{"id":18979,"date":"2025-05-02T08:23:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T14:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/volksswitch.org\/?page_id=18979"},"modified":"2025-10-30T08:35:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T14:35:10","slug":"ipad-mini-6-7-ready-to-print-designs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/volksswitch.org\/index.php\/volks-devices\/customizable-3d-printable-keyguard-for-grid-based-free-form-and-hybrid-aac-apps-on-tablets\/ready-to-print-keyguard-designs\/ipad-mini-6-7-ready-to-print-designs\/","title":{"rendered":"iPad Mini 6, 7 Ready-to-Print Designs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Problems with “Thoroughly Modern Mini”<\/h1>\n

The iPad Mini line of tablets presents a problem for AAC apps and keyguards.\u00a0 Their small form factor means that each part of the app must be smaller.\u00a0 For apps with large vocabularies, each button becomes very small.\u00a0 That effect translates to the keyguard, resulting in small (going on tiny) openings between the rails.\u00a0 The modern Minis, specifically the Mini 6 and 7, add another wrinkle.\u00a0 They’ve dropped the physical “Home button” and replaced it with a “virtual” home button – that horizontal line at the bottom of the screen that you have to sweep upward to get to the home screen.\u00a0 AAC apps themselves have trouble dealing with this new screen element.\u00a0 Some, like TouchChat, shrink their app and allocate screen space:<\/p>\n

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Others, like Cough Drop, throw up their hands and pretend to ignore it:<\/p>\n

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I don’t know how such apps distinguish between sweeping the line upward and tapping the button…<\/p>\n

In creating the ready-to-print designs, we had to decide whether to accommodate the virtual home button or ignore it.\u00a0 We decided to play it safe and accommodate it.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 If there’s an even number of columns, the middle two may be<\/strong> merged horizontally and vertically.\u00a0 The lower edge of the keyguard is also removed, if necessary, to provide reasonable manual access to the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Merging Openings<\/td>\nRemoving Part of the Bottom Edge<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The Supported Apps<\/h1>\n

The apps we’ve chosen are Proloquo2Go<\/a> (P2G), Proloquo<\/a>, CoughDrop<\/a>, Lamp Words for Life<\/a> (LWFL), TD Snap<\/a>, TouchChat<\/a>, Grid for iPad<\/a>, and Speak for Yourself<\/a> (S4Y).\u00a0<\/p>\n

[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.]<\/p>\n

We’ve mostly designed these keyguards based on the “default” settings of the app.\u00a0 On occasion, we’ve changed a default setting to provide more room for the buttons in the grid.\u00a0 Look below for those settings.<\/p>\n

All designs can be printed on a printer with a print surface that is at least 250 millimeters wide.<\/p>\n

By the way, if you can’t think of an easy way to 3D-print your chosen design, the good folks at AdaptedCreations<\/a> on Etsy will be happy to take your order, print the keyguards, and send them to you at a reasonable price.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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 <\/span>AACKeyguard<\/a> Etsy shop for help designing and\/or printing your keyguard.<\/span>\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Designs are Organized by Case<\/h1>\n

Because the design of a keyguard is very dependent on the case that holds the tablet, we’ve chosen four of the cases most recommended by speech-language pathologists.\u00a0 The case organizes the downloadable keyguard designs they will go into.\u00a0 The designs are on a separate page for each case.\u00a0 Look for a link at the end of the description for each case.<\/p>\n

Fintie Case:<\/h2>\n

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(link to Fintie case on Amazon<\/a>)<\/p>\n

There are several examples of this standard, soft-sided case:<\/p>\n