AAC Editor

AAC Editor helps AAC users, parents, SLPs, and other professionals spend less time editing buttons and more time communicating. Add many words or entire topic pages at once, review every change before it runs, and update the page or grid already open in TD Snap or Grid 3 so it keeps its existing sharing and sync identity—saving hours of repetitive work.

Download

Download AACEditor-*-windows-x64-setup.exe from the latest release and run the installer. Python is not required. The installer places AAC Editor beneath Program Files and its shortcuts launch that installed executable.

The production release workflow requires Authenticode signing through SignPath. Do not continue if Windows identifies the publisher as unknown. Each release also includes a SHA-256 checksum and verifiable build attestation from the public workflow.

UIAccess is available only when the installed executable has a trusted Authenticode signature and remains in its secure Program Files location. A portable ZIP does not provide UIAccess; portable/development use may still need the explicit administrator fallback for Grid 3.

What it does

• Adds words to exact empty spaces on an existing TD Snap page.
• Adds vocabulary to empty spaces AAC Editor can update safely on the grid open in Grid 3, preserving the grid-set file and each blank cell's existing style.
• Creates word or color-coded topic pages and links them from an existing page.
• Keeps established vocabulary locked, rejects duplicates, and checks capacity.
• Adds matching TD Snap symbols when TD Snap can find them.
• Suggests AAC-friendly placement and optional words or phrases with local AI.
• Verifies the completed edit and reports anything that still needs review.

The guided setup can keep explanations visible for a new user or switch to a compact workspace for someone already familiar with the editor.

Private by design

The app listens only on your computer. Direct mode edits TD Snap through its own Windows controls, so the active page set keeps its existing sharing and sync identity. AAC Editor does not upload page-set files or button vocabulary; the optional single-topic grounding request is the only exception described below.

AI is optional and local:

• The packaged app can download Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct once (~1 GB, Apache-2.0) and run it offline.
• If Ollama is already running, the app can use one of its installed models instead.

Online grounding is separate and off by default. If you explicitly enable it for a suggestion, AAC Editor sends only that page title or category to Wikipedia; button labels, page sets, and generated suggestions remain local. Administrators can hard-disable grounding with TDSNAP_WEB_GROUNDING=0.

Quick start

1. Open TD Snap and the page set you want to edit.
2. Open AAC Editor and select Use the page open in TD Snap.
3. Add buttons, review their positions, and confirm the result-specific action.
4. Use Choose another page or Create a new page only when needed.
5. Review the checks before returning to TD Snap.

For Grid 3, choose Grid 3 on the first screen, open the exact existing grid you want to update, add vocabulary, review its order, and confirm the change. Grid 3 support is capability-based across grid-set families: AAC Editor reads the active grid's real geometry and only enables unprotected .gridset format-1 grids with accessible, single-cell blanks. It does not support .gridsetx/WordPower, Remote Editing, creating or linking grids, changing occupied cells, or word-list population.

The Grid 3 connection runs a reversible Edit Mode compatibility check: it adds a provisional Write command and label to a safe blank, undoes it, and verifies that nothing was saved. If Grid 3 does not expose reliable accessible cell bounds or editor controls, the feature stops without coordinate guessing, OCR, computer vision, or direct grid-set mutation. The installed executable requests asInvoker with uiAccess. Production UIAccess requires a trusted Authenticode signature and the secure installer location; the application itself does not request administrator elevation.

Keep Windows unlocked while an edit runs. The live editor is Windows-only and depends on the current TD Snap interface. The exported-file fallback is validated against a genuine TD Snap 4.13 export; see Importing edited page sets safely before using it.

Python and command-line use

Requires Python 3.9 or newer:

pip install .
python -m tdsnap.web

Add .[ai] to install the built-in AI engine. The launchers are also available:

• Windows: double-click launch.bat
• macOS/Linux: run ./launch.sh for exported-file and command-line work

Common commands:

python -m tdsnap list "My Page Set.sps"
python -m tdsnap verify "My Page Set.edited.sps"
python -m tdsnap inspect "My Page Set.sps"
python -m tdsnap.live status
python -m tdsnap.live add --yes --title Snacks --item Chips --item Apple

Exported-file edits always write a separate *.edited.sps copy. They discover the file's schema at runtime, clone TD Snap's own records as templates, and run SQLite integrity, foreign-key, linkage, and unexpected-change checks before saving. TD Snap's proprietary SyncHash cannot be reproduced, so direct mode is preferred when page-set sync matters.

Development

pip install ".[dev]"
python -m pytest
ruff check tdsnap tests packaging scripts
coverage run -m pytest && coverage report
npm ci
npx playwright install chromium
npm run test:e2e

Install .[ai,desktop] and PyInstaller, then build the unsigned installer with ./packaging/build.ps1 -Version 2.2.0. Unsigned output is suitable for packaging validation, not a production UIAccess claim. See development-only UIAccess signing for an explicit temporary-certificate procedure.

The browser suite mocks TD Snap and Grid 3 accessibility responses. Real TD Snap and Grid 3 tests are explicit opt-ins (TDSNAP_LIVE_E2E=1 and GRID3_LIVE_E2E=1) and must use disposable content. A real proprietary page or grid set must never be committed; scripts/fetch_fixture.py downloads the optional TD Snap integration fixture when needed.

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome. Read CONTRIBUTING.md and the security policy first.

Code signing policy

Free code signing provided by SignPath.io, certificate by SignPath Foundation.

• Committer and reviewer: Ryan Penny
• Signing approver: Ryan Penny
• Releases are built from an existing version-matched tag, and the workflow refuses to publish unless SignPath signs both the application and installer.
• Privacy: AAC Editor will not transfer information to other networked systems unless specifically requested by the user or the person installing or operating it. The optional Wikipedia grounding control names the single topic value it sends before the request is made.

License and trademarks

MIT. The optional AI model is downloaded separately under its own Apache-2.0 license. “TD Snap” is a trademark of Tobii Dynavox. This independent community project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Tobii Dynavox or Smartbox Assistive Technology. “Grid 3” is a Smartbox trademark.

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Built by Ryan Penny, M.A., CCC-SLP, owner of myVoice Speech Therapy.