ABSTRACT
Many studies in the area of assistive and augmentative communication (AAC) based on text communication have been conducted with a view to facilitating written communication for people with disabilities. AAC can involve several components, including a software keyboard, assistive writing software and a spell checker. An approach bringing together human computer interaction (HCI) principles and (psycho)linguistic models is being developed to design effective and usable AAC systems. Use studies have demonstrated that these adapted devices can cause typing errors and slow down writing in all text entry situations. These situations include users with severe speech and motor disabilities (cerebral and physical disabilities, locked-in syndrome, cerebral palsy, dyslexia, myopathy, etc.), as well as older users who have difficulty with novel technologies such as touchscreen software keyboards.
