Reviewed 22 August 2026

AAC quality, access and open standards

SymbolTiles is designed to support communication and communication-partner practice. It is not a complete replacement for an individually assessed AAC system, and no single system meets every person's needs across every setting. Selection and ongoing review should be person-centred and, where appropriate, involve an AAC-experienced speech pathologist and the person's wider team.

Implemented in SymbolTiles

Words, symbols and photographs in configurable grids, with visible text labels.
An always-available, editable core-word row alongside activity-specific vocabulary.
Stable tile positions during a talker session, plus a 72 px SymbolTiles minimum for fitted tiles.
Sentence construction, speak, clear, backspace, grammar forms, saved messages and communication-repair phrases.
Independent visible labels and spoken messages for concise tiles that can voice fuller phrases.
Optional speak-on-tap and clear-after-speaking behaviour.
Partner modelling guidance that does not require the AAC user to copy a model.
Learner profiles for voice, rate, core vocabulary, direct selection, touch-and-hold dwell, one-switch scanning, auditory scanning, partner-assisted scanning, activation timing, repeat filtering, spacing and high contrast.
Opt-in, on-device aggregate word counts only; no sentence histories, word pairs or timestamps.
Open Board Format single-board (.obf) and packaged multi-board (.obz) import/export, including linked-board Talker navigation and packaged images where available.
Printable PDF/PNG materials as a light-tech backup and plain-text copying for use in other apps.

Known limits and roadmap

These are important AAC capabilities, but SymbolTiles does not claim to support them yet.

Native eye-tracker integration and device-specific head-mouse or joystick controls beyond standard pointer/keyboard compatibility.
A full keyboard board, word prediction, bilingual same-board vocabulary and language-specific inflection sets.
Recorded voice/message banking, offline generated voices and full offline board use.
Formal usability testing with a diverse panel of people who use AAC and communication partners.

Sources and acknowledgement

Product decisions were informed by OpenAAC's community-developed considerations and Open Board Format, alongside professional AAC guidance and WCAG. This acknowledgement does not imply that OpenAAC, Speech Pathology Australia, ASHA or W3C certifies or endorses SymbolTiles.

OpenAAC developer considerations OpenAAC documents and specifications Open Board Format specification Open Board Format reference project (MIT licence) Speech Pathology Australia: Augmentative and Alternative Communication ASHA Practice Portal: Augmentative and Alternative Communication W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2

Open Board files retain board and image licence fields when present. If an imported resource has no licence, the Open Board specification says it should be treated as private/all rights reserved; importing a file does not grant permission to redistribute its images.