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Parents' Guide to

SoundingBoard

By Erin Wilkey Oh, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 7+

Speech tool has custom options but several limitations.

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad Free Education
SoundingBoard Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

  • SoundingBoard App: Screenshot #1
  • SoundingBoard App: Screenshot #2
  • SoundingBoard App: Screenshot #3

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Privacy Rating Warning

  • Personal information is not sold or rented to third parties.
  • Unclear whether personal information are shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • Unclear whether this product uses a user's information to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.
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What’s It About?

Users with limited speech or communication skills tap on various picture cards in order to express themselves. Each board has from one to nine picture cards, and each card includes image, text, and audio. Parents, educators, and therapists can create custom boards and cards to meet users' particular needs. Individual cards can connect to another board; for example, on one board, kids tap on a picture of a boy eating to express hunger, which then opens to a board showing a selection of food cards.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Accessibility tools are rarely cheap, so the fact that SOUNDINGBOARD is free makes it very appealing. However, the app's slightly clunky design creates several limitations. SoundingBoard opens to a text-only menu, which would be confusing for younger kids or kids with limited literacy skills trying to use the app independently. The existing boards list is also heavily text-based with the exception of a small icon for each board, which again, could make navigation tricky for some kids. In addition, when kids see a board of cards, they are often unable to see the entire text that goes with a card if it's longer than a few words. This means kids have to rely on the images to know what the card will say when tapped.

Educators and parents can alleviate some of these issues when creating custom boards. Carefully selecting the images to represent the various boards can help kids navigate to a relevant set of picture cards. And limiting the text for each card can help kids find the phrase they want to express more easily.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Take the time to set up boards for your kids' specific learning needs or routines. Use your own photos instead of the app's gallery to help your kids connect the app to their real-life needs.

  • Show the app to your kid's speech-language pathologist or teacher and ask for ideas on ways to customize it for use at home or school.

App Details

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