Software Developments
The first software developments at the ace centre was to re-write Sentence Scan and Start-Write for the increasingly popular BBC Micro. Sentence scan was a switch or keyboard accessible sentence builder with speech support. Sentences could be built up from sets of stored words or phrases. Start-Write was a letter/keyboard based program with speech support and sophisticated user support configurations. Staff from the Centre also contributed to the design of the programs such as 'Prompt Writer' and 'Concept', being created by the Special Needs Software Centre based at the Manchester SEMERC managed by Dave King.
The advent of the IBM compatible computer lead to more graphics based programs being developed for switch users such as 'Plocka' (Swedish for 'pick up'). Plocka has facilities for creating sorting and matching scenarios for switch users and has a built in graphics library.
- AccessMaths is a program developed for students that need to create geometric drawings but cannot manipulate a mouse. Users can use a laptop keyboard only to produced accurate and detailed mathematical constructions and drawings. Switch users can also manipulate the program via programs like 'The Grid 2' and 'SAW' (see below). It was originally developed on the BBC Master computer but later versions were created for use in Windows 3 and later. The current version is version 4 which is available in English, Swedish and French. Number Navigator is also a maths based utility which enables students to do 'sums' within a formatted grid.
- SAW (Special Access to Windows) is a program that was created from a grant from the then Department of Trade and Industry to enable switch users to manipulate mathematical equations on screen. It was quickly realised that creating a programmable scanning on-screen keyboard for Windows (version 3 at the time,) the full functionality of what they were hoping to create - and much more - could be realised by using other programs such as 'MathType'. These programmable on-screen keyboards (selection sets) are now available for a number of very different applications. SAw 5 is now an open source program available from the Oatsoft web site.
- Hotspots - This program has similar user characteristics to SAW, but is designed for point and click environments. In addition to scanning user defined spots on the screen it can annotate these with sounds, images and text. It is easy to make simple software switch accessible.
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