natural speech.

TouchChat fits into the category assistive technology known as Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
products and includes many features that were previously only available in much more expensive solutions on dedicated
devices. Words, phrases and messages are spoken with a built-in voice synthesizer or by playing recorded message. Five
English synthesized voices are available, allowing you to choose a voice that meets your own personality. TouchChat also has
a unique feature whereby one can simply tilt the device to make the message expand to fill the entire screen in large letters.
This feature allows a person to communicate silently or to communicate in noisy environments.

TouchChat gives an individual the ability to navigate through page sets and speak messages. Page sets are linked pages,
each of which is divided into a number of buttons. The buttons are programmed to have specific actions. For example, buttons
may be programmed to speak a message, navigate to a different page, change the volume, clear the display, etc. Four page
sets are included with the TouchChat: VocabPC, MultiChat-15, Primary and Spelling. Each page set targets individuals with
different communication needs. Additional page sets including WordPower and Essence are available as in-app purchases.

The pages, grid layout, buttons, messages, and symbols are fully customizable. You can modify the provided page sets or
create your own. Select from over 30 button actions when creating new buttons. Over 10,000 Symbolstix symbols are included
for customizing buttons. You can also use your own images or take photos with the built-in camera. Gestures can also be used
to navigate to new pages, speak messages, etc.

TouchChat enables you to subscribe to iShare, an online server where you can share customized pages with an online
community.

TouchChat has been inspired by Saltillo Corporation ’ s ChatPC product line. TouchChat page sets can be transferred to
Saltillo ’ s ChatPC and ALT-Chat devices.

Support URL http://www.silver-kite.com/touchChat

AutoVerbal

Pricing (at time of writing): Free or cheap
Range of communication options: A range of words and phrases organised in a linear way within
categories. There is also the possibility of typing to voice output using the ipad keyboard.
Editing possible: Some limited editing seems to be available on icons that have been identified for
the purpose.
Consistency of icon size: Fairly good size.
Configuration (what can be configured and how easily): None as far as I can see but this might just
be that I haven’t found the way yet.
Swiping or static screen: Swiping skills needed.
Size of cells: medium.
Voice output? YES
Quality of voice (if applicable): Good
Clarity of selections: The pictures are nice but I think it needs development. It has promise.
Ease of use: Fair. There are some nice features like the fact that a little work areas captures your
communications so that you can play them back together.

Many more apps are described at the following website where you can also find web links to the
websites of the apps I have already mentioned:

http://www.appsforaac.net/applist


Ipad apps review ms 1

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