Predictable training

About Predictable

Predictable is designed for people who are literate but have lost the ability to speak. This could be due to conditions including cerebral palsy, motor neurone disease, laryngectomy, stroke, apraxia or a brain injury. Start typing on Predictable and it will predict what you want to say and will then read out the sentence for you. Predictable provides a voice to people who don’t have one!

Predictable top features

There are many different ways to engage with Predictable; however, some of the features are used more frequently than others. Here is what we consider to be Predictable’s top features:

1. History Strip: provides quick access to your most recently spoken messages.
2. Favourite Strip: provides quick access to your most commonly used phrases
3. Word Prediction Strip: provides a smart word prediction mechanism which allows you to construct your messages more quickly.
4. Feature Keys: allows you to engage with a number of useful features with ease.
5. Categories: allows you to store relevant phrases together.
6. Phrases: allows you to speak pre-constructed phrases.

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Opening the App for the First Time

If you’re new to Predictable, you will have to install the app. Once completed, log in with your account details. If you don’t have an account, you can either create one or enter the app through Guest Mode. Some users would have already used previous versions of Predictable. In this instance, the user can simply upgrade from Predictable 5 to Predictable 6. Predictable 6 is supported by iOS and Android. If your device is compatible, you will need to update the app from the AppStore (if you have an iOS device) or from the Google Play Store (if you have an Android). To update Predictable on iOS:

1. Open the App Store.
2. If you're using iOS 12 or earlier, tap Today at the bottom of the screen. If you're using a newer version, tap the profile icon at the top of the screen.
3. Scroll down to see pending updates and release notes. Tap Update next to Predictable to get the latest version.

To update an app on Android:

1. Open the Google Play Store app
2. Tap Menu and select My apps & games.
3. Games with an update available are labelled "Update." You can also search for a specific game.
4. Tap Update.

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Speaking your first message

When you first open Predictable, it is likely that you will be keen to speak your first message. To do so there are a few steps to consider first. If you’re a new user, the default voice will be Samantha. If you don’t believe that Samantha best reflects your own speaking voice, you can choose from the other options available in the Speech section of Settings. If you had Predictable 5, the voice you used then will be your default voice in Predictable 6. Once happy with your choice, go back to User Mode. In User Mode, to construct a message use the keyboard. As you start to type, your message will start to appear in the Message Window. When you’re ready to speak the message, press the gold speech icon which can be found both to the right of the Message Window or in the bottom right corner of your keyboard. If this is a message that you expect to use frequently, such as ‘How was your day?’, you may want to save it as a phrase. Having a message stored as a phrase saves you from having to type it every time you want to speak it. To do so,

1. Press the Categories and Phrases icon, which can be found directly above the Speak icon on the keyboard.
2. Click on the category which best suits your phrase and then press the edit icon.
3. Tap on Add Phrase, which will take you to a page where you can create your phrase.
4. You can add text for both the Spoken and Display Phrase, a recording, an icon and a link to multimedia.
5. Save your new phrase

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Guest mode

One way you can interact with Predictable is through Guest Mode. Guest Mode will store your data locally on your device. This means if you wish to change or use a different device you will not be able to recover your settings, phrases and multimedia from your previous device. Alongside this, if you were to experience data loss you would be unable to recover your customisations. In Guest Mode, Predictable will provide information on the number of times you have used the app to speak, the number of Categories and Phrases you have, and the Date when you last used the app (1). If you wish to move from Guest Mode to having a User Account press Convert to full user (2). Converting to a full user will transfer all of your current customisation, to your new Predictable Account. To convert to a full user, you need to enter your name, email and desired password. You will need to activate your new account by clicking the link that has been sent to your email address. You also have the option to reset your Settings and Phrasebank (3). This will restore all of your Settings or Phrasebank customisations to their default values. Finally, you have the option to Exit Guest Mode (4). Pressing this will give you the option to logout of Guest Mode, and return to the Predictable login screen. If you decide to do this, without converting to a full user, all of your Predictable data will be lost.

Predictable account

You can also create a Predictable Account. A Predictable Account allows your data (settings, categories, phrases and multimedia) to be automatically backed up to the cloud when you are connected to WiFi. This allows you to use your Predictable account on multiple devices. One of the objectives of the Predictable Account is to keep Predictable users’ data safe and to offer the possibility to use Predictable on all of the compatible devices the user may have may have. In addition, having a Predictable Account allows you to login to Predictable 6’s CMS. The CMS allows you to manage all of your Predictable content from the web platform. The features and benefits of the CMS are described in more detail in the Web Platform section. Predictable will also provide information on the number of times you have used the app to speak, the number of Categories and Phrases you have, and the Date when you last used the app (1). Predictable 6 helps you understand whether your data has been correctly synced to the Cloud, by describing your current situation. There are three data situations: Data available only on this device: this is the situation for Guest Mode. This means that your customisations to Predictable are only available on this device. Like Guest Mode, you have the option to reset your Settings and Phrasebank to default.
Finally, you have the option to Exit Predictable Account. Pressing this will give you the option to logout of your account, and return to the Predictable login screen. However, contrastingly to Guest Mode, you will not lose your data by doing so.

Cross-platform usage

Another feature of having a Predictable Account, is that you can use this account across multiple platforms. For instance, you could login to your Predictable Account both on your iOS and Android device. Not only do you have access to your Predictable Account on multiple platforms, but changes on one platform will be reflected in all others as well. If you decided to create a new phrase on your android tablet, if you log into your account on your iPhone you will find this new phrase there as well! This also applies for any changes you make on your CMS. This saves you the effort of having to repeat all of your customisations on multiple devices.

History, Favourites, and Message Window

One of Predictable 6’s new features, is making your History and Favourite Phrases easily accessible by placing them at the top of the User Mode. The History Strip includes all of your previously spoken phrases and can be found in the top-left corner of the User Mode. The benefit of having the history strip is to allow you to repeat a phrase you have recently spoken, which is particularly useful in a situation where you need to repeat yourself. Meanwhile, the favourite strip includes all of the phrases in your Favourites Category, and can be found in the top-right corner of the User Mode. You can scroll from left to right to access all the different phrases stored in your Favourite Category. This feature provides quick access to your frequently used messages. The Message Window is where the text for your message is displayed. This allows you to preview your messages for any spelling mistakes before speaking them.

Feature keys

The Feature keys are Predictable features you can engage with directly in the Message Builder. There are 12 Feature Keys in total but only 5 of them can be displayed next to the message window:

1. Bell: makes a pre-chosen sound when pressed. This sound can either be an audio-recording or can be chosen from Predictable’s existing bank of alert sounds. This feature is useful to notify someone that you require help.
2. Share: allows you to share your message on multiple communication channels e.g. Facebook, email etc.
3. Settings: takes you to settings.
4. Delete: deletes the entire message in the message window.
5. Speak or Show: reads out the message in the message window in the voice the user has chosen or displays the text in your message window backwards, so your conversation partner can read the message.
6. Calls: allows you to call any of the contacts you have pre-entered into the Calls section of Settings. For more details on the functionality of, check the Calls section of this User Guide.
7. Delete All: will remove all content from the Message Window
8. Delete Last Word: will remove the last word from the Message Window
9. Handwriting: allows you to handwrite your messages
10. Phrasebank: will take you to your Phrasebank
11. Grid View: will take you to Predictable’s Grid Layout
12. Email: will send your Message Window content as an email

Word prediction, keyboard and features

One of Predictable’s staple features is its sophisticated self-learning Word Prediction function. The Word Prediction uses letters already typed by the user, context from previous words, and the user’s own vocabulary to provide accurate predictions. The self-learning feature is intuitive and learns from your usage pattern, picks up non-standard words, and understands the user’s preferred grammar and style of speech. The Word Predictions can be found just above the keyboard. Another element of the User Mode is the keyboard. Predictable offers 5 different in-built keyboards options and also allows you to connect an external keyboard by Bluetooth. The functionalities of the different keyboard options are outlined in the Keyboard section of the User Guide. Apart from using the Keyboard to type out your message, a number of other Predictable Features can be found on the Keyboard. The Floor hold feature is also located on the keyboard. Floor Hold is a function that reads out your pre-constructed floor hold phrases. Typing longer messages can be time consuming, so this function can be used to notify your conversation partner that you are currently constructing a message. How to customise your Floor holds can be found in the Floor hold section of the User Guide.

Categories and customisations

Categories are used to store and organise phrases related to a specific topic. This allows pre-built phrases to be arranged in a logical and easily accessible way. Predictable has 14 premade categories but also provides the option to add, edit, reorder and delete categories. To customise your categories, press the edit icon on the far right of your keyboard. There are three ways in which you can customise your categories:

1. Add Category: To add a new category, press Add Category which can be found on the far left of the categories section. Here you can decide on the name of the category and what photo you wish to assign to it. You can assign a photo from the existing icons available on Predictable, from your device’s photo gallery, or you can take a new photo.
2. Edit Category: You can edit both the name and icon of a category. To do this, tap on the category you wish to edit. Then press the edit button, which has a pen icon.
3. Delete Category: You can delete unwanted categories. To do so, first press the category you wish to delete. Then press the icon of a bin icon to delete the category.

Phrase customisations

Within each category, you can pre-build and store as many phrases as you like. The benefit of having pre-built phrases is to save you the effort of typing your commonly spoken messages. If you want to customise your Phrases, press the edit icon on the far right of your keyboard. There are three ways in which you can customise your categories:

1. Add Phrase: to add a phrase, first choose the category where you wish to store the phrase. To add a phrase, press the edit icon and then add phrase. Here you can decide on the spoken phrase; displayed text; whether you want to record audio for the phrase or keep it as text-to-speech; what icon you would like to assign; and whether you would like the phrase to be linked to any multimedia.
2. Delete Phrase: On the right side of the keyboard, tap on the edit button. Tap on the phrase you would like to delete, then press the bin icon..
3. Edit Phrase: You also have the option to edit a phrase. Tap on the edit button on the right side of the keyboard. Tap on the phrase you would like to edit, then press the pen icon.

Device voices

In Predictable 6, you can select one of the 3 voice engines available: Device Voice, ModelTalker and Acapela. You can choose different genders and nationalities for your voices. Device Voices are the voices that come with the device you own. Some device voices are pre-downloaded and ready to use. Although free to use, certain device voices may require downloading or installing. If you choose to use a device voice, you will first need to select the voice’s accent. There are six accents available: British, Irish, American, Australian, South African and Scottish. Once you have selected the accent, you can click on the voice’s profile to hear a sample. If you don’t find any of the voices suitable, you can download additional voices from your device settings. Once downloaded, you will be able to use them in Predictable. Downloading extra voices from the device settings: On iOS Leave Predictable by pressing the device home button (or swiping up for the iPad pro). Then select the device setting app on the homepage of the device and go Accessibility > Speech > Voices. This path might differ depending on the iOS version. In this case, use the search bar and type "Voice", then pick the language you require. This page will have the full list of available device voices. Click the download icon to get the voice. Once downloaded, it will be available to use in Predictable. On Android
The changes you make in your Text-to-speech settings in your device will automatically reflect in the Predictable Android app. To find your Text-to-speech settings, you will need to leave Predictable and open your device settings. Under the System menu, tap on Language and input and tap Text-to-speech options (the location of the Text-to-speech setting can be different depending on the device you are using).
On many Android devices, the Google Text-to-speech is already turned on. If this option is not showing you can download the Google Text-to-speech from the Play Store.
On Samsung devices, Samsung text-to-speech should be installed by default in your Text-to-Speech Options.

Using your Acapela voice

Acapela is an external company providing personalised digital voices from their My-Own-Voice (MOV)voice banking service. Using an Acapela MOV allows users to communicate with a unique personal synthetic voice that is representative of their own voice. To download an Acapela MOV demonstration voice, open the speech settings of the app, select Acapela as the voice engine and select one of the voices offered. To create your own Acapela MOV voice, you will need to complete your voice banking with Acapela. To do so you will need to follow these steps:

1. Apply to the ‘My-Own-Voice online service: https://mov.acapela-group.com/start-now/
2. You will then receive an email with your Acapela login details
3. Use these details to https://mov.acapela-group.com/
4. Download the MOV recorder app adapted to your laptop and proceed to the installation
5. Record the 350 sentences at your own pace and select Send a request
6. 48 hours later, you can listen to your voice in the Type and Talk interface of Acapela website
7. If you are happy with it, you can decide whether to buy their services.
8. Find more information about the pricing on their website: https://mov.acapela-group.com/pricing/
   

Once you have completed your voice banking, you will be able to download the voice from Predictable. To download your Acapela MOV, enter your Acapela username and password and press download. Once downloaded, you will be able to use the voice within the app.

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Using your ModelTalker voice

ModelTalker is another speech synthesis software package developed by the Nemours Speech Research Laboratory. Modeltalker also offers the option to use a banked voice. Banked voices are synthetically re-created voices that can be used with Predictable. ModelTalker offers 2 options: standard pre-created voices which are available for all Predictable users the user’s own custom voice they created with ModelTalker
To download a ModelTalker demonstration voice, open the speech settings of the app, select ModelTalker as the voice engine and select one of the voices offered. To complete your voice banking with ModelTalker you will need to complete and submit this online form: https://www.modeltalker.org/registration/registration.php?t=7 to create an account with ModelTalker.org and gain access to their voice recording software. You will find more information about how to record your voice on their website: .
Here is the email address to contact for support: staff@modeltalker.org.

To download your custom ModelTalker voice on Predictable, open the speech settings of the app, select ModelTalker as the voice engine, enter your ModelTalker credentials and then press download.

Speak buttons behaviour

Speak Button Behaviour refers to the different ways in which you can use the Speak Buttons to speak. There are three different Speak Button Behaviours: (1) Communication type, (2) Speak Interactions and (3) Speak Interruptions. You can assign separate Speak Button Behaviours for the Main speak button, the Keyboard speak button, and the Message Window. When the Message Window Speak button is enabled, tapping the message window will activate the speak behaviour. Note that enabling this will disable all other possible interactions with the Message Window, such as moving the cursor, copying, pasting etc.

1. Communication Type refers to whether the button will either show or speak your message. If you enable Show, when you press the Show button, the text in your message window is displayed backwards. Speak will simply read out your message when pressed.
2. Speak Interaction determines how your message will be spoken when pressed. There are 7 different ways you can alter the speak interaction option:
   • Speak All: the entire message in the message window is spoken
   • Speak after Cursor: the text after the cursor will be spoken
   • Speak Before Cursor: the text before the cursor will be spoken
   • Speak Current Sentence: the sentence where the cursor is placed will be spoken
   • Speak last sentence: only the last sentence will be spoken by the voice engine.
   • Speak Unspoken: only unspoken words will be spoken
   • Speak Current Sentence: the sentence where the cursor is placed will be spoken
   It is important to note, only Speak all, Speak last sentence and Speak unspoken are available for the Message Window Speak interaction behaviour.
3. There are two Speak Interruptions: Stop and Pause. When the stop function is enabled, when pressed it will discontinue the entire message. If you wish to speak the same message, you will have to start from the beginning, rather than from the point where you pressed the stop button. Contrastingly, the pause function will halt the message when pressed, and will allow you to continue from this point when you press the play button. To activate either of these features, tap the speak button this Speak Interruption is assigned to.

Custom Pronunciation and Abbreviation

Custom Pronunciations This feature allows you to customise how certain words are pronounced. If the synthetic voice is not pronouncing a word as you would like, you can adjust it here. An example, the word Cough (which will be inserted in the custom pronunciation field) should be read out loud as Coff (phonetic pronunciation). There are three options available in this page:

1. Add Pronunciation: when you add a new pronunciation, you will need to add the word and your desired phonetic pronunciation. You can hear the pronunciation before saving it by selecting Play sound.
2. Edit an existing custom pronunciation: tap the pronunciation you wish to edit, then select the edit icon in the top-right corner of the screen.
3. Delete an existing custom pronunciation: tap the pronunciation you wish to delete, then select the delete icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

Abbreviations To help you create messages faster, Predictable allows you to create your own Abbreviations. For instance, you could create the Abbreviation LOL to stand for Laugh Out Loud. If you then type LOL into the message window, Predictable will speak the whole phrase associated with the Abbreviation e.g. Laugh Out Loud. To create abbreviations, tap Manage Abbreviations in Settings. You can manage your Abbreviations in three ways:

1. Add Abbreviation: to add a new abbreviation.
2. Delete Abbreviation: tap the abbreviation you wish to delete then select the delete icon in the top-right corner of the screen.
3. Edit Abbreviation: tap the abbreviation you wish to edit, then select the edit icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

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More Speech Customisations

Predictable offers a number of additional ways to customise your speech.

• One customisation is to adjust your Speaking Rate and Pitch. Speaking Rate refers to the speed at which the message is spoken. The Speaking rate can range from Very Slow to Very fast. Speaking Pitch determines how high or low the voice will sound. The speaking pitch can be anything between Very Low and Very High.

Access Methods and using Progression and Selection

Predictable offers 5 different Access Methods:

1. Direct Touch
2. Switch Access
3. Screen Tap
4. Head Tracking
5. Scan and Track

Direct Touch with Force and Time Delay

By default the app uses Direct touch. For Direct Touch, progression is your finger moving to your desired button, and selection is the tapping of this button. In Predictable, two settings have been made available to customise the Direct touch to fit your specific fine-motor skills needs. These options are Force and Time delay. They can be especially useful for users who struggle to control their movements, which leads to a number of unwanted interactions with the app. The two options are mutually exclusive.

1. The first customisation is Time Delay. When Time Delay is enabled, you will need to press down on your desired button for a set amount of time to activate it. A timer will keep you informed of the remaining time before the button is selected. You can set up the Time delay duration from 1 to 15 seconds using the slider.
2. The other option is Force Delay. Enabling this setting will make the screen freeze after the first tap. While the screen is frozen, touching the screen will not trigger any actions. A customisable timer will keep you informed of the remaining time before the screen will unfreeze. You can set up the Force Delay duration from 1 to 15 seconds using the slider.

Switch Access and Screen Tap with scan customisation

Switch Access and Screen Tap are both Accessibility methods designed for users who do not possess the coordination or muscle strength to directly select the button they want.
For Screen Tap, the progression involves the items on the screen being highlighted automatically. Once the relevant item is highlighted, tap anywhere on the screen for the item to be selected. The progression for Switch Access is similar, with items on the screen being highlighted. However, unlike Screen Tap, Switch Access offers two progressions: automatic and manual. Automatic functions in the same way, with items being automatically highlighted on the screen. To select an item, you simply press down on a switch. However, manual scanning functions differently and requires two switches rather than one. In this case, you will use one of the switches to move the highlighter down the screen. This is done by pressing down on the switch. To select an item on the screen, you will also press down on your second switch when your desired item is highlighted. For Switch Access and Screen Tap, there are a number of Customisations you can make:

• Scanning Rate: This determines how fast the scanner will highlight the different levels of the screen. This is only available for automatic scanning.

Head Tracking and Selection triggers

Head tracking is only compatible on IOS devices which have facial recognition system (iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation, and iPad Pro 11 inch. Head Tracking is not available on Android devices. This feature allows you to interact with Predictable by tracking your head’s movements. When enabled, Predictable will identify your face, pick a centre point, which is typically the nose, and emulate it as a pointer on the screen. The progression of the pointer, is dictated by the movement of your nose. You can influence the progression of the pointer, by altering the Head Movement Sensitivity. The Head Movement Sensitivity has three options: Low, Medium and High. This feature allows you to calibrate how big the head movements need to be in order for the screen pointer to move on screen. For example, setting it low would require the user’s head to travel a greater distance to move the pointer. Another setting for Head Tracking is Head Position. This setting has two options: default or Calibrate. For Default, the app expects your head to be in a centred position in relation to the front facing camera. Best results for default are found when the device’s front facing camera is at your eye level, the device is mounted straight relative to you, and you are between 10 cm to 100 cm from the device nose position. Calibrate allows the Head Tracking function to locate a centre point regardless of your head position. When you press Calibrate, it will take you to a Camera frame pointing at your face. Take a photo of your head position, and the calibration will be determined by this photo. For Selection, Head Tracking offers a number of alternatives for selection:

• Hover: to select an item, you will need to focus the pointer on it for a pre-chosen amount of time. This Hover time can range between 1 and 5 seconds.

Scan and Track Progression and Selection

Scan and Track allows you to combine the Progression and Selection of the different Access Methods. The benefit of this is it allows you to pick the Progression and Selection methods that best suit your needs. For Progression, you have three options: Auto-Scan, Manual Scan and Head Tracking. There are 11 Selection options available in Pick and Mix. The sensitivity of all of these selection methods can be customised . You can either choose the default sensitivity or calibrate it yourself. The calibration can range from 0.1 to 0.9, with 0.1 corresponding to the highest sensitivity and 0.9 the lowest. For Low Sensitivity, your gesture for the selection method will have to be more pronounced to activate it, while for High Sensitivity a smaller gesture will trigger the selection.

Scanning appearance

You can adjust a number of elements of the appearance of your Access Methods. You may choose to do so to personalise the app, or due to a visual impairment you may have. There 4 customisations you can make: Infill Target button: the colour the item that is selected on screen will tak. Border Target Button: the colour the border of the target button will take Pointer: the colour of the on screen pointer for head tracking Infill target button opacity: Determines how transparent the scanner is. It ranges from Very low to Very high, with very low being a lighter coloured scanner and Very high being a darker scanner. The Quick exit and Freeze Button can apply to all of the Access Methods except Direct Touch. Quick Exit allows you to exit the Access Method you are using, and revert immediately to Direct Touch. Contrastingly, when you enable the Freeze button it provides the option to pause your access method. This is useful if you don’t need to communicate at that time or want to take a break. To activate the Freeze you can either tap it or direct the cursor over the Freezing button then use whatever selection option you have chosen.

Setting up email contacts

This feature allows you to send messages from Predictable by email. Add your email account to Predictable, and then add the email addresses of your friends, family and colleagues who you may wish to contact. To set-up your email, first choose which email provider you would like to link to your Predictable Account. It is important to note, that to be able to send emails from within Predictable, you will have to grant Predictable Access from your email provider’s security settings. Find below the process for Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook. Gmail: go to link https://myaccount.google.com/security?utm_source=OGB and sign into the email account you intend to use with this app. Find the setting “Allow apps that use less secure sign-in” and turn this setting to on. Re-enter Predictable, confirm that you have changed this setting, then enter your gmail email address and password. Yahoo!: follow the link to https://login.yahoo.com/account/security?.scrumb=mZC1cqxpRLx and sign into the email account you intend to use with this app. Find the setting “Allow apps that use less secure sign-in” and turn this setting to on. Re-enter Predictable, confirm that you have changed this setting, then enter your yahoo email address and password. Outlook: follow the link to https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=2053743 and sign into the email account you intend to use with this app. Then select Integrated Apps. Turn the integrate app’s setting on. Then enable Use personal email account. This will drop down a section for you to enter in your email account’s credentials. Once you save your details, you can check the email account has been added by pressing Send Test Email. This will send a test email from Predictable to your own account. To be able to send emails from Predictable, you will need to grant Predictable access from your email’s security settings. To do so, log into your account on a web browser, navigate to security settings, and then allow permission to “less secure apps”. Once this is set-up, you can add the email addresses of people you would like to email. To do so, all you have to do is press add recipient and then enter their name and email address. To use the function, first construct a message in the message builder. Then make sure, the email icon is shown as one of your feature keys. When happy with your message, press the email icon. Depending on the functionality you have chosen, the message will either be immediately sent to your starred contact, or you can choose a recipient from the list displayed.

Floorhold

Floor Hold is a function that reads out your pre-constructed floor hold phrases. Sometimes it can take a bit of time to type out longer messages, so this function can be used to notify your conversation partner that you are currently constructing a message. You have the option to turn on Automatic Floor Hold. When enabled, this feature will automatically read out your pre-constructed Floor hold phrases after a set amount of time. If turned off, you will have to press the Floor hold button for one of your Floor hold phrases to be readout. If you have turned the Automatic Floor hold feature turned on, the duration set in this setting will determine the time before your pre-constructed Floor hold phrases are readout. You can also manage our Floor holds. There are three different customisations you can make.

• Add Phrase: this allows you to add your own custom Floor hold. To add a floor hold, press the + Add phrase icon. You can either assign an audio recording or a Text-to-Speech caption to the Floor hold.

• Edit Phrase: you can edit an existing phrase by tapping the phrase and then selecting the edit icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

• Delete Phrase: To delete a floorhold phrase, select the phrase you wish to delete, then press the delete icon in the top-right corner of the screen. You won’t be able to delete all the phrases as you will need to keep one.

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Themes

Predictable 6 offers 16 pre-built themes which a number of visual and settings customisations to act as Templates for users with different preferences and requirements. From the Appearance settings, you can select one among the 16 pre-created themes:

• Getting Started: this is the most stripped back version of the User Mode and only includes Predictables most basic features. This could be useful for someone adjusting to Predictable.
• Tablet Friendly: this is UI is optimised for use on a Tablet
• Keyguard Friendly: this UI is optimized to be used in tandem with a keyguard. The UI is designed as a 10 by 9 Grid so that Predictable can be used effectively with a keyguard in place.
• Left Hand Keyguard Friendly: this UI is optimized to be used in tandem with a keyguard for a left-handed user. The UI is designed as a 10 by 9 Grid so that Predictable can be used effectively with a keyguard in place,
• High Contrast: UI is designed for those with limited visibility.
• Vowel Keyboard: UI designed to draw attention to the Vowels on the keyboard. It is also suitable for those with poor visibility.
• Ten Key Keyboard: sets the Ten Key keyboard as the default.
• Grid - 2*2: makes the 2*2 Grid the default home page
• Grid - 5*4: makes the 5*4 Grid the default home page
• Screen Tap Access: sets Screen Tap as the default accessibility method
• Switch Access: sets Switch Access as the default accessibility method
• Head Tracking Hover: sets Head Tracking as the default accessibility method, with hover as the selection method
• Head Tracking Blink: sets Head Tracking as the default accessibility method, with blink as the selection method
• Stay Connected: optimized to allow for easy communication with friends, family and colleagues by setting Calls and Email as default feature keys
• Dyslexia: a colour coded keyboard designed for those with Dyslexia.

Visual customisations

While Predictable’s themes offer the option to change the entire appearance of the app, you can also customise specific elements. First , there are a number of different fonts to choose from including: Montserrat, Lora, Roboto, OpenDyslexic, Source Serif, Nunito, Open Sans, and Lato. While Predictable’s themes offer the option to change the entire appearance of the app, you can also customise specific elements. Color Code buttons allow you to individually customise the Background Colour and Font Size and Colour for different elements within the app. The table below shows which visual customisations are available for each feature. Finally you can enable or disable Keyguard friendly view. The Keyguard UI is optimized to be used in tandem with a keyguard. The UI is designed as a 10 by 9 Grid. If you disable this feature, the Message Window will be optimised for normal tablet usage.

Show/Hide Feature Keys

Some features are used more or less by certain users. Consequently, it is useful to hide unused features to reduce the clutter on screen. You have the option to show or hide: Finally, you have the option to create your Bell Sounds in this section. To do so, tap the Bell button in the Show/Hide Feature Key List. The bell is used as a signal to notify someone that you require assistance. You can either assign your own unique recording to the bell, or use one of Predictable’s pre-created bell sounds.

More Appearance and Customisation

Predictable also allows you to position the Feature keys on either the left or right-hand side of the Message Builder. You can assign the Dexterity Position to be either Left or Right. This feature is designed to make it easier for people to access those buttons depending on whether they are Left-handed or Right-handed. Default Message builder Input allows you to select whether you would like your primary screen to be keyboard, Phrasebank or Grid View on application launch.

Vocabulary Settings

You can customise the Vocabulary Settings for Word Predictions to make sure the predictions closer match your word usage patterns. Choose Dictionary allows you to decide which dictionary your word predictions will derive from. For users of Predictable English, you can choose between an American or British Dictionary. To showcase the difference, a British Dictionary would suggest ‘Colour’ while an American Dictionary would predict ‘Color’. You also have the option to lock or unlock Profane words from your predictions. When this setting is turned off, offensive words will be omitted from word predictions, and will instead be starred. You also have the option to customise the functionality of the History Setting. You can disable Save History to sto Predictable retaining previously spoken content. In addition, you have the option to clear your existing history by pressing Delete All HIstory. In addition to this, you can customise self learned word’ in the Manage Self-Learned words section in three ways:

• Add: you can add words to your dictionary.

More Word Prediction Customisations

Coupled with customisations to vocabulary, Predictable also offers additional ways to customise your word predictions. First is the option whether to enable or disable Predictable’s word prediction engine all together. Although many users use the intuitive Word Prediction engine, to increase the speed of constructing a message

• One option is to enable or disable Auto-completion. When enabled, as you start to type your desired word, this function predicts the word you are going to write, and completes the rest of the word in red. To choose the word, tap the spacebar which will turn the red letters to black.

Predictable also provides 2 different ways to identify or correct spelling mistakes:

• Autocorrect: misspelt words are automatically corrected.
• Spell Check: misspelt words are written in red.

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Keyboard(s)

Predictable comes with five keyboard options. Predictable also offers the possibility to use external and third-party keyboards. The five in-built keyboard options include: QWERTY This is the default keyboard option and is the same design as the keyboards you typically find on computers and other mobile devices. ABC Keys are listed in alphabetical order. High Frequency Keys are ordered based on the frequency they are used, with the most frequent letters being listed first, and the least frequent last. Ten Key Compared to the other options, it has a much bigger target area for selecting each key. It is especially useful for people who benefit from touch accommodation settings. Instead of there being individual keys for each letter on the keyboard, there are letter groupings. For instance, ABCDE are one letter grouping. You need to tap on the letter group you want to use and the keyboard will then change to allow you to select one of the letters in the chosen grouping. Once you’ve added a letter, the keyboard will snap back to the main keyboard page (with the same letter grouping format). Native This allows you to use the default keyboard of your chosen device. Alongside this you can enable Keyboard Caps, which will cause all of the keys on the keyboard to be capitalised. However, the functionality of the keyboard will remain the same e.g. you will have to press shift for a letter to be capitalised on the Message Window.

Managing External Keyboard Shortcuts

You also have the option to connect an external Bluetooth keyboard to your device to use in Predictable. In the keyboard settings, you have the option to create shortcuts for the External Keyboard. These shortcuts are aimed to help you use Predictable more efficiently. You can manage th e shortcuts for your external keyboard in three ways: A) Add Shortcut To add a new shortcut, press the + button. You will then need to select an Action in the list to correspond with a key on the external keyboard. This shortcut will be triggered once you press that shortcut key on your external keyboard. B) Delete Shortcut You can delete an existing shortcut by tapping it, then selecting the delete icon on the right side of the screen. C) Edit Shortcut You can edit an existing shortcut by tapping it, then selecting the edit icon in the bottom right corner.

Managing emojis

Predictable 6 offers a large selection of emojis. You can use these emojis in your messages by selecting them from the Emoji Keyboard in the bottom-right corner of your keyboard. You can customise your emojis in the Keyboard section of Settings. To do so, select the Emoji you wish to edit and then press the pen icon in the top right corner. There are two ways in which you can customise your emojis:

1. Name of Emoji: You can edit the name of the emoji. If you choose Text to Speech option for the emojis sound, this name will be read out when you use that emoji in a message.
2. Sound attached to Emoji: there are three different types of sound you can assign to your emoji:

• Record your own audio for the emoji. To do this, press the record ‘New Recording Icon’, record the audio, assign the recorded audio a Display Name > then press the tick icon to save the recording.
• Assign one of Predictable’s pre-recorded sounds to to the emoji. Predictable has 8 different recorded sounds for the emotes, and are available both for Males and Females
• Text to Speech will read out the name of the emoji when you use that emoji in a spoken message. To select this feature you will need to press the X button.

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Grid

The Grid Layout displays your categories and phrases in a typical grid format. Such a layout is both optimised for the different scanning methods and for users more reliant on imagery to communication e.g. individuals living with autism. To access the Grid Layout you have two options:

1. Set as your default home page: if you expect to communicate with Predictable primarily from this page, it may be worth setting it as your default home page. To do, go to Settings > Global Appearance > scroll to the bottom > Select Grid View as your default Home Page.
2. From User Mode: you can also access Grid View while in User mode. To do so press the Phrasebank icon > Press the Grid View Icon (found directly below the edit button).

You can also customise the appearance of your Grid Layout. You can alter the amount of Columns and Rows on display by choosing from the following options: 2 columns x 2 cells 2 columns x 4 rows 2 columns x 8 rows 5 columns x 4 Cells 5 Columns x 8 Cells Alongside this you have the option to edit the Cell Font Size and Colour and the colour of the Cell Background. You also have the opportunity to show/hide the icons for both the Categories and Phrases, and also hide the categories themselves.

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How to make and receive calls, managing contact list

A new feature introduced to Predictable 6 is the ability to make and receive calls. You can do this on Apple and Android devices, and also use Facetime. Before the process of actually conducting a call, you will need to add recipients to your contact list. Tap add new, and then enter the name and number of the contact you would like to add. Press save when you are happy with the details you have entered. You can edit and delete your contacts. You have two options for what pressing the call button will do: Display contact list and Call starred contact. For Display Contact List, when you press the call button in User Mode all of the contacts you have added will be displayed. You can then choose from these options who you wish to call. Call starred contact operates slightly differently. In Calls Settings, you can tap the star next to a contact to star it. When you press the call button, this starred contact will be called. It is important to note, when you press the call button, you will be navigated out of the app. Consequently, if you are using any of Predictable’s accessibility methods, they will not be functional until you re-enter the app. Also to use Predictable to speak, you will have to navigate from the call back to Predictable.

Why and when to use Gesture Speak, and managing actions

Gesture Speak is a feature new to Predictable 6. What Gesture Speak offers is the ability to assign a spoken phrase or action to a trigger. For instance, a Tongue Out could be assigned to the phrase ‘How are you?’. Sticking your Tongue Out in User Mode would then result in the phrase ‘How are you?’ being spoken. The purpose of this new feature, is to increase the speed at which a person can communicate. Using one of these Gestures speak methods is actually quicker than having to type the message out on your keyboard. You could also link a trigger to an action as well. You could choose to assign blink to Speak, so that whenever you were to employ blink as a trigger, your message window content would be spoken. There are three ways you can manage your Gesture Speak Actions.

1. Add: first go to the Gesture Speak section of Settings. Then press add New. On this page, you will have the option to pick whether you want to create a Gesture Speak for a Category or an Action. If you choose Action, all of the possible feature key options will be displayed. If you pick Categories, all of your Categories and their corresponding phrases will be displayed. . After selecting your desired action or phrase , you can pick the trigger you wish to allocate to it. Once happy with your combination, press confirm. If you are already using a trigger as a selection method you will be unable to use it in a Gesture Speak Recipe.
2. Edit: to edit a Gesture Speak, tap on the and delete your Gesture Speaks.
3. To increase the number of Gesture Speak options available, we have introduced the option to create ‘Recipes’. In the context of Predictable, recipes means you can assign a combination of Triggers to a spoken phrase. For instance, Blink, Tongue out and Frown could be assigned to ‘Who is that?’ while Blink, Frown and Tongue out could be linked to ‘This is great’. You can cancel a recipe by using your chosen Selection method in the Accessibility section.

Whatch our tutorials or email us

Support section provides Youtube Video Tutorials which aim to teach you how to use Predictable features. There is both a link to this User Guide and the option to email our Support team at support@therapy-box.co.uk if you have any other unanswered questions.

Customise your phrase bank and download categories and phrases

From the Therapy Box website, you have the possibility to log in to the web platform with your Predictable credentials. The web platform offers the ability to manage your Predictable account from your desktop. You can adjust settings, upload content and delete unwanted files. Also changes made on the Web platform will be instantly reflected in the app on your device. This feature is especially useful if a user changes a setting by accident. It allows either an SLT, a family member or the Therapy Box support team to make the correction remotely. The vocabulary section of the web platform provides an overview of your phrase bank. From here, you can:

1. Search for your phrases easily: When pressing a column’s title (category, display phrase, spoken phrase), the files in the column get ordered alphabetically. You can also search for the file by typing either the audio file name, spoken phrase, display phrase or category name.
2. Delete content: Select the categories and phrases and press “Delete selected”. You can also delete them one by one by press the delete icon for each phrase.
3. Edit your phrase bank content: clicking on the category name, display phrase name, or the spoken phrase name allows you to edit the name.
4. Edit the images attached to your phrases:
   - Adding a new image: Press the “+” icon and choose the image you would like to attach to the phrase.
   - Changing the attached image: By pressing the image attached to a phrase, you have the choice to replace it or remove it.
5. If you need to edit the sounds attached to your phrases:
   - Adding a new sound: Press the “+” button and choose the sound you would like to attach to the phrase.
   - Changing the attached sound: By pressing the sound attached to a phrase, you have the choice to replace it or remove it.
6. Attach a multimedia link: You can paste a web link in the text box. If you need to delete the multimedia, simply erase the link in the CMS.

Import pre-built phrases to your account

From Draft phrases section, you can upload pre-built phrases providing from 2 sources: Predictable and myMessageBanking. myMessageBanking.com is a free service offered Boston Children's Hospital Department of Otolaryngology and Tobii Dynavox with a goal of providing a free and open message bank for people at risk of losing their voice. The system will guide you through the message banking process, help organize the messages, store the messages, and provide ways to download the messages for use on any system that can play back those messages. Use of the system, storing messages and downloading stored messages is free for personal use. How to use the service with Predictable web platform myMessageBanking content is compatible with Predictable, i.e. you can upload the audio files that you stored and transcripted via myMessageBanking.com to your Predictable account so that they become new phrases in your phrase bank. To do so:

1. From your myMessageBanking account, download the audio files you want to use in Predictable
2. Upload the .zip folder to the Draft Phrases section of Predictable web platform, the transcriptions will become your spoken phrases and the tags your categories.
3. You can still make some changes before adding it your new phrases to your Predictable account
4. Then press Merge

Managing your audio and image content

The audio and images sections of the web platform allow you to have an overview and edit your list of audio or image files. From here, you can:

1. Search for your files easily: When pressing a column’s title (title, source), the files in the column get ordered alphabetically. You can also search for the file by typing the title.
2. Delete content: Select the files you wish to delete, then press “Delete selected”. You can also delete files one by one by press the delete icon for each file.
3. Edit the title attached to your files: clicking on the title of the file causes a text box expands, in turn allowing you to edit it.
4. All the files uploaded to this section will appear in your app when you will edit a phrase and choose an audio file to attach to it:
   - Import an audio file from your laptop: To import an audio file, press the Import button, then press Browse, Select the file that you previously saved on your laptop and select Upload.
   - Record an audio file from your laptop: To record an audio file from the CMS, press Record, Then select the microphone icon. Once you stop recording, you can pause, resume and save the file, Type a title and press Save