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OTTAA Project App

OTTAA Project App

Logo OTTAA Project
Overall rating:
4.5/5
Technology:

Categories assigned to this product within the main category Technology.

Needs:

Categories assigned to this product within the main category Needs.

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Below is the video of the review.

What does it consist of:

OTTAA Project is an application for mobile devices intended for people with communication difficulties. This tool favors the social integration of these people, thanks to the possibility of creating complex phrases through universal ARASAAC pictograms, and adding sound to them using digital voice.

These pictograms are organized by different categories, in addition to the fact that the application uses a predictive engine to reduce the time for selecting words, and reduce the frustration that some people have in communicating. The average time to create a phrase is 7 seconds.

OTTAA Project Features Infographic

Forms of acquisition:

The OTTAA Project application can be obtained for free in the Play Store at the following link:

Link to Play Store

The iOS version is not available at the moment.

This application offers a free version with more limited functions, and a Premium version with a greater number of options. The options offered by the most advanced version are the following:

  • Location: The user can select their favorite sites to obtain representative pictograms at the time they approach that place.
  • Synchronization with the calendar: If it is synchronized with the Google Calendar, a better prediction of the pictograms will be obtained.
  • Editing of pictograms: The user can edit the text or create groups for more complex phrases.
  • Screen wipe: This accessibility option allows users with motor difficulties to use this application.
 

And within the free version, OTTAA Project allows you to change the language, and with it the pictograms will adapt to those of the selected country.

Technical assessment:

Cristina Alvarez Romero

April 2022

The free version of the application has been used to carry out this assessment. The tests have been done on a Xiomi Redmi Note 5 Pro.

Once the application is installed, the first step will be to register (which can only be done with a Google account), where you will be asked for your name, gender and date of birth, and then choose a character that represents you in the application.

Next, it will offer us a panel with options to receive instructions how to use the application, through a short tutorial, a guided workshop or book a free demo made by an OTTAA Project specialist.

Help Options Panel

El main panel The application directly offers the communication tool with pictograms, as well as all the shortcuts to each of the app's functions.

Main menu with the gallery of pictograms, games, sharing and favorite phrases

communications panel

At the top of the interface there are 10 spaces for the orderly placement of the chosen pictograms, in order to create the desired phrase. Although it is limited to 10 spaces, it is possible to continue adding more glyphs to the phrase, even if they do not appear in those spaces.

The pictograms to choose will appear under these spaces, in groups of four. To start the sentence, the user must select one of the four suggested pictograms. If our option is not there, we can press another button that will show us another group of four other pictograms, and so on up to 3 times. If the desired pictogram is not among those suggestions, an option will appear. choose manually the pictogram.

These pictograms are grouped into categories to facilitate your search. The categories are: Actions, adjectives, animals, food, home, school, colors, concepts, conjunctions, body, instruments, interactions, games and toys, places, numbers, clothing, people, prepositions, pronouns, feelings, shops, time, transportation, everything, health book, leisure book 1, leisure book 2, restaurant book, travel book, hygiene book, butchery book, store book, grocery book, music class, class art, classes, soccer, movies and movies, pharmacy book, swimming book, breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner.

The application is capable of understand user intent, resulting in glyph suggestions that are more closely aligned to the desired phrase. With the Premium version, the application can detect the location and gather information from the environment to contextualize the communicative situation and provide more appropriate pictograms. In case a mistake is made, it has a back button.

Also, the app presents the functionality of select user age (child, youth or adult) so that the pictograms are adapted to the corresponding age range. In addition, there is the option of choose user gender (masculine, feminine, fluent, binary) for further customization.

The process is repeated for each space of the sentence that we are completing with pictograms. Once finished, the phrase will be played by voice when you click on the speaker icon.

 

Communications panel with the phrase, the play button, back and more suggestions
Constructed Phrase Subtitles

Games

Another interesting option that the application offers us is a variety of games, where the pictograms are the protagonists.

These games are:

  • What is the pict?: You will have to choose the pictogram from those offered that corresponds to the one that is asking you.

 

Game what is the picto?
  • match pictograms: It will be necessary to join the pictogram with its name in text.
Match pictograms game
  • Memory game: Choose pairs of identical pictograms.
Memory game

Within each game you can choose which category of pictograms we want to work on it. The game will also offer the ability to view a score table, with correct and incorrect answers, screen time, and maximum streak. As we play, the niveles they increase automatically, according to the speed and the number of correct answers that the user has.

La purpose of these games is to know more about the pictograms and internalize them well, and thus be able to identify them better.

pictogram gallery

This section of the application shows all the categories with the pictograms corresponding to each one, where you can take a look and get to know them better. The categories are those mentioned previously.

pictogram gallery

favorite phrases

Here will appear the phrases that we use the most in our day to day to be able to say them quickly.

Share

Once a phrase is created, you will have the possibility of sharing it on other social networks (such as WhatsApp or Gmail) in text form. It can also be shared as an image or audio but only to nearby and connected devices.

Accessibility

  • Accessibility for people with communication and comprehension difficulties

 

This application offers great accessibility to people with communication difficulties, since it is its objective. The pictograms favor the communication of this group, to express their ideas, feelings, needs or desires, therefore, their understanding is essential for their use. In this application are used ARASAAC pictograms, which are quite simple and with a high degree of symbolism, in addition to being a standard system and many users are already familiar with them. Likewise, they are complemented by a text and a voice reading so that their understanding is ensured.

  • Accessibility for people with vision difficulties

 

The application has an interface with high contrast e large icons. It also includes a function audio description that describes the pictograms of the application. And as a complement, it has an option of subtitles that read the phrase while it is played by voice that can be configured, increasing the size to adapt to the user.

  • Accessibility for people with hearing difficulties

 

The application is not a problem for people with hearing difficulties since all the sentences are made up of graphic elements with complementary text, and when the sentence is reproduced, it has subtitles.

There is a limitation in the application that may affect people with hearing difficulties. In one of the three available games, specifically the game "What's the pict?", the user is required to select the pictogram from those displayed on the screen, based on the voice instructions provided, without offering Subtitle. This can be an access barrier for the hearing impaired who rely on subtitles or transcripts to understand the content.

  • People with cognitive disabilities

 

The application has a clear interface y simple to use, with an intuitive and easy-to-understand design. In addition, the application settings allow you to adjust the speed and pitch of text-to-speech output that adapts to each level of comprehension.

  • People with motor difficulties

 

The application has an option to use it through face control. But for this you will need an external application (Eva Facial Mouse), to which the OTTAA Project application itself will redirect you. Its use with this external application has been correct.

Usability

Also, it is designed to serve as a useful tool for this group, without bothering them in their day to day. Therefore, the speed of creating the phrases is something key. This application uses a quite effective prediction system that increases the speed and comfort for these users when creating their phrases.

It is an application that requires the horizontality of the device, therefore, it is highly recommended to use it on tablets, which is a good format for a communicator.

It offers a configuration of the application and its mode of use, but many of the functions are for the Premium version.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the OTTAA Project application is an application for mobile devices intended for people with communication difficulties that allows them to create complex sentences through universal pictograms and sound them through digital voice.

The communication tool is intuitively designed, with pictograms organized by categories and a predictive engine that reduces word selection time. In addition, it offers the possibility of adapting to the age and gender of the user to provide greater accuracy in the pictograms.

In addition, the OTTAA Project application provides accessibility benefits to different groups, improving the inclusion and quality of life of these people. The application promotes a more inclusive and accessible society for all.

Highlights

  • Ability to understand the user's intention and offer more adjusted pictograms, increasing the speed of writing sentences.
  • Ability to adapt to the user (age, gender, location in the case of the Premium version).
  • Accessible to many groups.
  • Very intuitive, well organized and visual.
  • Ability to copy the text to other applications.

Points to improve

  • Lack of availability for iOS devices.
  • Improved accessibility for the hard of hearing in one of the games.
 

Technical evaluation scores.

Design and manufacturing:
5/5
This section refers to the physical aspects and details of the manufacturing of the technological product
Technical benefits:
5/5
Description of the quality of the technical specifications of the technological solution
User experience:
5/5
This criterion is linked to the user's assessment when relating to the technical product or application.
Accessibility:
4.5/5
It is the degree to which people can use or access a product, technological solution or service, regardless of their technical, cognitive or physical abilities

Social valuation:

Social valuation scores.

Impact and utility:
This item has not been rated/5
Describes to what extent the functionalities of the product are useful and impact on improving the life of the user
Design and Ergonomics:
This item has not been rated/5
Assessment of how the design of the technological solution adapts to the person to achieve greater comfort and efficiency when using it
Usability and accessibility:
This item has not been rated/5
Possibility of the device to be used, understood and taken advantage of under equal conditions for anyone
Ease of acquisition:
This item has not been rated/5
It refers to the possibilities of accessing and acquiring a technological solution by the user.

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