Help

Thanks for visiting! If you're here because maybe you, or someone you know or work with, has difficulty speaking, then we hope this site can help. Speechbubble contains details of technology that can give people a voice – technology like Stephen Hawking's talking computer, for example. His computer is just one example of a huge range of talking aids that range from cheap one-message push-button aids to cutting-edge eye-controlled devices that cost many thousands of pounds.

There's loads of equipment available that caters for all ages and abilities, both physical and cognitive, but matching abilities to the equipment can be an uphill task. Speechbubble can provide a first step along this road, giving you the basic product details and enabling you to narrow down your search by filtering on details like type, weight and method of control. 

This website covers three main communication product areas:

Communication aids

If you're new to communication aids, try our What is a communication aid? page.

Speechbubble lets you find out details about a particular aid, or you can search for aids that share particular characteristics - all the ones that are accessible using a headpointer, for example. You can also setup a side-by-side comparison of the devices.

Many of the computer-based aids offer specialised communication software and vocabularies that effectively turn the computer into an efficient communication devices. So we've included sections on these products too:

Communication software

For a primer take a look at the What is communication software? page

These pages give you details of the dedicated communication software available for the computer-based communication aids.

Vocabularies

For the basics, see What are vocabularies?

Again, vocabularies are only really relevant for the computer-based aids, but there's lots of them, and they're constantly changing. But we've covered the main ones.

Do you need more help?

If you know of someone who might benefit from this kind of technology, we offer a range of assessment and training services to help you find out more and get the best out of what's available. We're an independent charity, so you can be sure that any help that we give won't be biased towards any particular product or manufacturer. Ring us on 01865 759800 or email info@ace-centre.org.uk

More about our assessment services for people who struggle to communicate

More about our training services for getting the best out of communication technology.