The “Virtual” Home Button

Like the iPad Mini 6 and 7, the iPad 10 and 11 have traded in a physical home button for a virtual one – a horizontal line at the bottom of the screen that must be swept upward in order to return to the home screen. Some app designers have opted to allocate room for the line, while others allow the line to encroach on the app itself:

TouchChat shrinks the app to allocate screen space:

Others, like Cough Drop, throw up their hands and pretend to ignore it:

I don’t know how such apps distinguish between sweeping the line upward and tapping the button…

In creating the ready-to-print designs, we had to decide whether to accommodate the virtual home button or ignore it. We decided to play it safe and accommodate it. That’s why you’ll see these openings at the bottom of the screen being merged and cut-outs being made in the bottom edge of the keyguard.

When there’s an odd number of columns, the opening at the bottom is merged vertically with the one above to provide space to sweep the line upward. If there’s an even number of columns, the middle two may be merged horizontally and vertically. The lower edge of the keyguard is also removed, if necessary, to provide reasonable manual access to the line.


Merging Openings	Removing Part of the Bottom Edge

Enough of That…

The apps we’ve chosen are Proloquo2Go (P2G), Proloquo, CoughDrop, Lamp Words for Life (LWFL), TD Snap, TouchChat, Grid for iPad, and Speak for Yourself (S4Y).

[We also include a special keyguard called LWFL-VI that has raised landmarks to help individuals, who are blind or visually impaired, to more reliably locate the button that they want in the LWFL AAC app.]

We’ve mostly designed these keyguards based on the app’s “default” settings. On occasion, we’ve changed a default setting to provide more room for the buttons in the grid. Look below for those settings.

All designs can be printed on a printer with a print surface at least 250 millimeters wide.

By the way, if you can’t think of an easy way to 3D-print your chosen design, the good folks at AdaptedCreations on Etsy will be happy to take your order, print the keyguards, and send them to you at a reasonable price.

If you have an AAC system close to one of the ready-to-print designs but has a different layout, iPad model, or case, you may want to turn to the AACKeyguard Etsy shop for help designing and/or printing your keyguard. Producing a new design is more time-consuming than simply printing an existing one and is especially challenging to do remotely, but I’m sure the price will be reasonable.

Designs are Organized by Case

Because the design of a keyguard is very dependent on the case that holds the tablet we’ve chosen five of the cases most recommended by speech-language pathologists. The downloadable keyguard designs are organized by the case they will go into. The designs are on a separate page for each case. Look for a link at the end of the description for each case.

ProCase Kids Case:

(link to ProCase Kids Case on Amazon)

There are several examples of this standard, soft-sided case:

Go here to download “ready-to-print keyguard designs” for these cases.

AVAWO Case:

(link to AVAWO case on Amazon)

The AVAWO case is similar to the soft-sided case above, but it includes a rigid screen protector. This case is also available in multiple versions:

Go here to download “ready-to-print keyguard designs” for these cases.

SUPCASE Unicorn Beetle Pro Series Case:

(link to SUPCASE case on Amazon)

The SUPCASE Unicorn Beetle case comes with a solid front casing with built-in screen protector. The screen protector has a clear plastic backing to protect the tablet from spills. The case is very tough and is MIL STD 810G-516.6 rated.

The SUPCASE Unicorn Beetle comes with a strong built-in stand but it may be difficult for children to deploy. Unfortunately, the SUPCASE doesn’t have any built-in handle or strap for easy transport. However, it’s quite easy to add reliable, stick-on mounts to the back of the case and attach a separately purchased shoulder strap.

Go here to download “ready-to-print keyguard designs” for the SUPCASE Unicorn Beetle case.

Andnary Case:

(link to Andnary case on Amazon)

The Andnary case is similar to the SUPCASE Unicorn Beetle case in that it comes with a solid front casing with a built-in screen protector. The screen protector does not have a clear plastic backing, so it won’t be necessary to remove the plastic in order to mount the keyguard.

Go here to download “ready-to-print keyguard designs” for the Andary case.

App Settings

All apps include settings that can affect the layout of buttons and bars. Find your app below and see what settings we changed from the default for our keyguard designs. You will need to set up your app the same way, or the keyguard won’t match your layout.

Proloquo2 Go (P2G):

Settings > Appearance > Message Window Size > “Very Small”

Proloquo:

the default settings are unchanged

CoughDrop:

Preferences > Device Preferences > Device Layout > check “Always show the Back button in the header (recommended for users with key guards)”

Lamp Words for Life (LWFL & LWFL-VI):

the default settings are unchanged

Speak for Yourself (S4Y):

the default settings are unchanged

TD Snap:

the default settings are unchanged

TouchChat:

the default settings are unchanged

Grid for iPad:

the default settings are unchanged

Mounting Your Keyguard

Refer to these pages based on your choice of mounting method for a description of how to mount your keyguard:

Tweaking these keyguard designs

If one of these keyguards is close but not quite what you need, you can “easily” modify it so it will. You’ll need to learn how to use the keyguard designer but you can get a big leg up by starting with the design we’ve already created for that keyguard. Learn more about the process here.

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