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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1518973
afford and use the technology ballooned. This also enabled AssistiveWare’s rapid growth. “One of the coolest things about the iPad and the iPhone is that they’re not separate devices,” says Niemeijer. “They’re cool devices that everyone else uses, too, and that has already made a major difference in its acceptability. But we still have more work to do.” AssistiveWare’s next generation of AAC apps, Proloquo and Proloquo Coach, became available in 2022. Beyond generating speech, Proloquo helps users build phrases or sentences, learn related words, and expand their language and grammar. Proloquo Coach provides families and educators with the tools to support children and students in their learning. "If you can’t speak, the assumption is still that you probably don’t have much to say. That assumption is the biggest problem. I hope to see a shift toward respecting this technology so it can have the biggest impact." - David Niemeijer, AssistiveWare’s founder and CEO Proloquo features 49 genuine children and adult’s text-to-speech voices and 12,000 words — about three times more than other AAC apps. AssistiveWare apps also support VoiceOver and Switch Control for users who are blind or low vision, or have limited mobility. For AAC users, Niemeijer believes finding a customizable experience is an important step. Apple’s new accessibility features — previewed this week — include Assistive Access for people with cognitive disabilities, and Personal Voice for those at risk of losing their ability to speak, giving users more options to tailor their experiences to their needs. “We’re really excited to integrate these new features into AssistiveWare’s apps,” Niemeijer says. “We recently released support for iOS’s built-in voices in Proloquo, so users have access to an even wider range of voices to choose from. The introduction of Personal Voice has the potential to provide our users with even more options to personalize how they communicate. This, combined with features like