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

10. Editing an existing 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

13. Cell being edited in Cell Edit Mode

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

16. Page being edited in
Show/Hide Edit Mode

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

21. Scanning settings

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

24. Screen settings

25. Screen settings
 Adjustable frame width – blue frame
 1x – 3x cell magnification
In scanning mode, magnifies highlighted cell
In direct select mode, magnifies on selection
 Zoom On/Off – allows manual zooming
Pinch to zoom
Double tap to zoom
Single tap to activate cell
 Already discussed dimmed cell options
 Voice over compatible

26. TTS and word prediction

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

29. Data tracking

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!

31. Other features
International character support – right to left
keyboard and word prediction

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

34. Social media access

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

38. Guided access
Disable selected user controls

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!