Communicado vs Speech Assist Switch

Communicado helps people with aphasia to communicate with other people. Communicado starts where words fail to come. It is an app for interactive communication, using a free format with pictures, text and sound. The user can point at categorized pictures or words. The categories and the pictures or words can quickly be added inside the app by an editor, e.g. a close relative, a friend, or a therapist. Therapists can create personalized content for multiple users.

Speech Assist Switch is an AAC app for people who are speech impaired and is designed to be used with iOS Switch Control. With Switch Control people with motor difficulties can operate their iPad with a switch. The app has special features for scanning with iOS Switch Control like the option to adjust the scanning pattern and has page up/down navigation buttons to avoid scrolling. If you don’t need these features, the original app ‘Speech Assistant AAC’ is the better choice. Key features • The app is designed for the iPad. • Easy to use and completely customizable to your needs and preferences. • Categories and subcategories to organize your phrases. • History for quick access to previously typed phrases. • Option to select photos from your Photo Library or Symbols on the buttons. • Option to record speech or use one of the many iOS text-to-speech voices. • Full screen button to show your message with a large font. • iCloud backup and restore (also for recordings). Special features for iOS Switch Control • The scanning pattern can be adjusted in the settings. • All the button are created in one large grid. • The buttons can be made very small, in the settings you can choose from 6 to 12 buttons per row on an iPad. • The category buttons can be placed anywhere and it is possible to create subcategories. • Navigation through the pages can be done with page up/down buttons. • A special optional bar for the keyboard with buttons to move the cursor a letter or word. Scanning pattern • When iOS Switch Control is enabled, the default scanning pattern scans row by row and then button by button. This is not always efficient and therefore the scanning pattern can be adjusted in the settings: • The number of rows that will be grouped during scanning. • The number of buttons in a row that will be grouped during scanning. Categories and phrases • Add, change or delete your own (sub)categories and phrases. • You can create an unlimited number of categories to organize your phrases for quick access. • Create users with their own categories, phrases and voice for different languages, persons or situations. • In the settings you can quickly and easily edit multiple phrases at once. • Backup and Restore your categories and phrases to iCloud, also convenient for transferring them to another iPhone/iPad. Fully Customizable • The size of the buttons, the textbox and the text can be adjusted. • The app has various color schemes and you can also create a personal color scheme. • Change the colors of the icons on the buttons. Full screen • Show your message full screen with a very large font. • Useful for communicating in a noisy environment. • Button to rotate the text to show your message to the person opposite of you. Speech • Pronunciation corrections can be defined in the settings. • The rate and pitch of the speech can be adjusted. • Option to speak each Word or Character directly while typing. • Optional highlighting of the spoken words. • Pause and resume speaking by tapping the speak button (optional setting). Other features • Connect a bluetooth keyboard and create shortcuts for the functions Speak, Clear, Show and Attention Sound. • Button to share your message to mail, text and social media. • Attention sound button on Main and Full screen. • Option to select symbols from the set of 3400 Mulberry Symbols (mulberrysymbols.org) to place on the buttons. About the app • This app is developed by ASoft. • Ben Fullerton, who has Cerebral Palsy, has been a great help with the special features for iOS Switch Control. • For feedback or questions, please contact: speechassistant@asoft.nl Voices • The voice can be selected in the settings of the app. • The app uses the built-in iOS text-to-speech voices. • There are 90 voices in 27 languages available, for instance 9 English US, 6 English UK and 4 Australian voices available.