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Programs

Slidetalk Software

Software Overview

SlideTalk was originally designed as a communications aid for people with disabilities. It was created to fill a gap that other communication software did not address, namely full screen scanning with only one image displayed on the screen at a time. It is best suited to those who can only process a limited amount of information at a time. The concept was the joint brainchild of Glen Hughes, the coordinator of the Rehabilitation Technology program at the New Brunswick Easter Seals, and Bill Wallace, a speech therapist at the Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

SlideTalk operates as a computerized slideshow. This is achieved by organizing groups of slides into Carousels. Each slide consists of a graphic file and a title, and may also include an auditory signal, a voice synthesis file(TextAssist required for voice synthesis), and a multimedia attachment, such as another sound, music, a video clip, an executable program, or even another Carousel.

The strength of SlideTalk is that it not only plays slideshows, but allows you to make your own slideshows quite easily. What's more, the scope of the slideshow doesn't need to be limited to communications; you can create slideshows for education, entertainment, advertising, even presentations. Within minutes, starting from scratch, you can create a slideshow of different screens that generate a sound clip when a slide is chosen!

The SlideTalk software can be used with a single switch (scanning) or two switches (one switch to advance to the next slide and the other switch to select the slide). A simple user configuration screen lets you select the input device (single switch, dual switch, one button mouse, two button mouse, TouchWindow, or keyboard) and scanning if using one switch.

The SlideTalk software includes 18 carousels (9 with recorded sound and 9 with text to speech), 50 Picture Communication Symbols from the Mayer-Johnson Boardmaker for Windows software, 40 sound files and 46 text to speech files. A bonus carousel can be found on this site that consists of colors and sounds. The bonus carousel may be imported into the full version of SlideTalk.

Text to speech is possible for people that have a SoundBlaster Pro sound card and the TextAssist software. The SlideTalk software includes an interface that allows for the selection of ten different voices and controls for the voice volume, pitch and speech rate.

The system requirements for the SlideTalk software are a Pentium computer with 16 MB Ram, 256 color video card, SoundBlaster compatible sound card, and speakers. You will need the SoundBlaster pro sound card (and the TextAssist software that comes with it) to use the text to speech capabilities. A microphone is needed if you will be recording sound files.

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Download Demo

You can download a demo version of the SlideTalk software below. The file is actually a self extracting executable file that contains all the SlideTalk files. It is best to create a temporary directory on your computer and copy the file into it. You can then run the program and it will uncompress the files. The setup program can then be run from this directory. When you start the SlideTalk program you will see the actual slideshow on the screen. You must hit the "Esc" key to access the construction interface. You can also hit the F1 key for help. If you are downloading this program for somebody else and need this demo to fit on diskettes, you can send us an email and we will e-mail you two files that will enable you to do so. We can also provide the demo on diskettes if more convenient.

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Bonus Carousels

Below you will find a pre-made carousel that can be downloaded for use with the full version of SlideTalk. This carousel will not work with the demo version of SlideTalk as the Import and Export functions are not functional in the demo version. You might want to bookmark this page or revisit from time to time as we intend to make available more carousels in the future.

Instructions:

  1. Click on the carousel you want to download. This will download it to your computer.
  2. Copy the carousel to a diskette. Do not unzip it, the SlideTalk software will take care of it.
  3. Start the SlideTalk software and enter the construction interface (hit the Esc. Key).
  4. Choose the Import command from the file menu. Choose the carousel that is on your diskette as the source, and the carousel directory as your destination. If you choose to import the carousel from a directory on your hard drive, make sure the carousel is not in the import subdirectory.
  5. Click OK and the carousel will be imported into the SlideTalk software.

The bonus carousels are a color carousel and two animal carousels. They have slides of different colors and animals and include fun sounds when a slide is selected. This is a good choice for trying early cause and effect as well as when working on color or animal recognition.

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Ordering Information

The SlideTalk software can be ordered by Contacting Us at the office of the New Brunswick Easter Seals. On-line ordering of this CD will be available soon.

The prices for Slidetalk are as follows:

We accept checks, money orders, Visa, purchase orders, or we can invoice organizations if more convenient.

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