Compare exactly what will change
Review the additional vocabulary in context while every familiar speech button remains in its established grid position.
Progressive Boards · called Vocabulary Levels in the app
More words. Familiar places.
Choose when to show more words with Vocabulary Levels. Familiar buttons stay in the same places on the complete board. Levels are optional, and you preview and approve every change.
One board, optional visibility levels
One board. Optional Vocabulary Levels.
The ready-made boards include Complete, with a stable 12 × 7 layout, and Complete Small, with a stable 9 × 5 layout. On both, adults select levels and choose when each speech button first appears, while keeping one complete board.
- Use an earlier level to reduce visible complexity while preserving the full board structure.
- Keep familiar speech buttons in identical grid positions across every level.
- Assign a starting level to one button or many buttons across all board pages.
- Use up to 99 levels when they suit the board and the child’s communication needs.
- Leave an ordinary board without levels when progression is not useful.
- Remove Vocabulary Levels later without moving button positions.
Progressive board in the app
See one board across Vocabulary Levels.
Emma’s Complete Small example keeps the same 9 × 5 layout while visible vocabulary changes from an earlier level to Level 5.
Review the complete level plan
Review the available levels and the active level before changing the child’s board.
Stable by design
Familiar words stay in place.
The goal is to introduce visible vocabulary gradually without rebuilding navigation or asking the child to relearn the location of established words.
One underlying board
Every level refers to the same pages, grids, symbols, labels, languages, and reserved button positions.
Navigation stays reviewable
The adult can inspect page links, overlay access, and long-press choices that may affect access to vocabulary behind them.
The full board remains available
A later level can reveal the complete board without replacing the layout or moving words already in use.
Related AAC vocabulary terms
Vocabulary Levels, explained.
Families and AAC teams may describe staged vocabulary, gradual vocabulary expansion, reduced visual complexity, or stable button placement. Another Voice calls this feature Vocabulary Levels.
Staged AAC vocabulary
An adult prepares an earlier visible set and later stages on the same complete communication board. The child does not pass a test or earn access to a stage.
Gradual vocabulary expansion
Additional high-frequency core words, topic-specific or fringe words, and personally meaningful vocabulary can become visible over time. The adult chooses the content, order, and timing.
Stable AAC layout
The grid size and reserved cell positions stay fixed, so familiar speech buttons do not move when more vocabulary appears.
Reduced visual complexity
An earlier level can show fewer buttons without deleting hidden vocabulary or creating a separate simplified board that may drift later.
Draft, preview, review, apply
Preview every board change.
Adults can prepare a proposed level, inspect the exact impact, and preview the child view before choosing to apply it.
1. Prepare the draft
Choose the first visible set and assign when additional speech buttons become available.
2. Compare the change
Review buttons added or removed by page, navigation changes, long-press choices, and each active language.
3. Preview the child view
Open the proposed level in the real board layout before it can reach the child.
4. Apply deliberately
A parent or trusted adult confirms the reviewed draft. Until then, the child's board does not change.
Adult-controlled workflow
Edit a level, then inspect the child’s board.
See how an adult’s change appears on the child’s board.
Choose visibility in the real layout
Assign speech buttons to a level on the Complete Small grid, with the surrounding vocabulary and navigation still visible for review.
Verify the resulting AAC board
Open the child-facing Level 5 board and confirm that the intended vocabulary is available without moving established buttons.
Adult-controlled support
A level is a support decision, not a judgment about the child.
Parents and trusted professionals can consider access, visual load, modeling, real routines, essential vocabulary, and the child's communication. Usage counts alone cannot make that decision.
Make room for different kinds of communication
An early level should support asking, refusing, commenting, getting help, reporting discomfort, connecting with people, and using personally important words.
Review the exact change
The adult sees what is becoming available or unavailable instead of approving a vague level change.
Use Insights as one input
Insights can raise a useful question, but it never chooses, applies, or advances a Vocabulary Level.
Clear boundaries
Progressive Boards do not turn communication into a reward system.
Vocabulary remains a communication resource. Levels organize adult planning; they do not measure mastery, readiness, intelligence, effort, or worth.
No automatic advancement
No timer, tap count, target, test, or analytics pattern changes the active level on its own.
Nothing is earned
The child does not have to perform before vocabulary becomes available. Adults remain responsible for access decisions.
Reviewable and reversible
Adults can move to an earlier or later level, prepare another draft, or return to the full board without rearranging positions.
One complete board, with room for more words.
Vocabulary Levels are optional, adult-controlled, and designed to preserve familiar button positions at every stage.
