Creating a Keyguard for an iProduct/Tablet (learn from my mistakes)

I am an overplanner. It's a characteristic which has generally served me well . . . I overpack (but am rarely unprepared), I'm an excellent troubleshooter (bring me a lesson plan and I'll show you the areas where things may unravel), and I'm a solidly good editor (just don't check this blog too carefully, since I often just think "eh, good enough" and run with it).  So when we decided to try to help Maya switch from a full-sized iPad to a mini iPad and realized that she would need a keyguard (which doesn't exist), I was fairly sure that if I sat and thought about it for long enough, I would be able to create one. And not just create an eh, good enough one, but bang it out of the park on the first swing.

(cue the laughter)

Yeah, it didn't work . . . not initially, anyway. But I did learn a few things, create something decent on the second try, and figure out some tips and tricks that I think would be helpful to any parents/professionals who decide to do something similar on a tablet/phone/iPod.

Background:
Maya is using a full communication app called Speak for Yourself. Her talker is an original iPad in an iAdapter case, outfitted with a durable keyguard. The keyguard is a gamechanger for her----preventing a large number of mishits, allowing her to communicate rapidly and accurately.  Here's the problem: the iPad + iAdapter are big. She's a little girl. It's challenging for her to carry the device, to set it up on a table, etc. As soon as I saw the mini iPad and mini iAdapter I knew they would be a much better fit for her----but there was a big problem. Due to the large number (120) of cells in the SFY app, there is just no way for any company to make a plastic keyguard for it---the strips of plastic would be slivers, bound to splinter off.  We waited for a different keyguard to hit the market (sure that someone would design one) . . . but no luck (yet).  Finally, I decided to see what I could figure out on my own, and this is the best that I've been able to do (so far).

mini iPad/case (left), full sized iPad/case (right)

What I used:  screen protector (any old screen protector is just fine), Viva Decor Glass Effect Gel Pen (transparent color), pointy q-tips
This glass effects pen was undoubtedly the perfect choice---it goes on slightly opaque, which allows you to see what you're doing. It dries clear, hard, and without heat . . . so you don't have to be concerned about heating the iPad screen, as you would if you were to use hot glue. It comes in a squeeze bottle and it's not challenging to make lines that vary from fairly thin to pretty thick. It's also very forgiving---easy to wipe up with a fingernail or pointy q-tip if you happen to make a mistake. (Or many mistakes. Not that I would know anything about that.)

Important tip: If you're going to create a keyguard on a screen protector, you must do it after the screen protector has been applied, otherwise you won't be able to smooth out the air bubbles. First apply the screen protector, then you make the keyguard on top of the already applied screen protector.

about to start

This shows how the gel goes on opaque but dries clear. I had applied a second (wet) coat to the half on the left, while the right shows the first (clear, dry) coat.

My Really-Well-Planned-First-Draft-In-Which-I-Made-3-Crucial-Mistakes
Even thought this draft has a few key design flaws, I think the pictures do a good job of illustrating what the keyguard looks and feels like:

The Stuff That I Messed Up

Crucial Mistake #1: Think about every screen configuration, and account for it as best as you can. I tried to do this, but didn't fully succeed. Have a look:

1. If applicable, make sure to leave space open for the slide-to-unlock bar! (I remembered to do that!)

2. If your app contains a scroll-able pop-up screen that always pops up in a fixed location, leave a space open to make scrolling easier. (This is the word finder box in SFY, which always pops up in the upper left hand corner of the app and is scrollable). 

3. Don't forget the keyboard! If your app has an in-app keyboard, take it into consideration. This is where things started to fall apart for us---with one layer of gel, the keyboard looked fine, so I stopped thinking about it. By my fourth (ever widening) layer, many of the keys were obstructed----you could still press them, but you couldn't see what letter you were pressing. Considering that literacy is so essential to AAC users (and, well, everyone) it's not very nice to obstruct the key labels.

Here was the first draft. Oops:

Good luck finding the P, the Y, the . . . well, about half the letters, actually.

 To correct this I had to get a little bit crazy. I ended up building something that slightly resembles a maze, with small openings to account for the letter labels. There was much squinting and muttering during this process.

I did the easy, non-keyboard-involved part first:

And then switched back and forth between the screens to figure out the gaps. I also took a screen shot of the keyguard screen and had it open on my laptop when I was working on the main screen, to make things a bit easier.

*if you've got an eagle eye you may notice that the horizontal lines are slightly higher in this picture that in the original keyboard shot---the reason for that is coming up

4. Think outside the app---what about the main settings page for the iPad? Luckily since the gel is directly on the screen, if you accidentally cover a button that you need to push, you can just push on the gel and it will activate the button (that worked in the first draft picture below). However, if anyone else will need to do any programming or work controls on the device, you might want to keep things as clear, readable, and accessible as possible.

First draft, not very accessible:

Second try, with the "Enable Programming" row cleaned up:

Crucial Mistake #2: If you need to obscure something, obscure pictures---not text. Literacy is the big goal---don't take the words away. In my first draft I tried to follow the lines between the buttons perfectly, but as I added (more aggressive) layers and the lines thickened, some of the text was obscured:

(sigh)

In the second draft I made the horizontal gel lines just slightly above the divide between the buttons. It's hardly noticeable that small amounts of the picture bottoms are missing.

Crucial Mistake #3: Leave space for extra layers. And apply extra layers carefully. Don't get all the-first-one-went-on-so-thin-and-easy-that-I-can-put-this-next-one-on-more-thickly-and-save-time. The time you save in layer application won't seem so sweet when you've accidentally obscured text or buttons and realize you need to start over.


What We've Ended Up With:
I've corrected the mistakes above. It's helpful, but not amazing---Maya would still benefit from something that would prevent more mishits. (She hits buttons with her knuckles while she's reaching for something else with her pointer finger.)  That being said, it's only been a week, and we're going to sit tight and see how much she's able to refine her movements and increase her accuracy. And I'm probably going to add a few more layers.

Happy keyguarding :)

Review: Speak for Yourself Keyguard (from LaseredPics)

*Editor's note: Please see an important addition to this post, found under #2. Attachment,  if you are ordering this keyguard to fit an iAdapter case (iPad1 or iPad2) or the Otterbox Defender case (iPad1)

As a preface, I don't work for Speak for Yourself or for LaseredPics.  This post is solely my opinion.  No one asked me to write this (or paid me for it), but I imagine it could be helpful to others considering the app and/or keyguard, so here you go  . . .

We recently received the new-and-improved keyguard for Maya's app (Speak for Yourself) created by the folks at LaseredPics.biz.  The original keyguard had some major flaws, so I had tried not to get my hopes up for version 2 . . . but, as it turns out, version 2 is pretty darn great.  Before I continue, you should know that the keyguard is available in 7 different versions, to accomodate different cases (or no case at all).  The version that I will be showing and talking about is designed specifically to fit the iAdapter1 case, which is what we have on Maya's iPad.

Here's Maya's iPad with the keyguard on:

See those 2 green lines at the top?  Pretend that they are made of clear plastic instead of drawn in.  Maya got a little frustrated and tried to pull the keyguard off, snapping off two thin plastic bars.  Luckily, they aren't really essential.  Here's what it looks like with the top two bars broken off:

And here's what it looks like with the app turned on and the keyguard in place:

This keyguard was an instant game-changer.  As I've mentioned in the past, Maya has a habit of accidentally hitting buttons by leaning her hand/knuckles against the iPad while she's reaching towards a word with her pointer finger.  She ends up on an unintended screen, and tends to then just pick her favorite word on whatever screen that she's on (we really need to work on hitting the blue home key to return to the main screen).  This results in a totally disjointed conversation, and she often goes through several misfires before getting back to the word she was originally aiming for. 

With the keyguard in place, she has to reach for a word very deliberately.  Accidental hits were all but instantly eliminated.  As you can see in the video below, there was a bit of a learning curve as she figured out the hand-eye coordination needed to get her finger into the targeted hole, but it didn't take long at all (we've had the keyguard for 5 days now and are seeing very few misalignments).


*note about the cereal bar: It's poor AAC form, I think, that I didn't stop to get her the cereal bar right away.  But I know Maya and knew that she was more interested in exploring the talker with the new keyguard than she really was in a snack.  She had a snack when we were done playing with the device.  When we first started using AAC I always stopped immediately and tried to present the requested item, even if the request seemed accidental.


Now that her communication is more deliberate and less accidental, we can really encourage the use of the talker to a greater degree, because it has become a much more real communication tool (as opposed to sometimes a great communication tool and sometimes just a fun way to say words and accidentally bounce through the screens).

Let me tell you about some of the features of the keyguard:

1. Slide-to-unlock opening: When ordering the keyguard you can choose to have the slide-to-unlock bar opened.  This is a great feature.  With this small row opened up Maya is able to turn the iPad on as usual with the keyguard already firmly in place and ready to use. 

2. Attachment: This version of the keyguard attached directly to our case with velcro (the last version that we tried used suction cups, which raised it up too high over our case).  The velcro allows for a nice tight fit (you can tell here, but the keyguard is actually slightly sunken over the screen so that it fits closely).  I cut two piece of velcro for each ledge on either side of the screen. *To get these extended ledges on the side, where I have attached the velcro, you need to order the Case Attachment Option for your case.  That tells them to attach the extra plastic ledges.

Velcro pieces circled in yellow.  I'm awesome at Paint.

Here you can see the black velcro on the sides of the keyguard.



3. Finger openings: LaseredPics has the keyguard available with either "circle" or "square" openings.  You want squares, for sure.  The circle openings were too small, rendering the entire thing useless for me.  Maya would still have been able to use it, but since good AAC use involves modeling and communicating through the device for both parties, the adult partner should be able to use it as well.  (Note: you could use a stylus with it if you have thick fingers, I guess, but since I would definitely lose the stylus I needed to fit my fingers through).

The square openings are big enough for me to fit my entire pinky through, but I can also fit enough of my index finger through to use the device with my index finger.  Dave can't fit any finger all the way through, but he can use his pinky finger to get in far enough to press the buttons. 

The bottom line: This is awesome, and will make is already making a huge difference for us.  We ordered a few back-ups, because I worry that Maya will knock the iPad over and it might crack.  If you decide to order one, trust me, you want square holes, you want to have that slide-to-unlock section open, and if you have an iAdapter case you want the case attachment option.


Side note: Today I added a new tab to the top of the blog, all about the communication/AAC stuff that we've tried along the way.  You can click here to see it.