Generating acceptable Arabic Core Vocabularies and Symbols for AAC users

This paper discusses the development of an Arabic Symbol Dictionary for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) users, their families, carers, therapists and teachers as well as those who may benefit from the use of symbols to enhance literacy skills. With a requirement for a bi-lingual dictionary, a vocabulary list analyzer has been developed to evaluate similarities and differences in word frequencies from a range of word lists in order to collect suitable AAC lexical entries. An online bespoke symbol management has been created to hold the lexical entries alongside specifically designed symbols which are then accepted via a voting system using a series of criteria. Results to date have highlighted how successful these systems can be when encouraging participation along with the need for further research into the development of personalised context sensitive core vocabularies

A Voting System for AAC Symbol Acceptance

This paper aims to illustrate how an innovative voting system has been developed to allow AAC users, their therapists, carers and families show their degree of acceptance for newly developed symbols and their referents. The approach, taking a participatory model of research, occurs via an online symbol management system using a set of criteria that provide instant feedback to the developers and the project team. Scores and comments regarding the symbols are collated and where a majority vote has occurred, symbols are added to the Arabic Symbol Dictionary with lexical entries in both Arabic and English

T4I2016 - Draffan, EA; Wald , M; Ahmad, A.I.; Kadous, A.; Zeinoun, N; Banes , D.; Sabia, O.; Lawand, D.: Personalise, Localise and Globalise: Symbols to enhance independent Communication

<p>Draffan, EA; Wald , M; Ahmad, A.I.; Kadous, A.; Zeinoun, N; Banes , D.; Sabia, O.; Lawand, D.: Personalise, Localise and Globalise: Symbols to enhance independent Communication. <i>T4I Communications 1, T4I2016 – Academic/Research</i>, Nov 2016. <i>Figshare</i>.</p> <p>This research explored the personal preferences of AAC users and those supporting them, in their need to have localised, cultural and religious symbols, that could be used alongside those already found on communication charts in certain multilingual settings.</p