2.1 Communication aids

Figure 8 An example of a Voice Output Communication Aid

Communication aids are devices to enable those with little or no recognisable speech to communicate with others. In terms of access to eLearning these are usually pieces of hardware or software that enable regular devices to provide communication. They can produce spoken output (or spoken and text together – often called VOCAs – Voice Output Communication Aids) from text entered by the user themselves, either via a keyboard or by selecting symbols to build sentences.

This video clip shows a communication aid user talking about using these devices.