Winsil

Winsil is a communication help software, created by « La Famille ».

This software is divided into two parts : the first is the « creation » mode and the second is the « reading » mode.

System requirement :

Windows 95 to XP

Pentium 300

32 MB memory (64 recommanded)

Graphics card : 8 MB

Spe

Speech system : Speak Back (55€)

Functions :

Cells content : cells may contain letters, sentences, pictures, Bliss symbols, short movies. You can also add sounds to the cells.

It is also possible to include several pictures or words to a single cell : in this case they appear one after the other when you select the cell.

You can also create special action cells to run a program, to print, ...

Input device : You can use Winsil with a keyboard, a mouse, a pointing device or a switch. It works by click or scanning with all the grids. The scanning speed is adjustable. It is a row by row then cell by cell scanning.

Speech system : it must be previously installed on the computer.

Creation mode :

Within Winsil.exe.

The main idea is the edition of thematic grid (1 to 60 cells). You can jump between grids thanks to the tree structure. 

On each cell you can include pictures from the computer or Bliss symbols (from the included repertory) to associate graphics to the most common words.

Each grid can have its proper settings (number of rows and columns, items size, colours, ...).

Many grids are provided with this software (for instance, an on-screen keyboard qwerty).

Reading mode :

It's the user's part, within Silence.exe (you can create a direct link on the desktop for instance : it provide access to the user's part only).

After editing the grids in the creation mode, in the reading mode, the selection of a cell allows the associated text to be written and spoken by the speech system. An interesting point : Winsil automatically complies with the grammatical rules (such as auto-correction of a verb ending).

Advantages :

Diversity of the possible content of a cell.

Tree structure which allows accessing to a large range of thematic grids.

Grammatical auto-correction.

Disadvantages :

Complicated programming : the user and the programmer will probably not be  the same person.

It cannot be used with other Windows applications : it doesn't provide access to the totality of the computer.

Supplier :

Informations n the creato website : www.geslafamille.be/informatique.htm

Price : 200 € (+ 55€ for the speech system Speak Back)