Allora text-to-speech AAC device is easy to use and versatile

Allora is an easy-to-use and highly versatile text-to-speech AAC device.

For years, people with speech disabilities have had to write what they needed to say on paper. If those disabilities affected small-motor coordination, writing messages was not even an option. Now, one resource offered at the Technology Lending Center is Allora, made by Jabbla, a Belgian company.

Allora, along with the newer Allora2, is an easy-to-use text-based a keyboard-based, text-to-speech generating device. The user types a message on the keyboard, in ABC, QWERTY, or AZERTY formats. Allora will then convert to audible speech what is written in high-quality, natural-sounding male or female voices. With RealSpeak from Nuance or BrightSpeech from Acapela, the speech output is highly personal, incorporating the natural intonations, emphasis, and emotions of typical speech. Allora offers additional features that make it an effective alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) device, both input and output.

Word prediction. In the lower LCD display, Allora displays a list of words that begin with the first one or few letters the user has typed. (These are displayed in the upper LCD display.) This feature is comparable to that found Proloquo4Text and WordQ. Afterward, Allora will predict the following possible words. This ability allows the user to enter text in fewer keystrokes and alleviates some of the stress from communication errors caused by inadvertently misspelled words.
Ability to record and store digital speech. Allora allows the user to record as many as three hours of speech and sounds through its internal microphone.
Pre-programming ability. Users of Allora can pre-program more than 100 messages; these messages are easily and quickly retrieved through abbreviations or by being linked directly to a key.

Added to all this is the astonishing ability of Allora to perform these feats in several languages! Moreover, as mentioned earlier, New Jersey residents can try Allora free of charge through our Technology Lending Center.