Add to Home Screen

Installing SpeakSimple as a PWA pins it to your home screen like a native app — with full offline access, an edge-to-edge layout that respects device safe areas, a native bottom navigation bar on mobile, and no App Store required.

iOS (iPhone & iPad) — Safari

Android — Chrome

Creating Your Account

Your caregiver account links your license, profiles, and sync data across all devices. It takes under two minutes to set up.

Onboarding Wizard

SpeakSimple features a premium, multi-step onboarding wizard for caregivers to configure custom display boards, choose Harmonious Color Presets, and pre-load baseline profiles.

Multi-Step Setup

Caregiver Terminal

The caregiver terminal is your control hub. You can use any device — phone, tablet, or laptop — to manage profiles, edit grids, and publish schedule updates.

Accessing the Caregiver Dashboard

The caregiver dashboard is hidden from the standard view to prevent the recipient from accessing it accidentally. To open it:

1. Open the SpeakSimple app and sign in with your Google account.
2. The caregiver dashboard loads automatically after sign-in verification.
3. On shared/recipient devices, tap the lock icon or enter your 6-digit PIN to reveal the caregiver options.

What You Can Do Here

Pairing Recipient Devices

Recipient devices are the tablets or screens that the person using AAC will interact with. You can pair up to 5 devices on a single license.

How to Pair a Device

Removing a Device

To unpair a device, go to Device Management in the caregiver dashboard, find the device, and tap Remove Device. The recipient screen will automatically return to the pairing/welcome screen.

Caregiver PIN & Security

The 6-digit PIN is your primary security barrier, keeping the recipient safely within the communication interface while allowing caregivers quick access to settings.

Setting Your PIN

You are prompted to create your PIN during account setup. To change it later:

1. Open the caregiver dashboard and tap Settings.
2. Tap Security & PIN.
3. Enter your current PIN to verify, then enter and confirm your new 6-digit PIN.

Resetting a Forgotten PIN

AAC Grid Overview

The AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) grid is the primary screen recipients use to communicate. Cards are arranged in a colour-coded grid and each one speaks aloud when tapped.

How the Grid Works

The default grid shows 6 cards at a time in a 3×2 layout. Each card contains:

• A large visual — either an emoji, custom uploaded photo, or FontAwesome vector icon
• A text label beneath the image
• A background colour based on its word category (Fitzgerald Key)

When a recipient taps a card, the word or phrase is added to the Speech Bar at the top of the screen. Multiple cards can be tapped to build a sentence, and the whole sentence is spoken aloud when the user taps Speak.

The Speech Bar

• Speak — Speaks the accumulated words aloud
• Clear Word — Removes the last word added
• Clear All — Clears the entire sentence

Grid Customisation & Overrides

Caregivers can tailor the grid layout to support physical accessibility or communication density requirements:

• Global Grid Settings: In Caregiver Settings, set a default grid size (supporting up to 8 columns and 7 rows) for the profile. This serves as the baseline for all board views.
• Folder-Specific Overrides: When creating or editing any board folder/page, you can specify individual Column and Row overrides. This allows a 2x1 simple layout for quick "Yes / No" choices, while maintaining a detailed 8x5 grid in the main dictionary folders.

Page Indicators & Navigation

When folders or board pages contain more cards than can fit in a single grid layout, SpeakSimple automatically breaks them down into pages:

• Premium Dot Indicators: A row of glowing capsule-style indicator dots will appear centered directly below the grid layout. The active page is highlighted as an elongated glowing pill.
• Direct Navigation: Caregivers or recipients can tap any page dot to jump directly to that page, facilitating rapid scanning of vocabulary dictionary pages.
• Auto-hide: If a board page has enough grid space to show all available cards (i.e. fits on page 1), the indicator dots are hidden automatically to keep the UI clean and distraction-free.

Editing Cards

Caregivers can fully customise the AAC grid — adding new words, changing images, reordering cards, and removing ones that aren't needed.

Adding a New Card

Removing a Card

In the grid editor, long-press or tap the edit icon on any card, then select Delete Card. Confirm the deletion and tap Publish to sync the change.

Reordering Cards

In Edit Mode, press and hold any card to enter drag mode. Drag it to the desired position and release. Tap Publish when done.

Fitzgerald Colour Key

SpeakSimple uses the Fitzgerald Colour Key — a widely adopted colour-coding system for AAC that helps users identify word categories at a glance.

Text-to-Speech

SpeakSimple uses the Web Speech API to synthesise speech directly on the device — no internet, no external services, zero latency.

Choosing a Voice

Navigate to the caregiver dashboard → Settings → Voice & Speech. A dropdown lists all available voices installed on the device. Select the voice that sounds most natural and appropriate for the recipient.

Speech Rate & Pitch

In Settings → Voice & Speech, you can adjust the speaking rate (speed) and pitch using simple sliders. Slower rates are recommended for new users or younger recipients.

Schedule Overview

The visual schedule shows the recipient's day in clear, structured blocks — reducing anxiety and helping them understand what is happening and what comes next.

Views Available

• Now & Next — A full-screen view of the current activity and the next one coming up. Ideal for placing prominently on the recipient's screen.
• Daily Timeline — A scrollable vertical list of all events for the current day, with colour-coded time blocks.
• Weekly View — A column-based overview of the entire week.

How Events Work

Each schedule event contains:

• A title (e.g. "Breakfast", "School", "Therapy Session")
• A start and end time
• An optional icon or custom photo
• A colour for easy visual identification

Events are automatically highlighted as the current time falls within their window. The Now & Next view updates in real time throughout the day.

Now & Next View

The Now & Next view is designed to sit permanently on the recipient's screen — giving clear, unambiguous visual anchoring for what is happening right now and what comes afterwards.

How It Works

The view displays two large panels side by side or stacked:

• NOW — The current scheduled activity, shown with its icon, title, and time
• NEXT — The upcoming activity, shown slightly smaller

These panels update automatically in real time as the day progresses. No manual interaction is needed — the schedule engine checks the current system time every minute and advances the view automatically.

First & Then View

The First & Then view offers a simplified schedule layout, helping the recipient focus on their immediate task and the direct reward or subsequent activity that follows.

Purpose and Usage

For individuals who find a full timeline overwhelming, the First & Then view narrows attention to just two items:

• FIRST — The active event or instruction (e.g. "Eat Lunch" or "Pack Bag").
• THEN — The reinforcing event or reward that immediately follows (e.g. "Play Outside" or "Watch TV").

This layout uses high-contrast cards, large icons, and clean text, and updates automatically as time windows roll over.

Event-Linked Checklists

Link interactive checklists directly to schedule events, allowing recipients to check off sub-tasks (e.g. packing school bags, brushing teeth) with automated progress tracking.

How Checklists Work

Checklists break down specific events into actionable steps. When a schedule event contains a checklist:

• A status badge (e.g., 📝 0/3 DONE or 📝 1/3 DONE) is shown on the schedule card in the Now & Next, First & Then, and timeline views.
• Tapping the event card opens a full-screen Interactive Checklist Dialog in Recipient mode, showing the sub-tasks with circular check boxes.
• When all items are checked, a festive All Done! celebration banner slides into view.

Setting Up Checklists

Adding Events

Build your recipient's daily schedule by adding time-blocked events from the caregiver dashboard. All changes sync to paired devices immediately after publishing.

Zones of Regulation

SpeakSimple includes a dedicated Zones of Regulation board, allowing the recipient to quickly communicate their current emotional state using four universally recognized color zones.

The Four Zones

Caregiver Overview

When a recipient selects a zone on their device, it instantly syncs to the cloud. You can monitor the current emotional state of all paired devices by opening the Caregiver Dashboard and navigating to the Zones Overview tab.

Recipient Profiles

Profiles let you maintain separate AAC grids and schedules for different people under the same caregiver license — ideal for siblings, different settings (home vs school), or different communication stages.

Creating a Profile

1. Open the caregiver dashboard and tap Profiles.
2. Tap Add Profile and enter a name (e.g. "Jamie", "Home", "School Mode").
3. Configure the AAC grid and schedule for that profile independently.
4. Assign the profile to one or more paired devices.

Switching Profiles on a Device

You can reassign which profile a paired device displays at any time from the caregiver dashboard under Device Management. Select the device and choose a different profile from the dropdown. The change is pushed live instantly.

Uploading Custom Photos

Personalising cards and events with real photos from the recipient's life makes AAC significantly more relatable and effective. SpeakSimple stores all uploaded photos locally for offline access.

Adding a Photo to a Card

Voice & Speech Settings

Fine-tune how SpeakSimple sounds for your recipient with adjustable voices, rate, and pitch — all powered by the device's native speech engine with no internet required.

Available Settings

• Voice — Select from all voices installed on the device. High-quality voices can be downloaded in iOS/Android system settings.
• Rate — Controls speaking speed. Range: 0.5× (slow) to 2× (fast). Default is 1×.
• Pitch — Controls the tone. Range: 0.5 (lower) to 2 (higher). Default is 1.
• Volume — Separate from device volume; controls SpeakSimple's relative output level.

Themes & UI Settings

Personalize the app interface with curated color palettes and manage the visibility of various boards to prevent cognitive overload.

Premium Curated Colors

During the onboarding wizard or in the Caregiver Settings, you can choose from five distinct visual accents:

• Sky Blue – A calming, clean aesthetic.
• Emerald Green – High contrast visibility.
• Sunset Orange – Warm and vibrant.
• Royal Purple – Sophisticated and deep.
• Rose Pink – Soft and friendly.

Board Visibility Toggles

If your recipient only uses the AAC grid, or only uses the daily schedule, you can hide the unused tabs entirely. Open the Caregiver Dashboard, go to Settings, and toggle the switches for AAC Grid, Now & Next, Visual Schedule, First & Then, and Zones of Regulation.

Backup & Restore

Keep your hard work safe. SpeakSimple allows you to download a complete backup of all your profiles, AAC cards, custom schedules, and settings.

Exporting a System Backup

1. Open the Caregiver Dashboard and navigate to the System Setup tab.
2. Tap Export System Backup.
3. A JSON file will be downloaded to your device containing your entire configuration.

Importing a Restore Config

If you switch to a new Caregiver device, or accidentally delete a profile, you can easily restore your data:

1. From the Caregiver Dashboard's System Setup tab, tap Import Restore Config.
2. Select the previously saved JSON file from your device.
3. Confirm the import. Warning: This will completely overwrite your current active setup.

Common Issues

Most issues can be resolved quickly with a cache clear or re-pairing. Here are the most common problems and their fixes.

Recipient screen is showing old content

This is usually a caching issue. On the recipient's device:

1. Force-close SpeakSimple completely.
2. Re-open it — the app will fetch the latest data from the cloud.
3. If the issue persists, go to the device's browser settings and clear the site data for speaksimple.app, then re-open the app.

I've been signed out on my caregiver device

If you sign into the caregiver dashboard on another device, your session on the first device is automatically ended. This is a security feature. Simply sign back in on your preferred device.

I've forgotten my PIN

On the PIN entry screen, tap "Forgot PIN? Reset Passcode". You will be logged out. Sign back in with your Google account and you will be asked to set a new PIN.

A paired device has been lost or replaced

In the caregiver dashboard under Device Management, find the lost device and tap Remove. This frees up the slot. Set up pairing on the replacement device as normal.

Speech isn't working

1. Check the device volume is turned up.
2. Ensure the device is not in silent/vibrate mode.
3. On iOS, make sure the Ring/Silent switch on the side of the device is set to ring mode.
4. In the caregiver dashboard → Settings → Voice & Speech, try selecting a different voice from the dropdown.