Alinea Word Prediction Application for Windows 11

The word Lexima in a thick black font. The initial capital L is rounded and on a slight anglem End of description.

alinea Suite’s word prediction application for WindowsThis is a photograph taken in a school library. In the foreground to the right is a teenager sitting at a very small desk with a tablet device in one hand and a set of blue headphones around his neck. He has dark hair and is smiling directly at the camera. Moving backwards, the photograph loses focus but shows a blonde haired girl roughly of ten years old. She has white headphones around her neck and along with a long haired lady sat next to her. Behind them is an increasingly less focused set of two bookcases. End of description.

Lexima‘s alinea Suite includes a remarkable word prediction application that is being used to write this, and all other Lime Assistive Technology Ltd web pages!

What makes alinea Suite’s such a brilliant application is that it can be easily set up to meet the needs of the following people:

  • Dyslexic people of all ages 
  • People of all ages who have a very slow “typing speed” due to cerebral palsy or other physical impairments
  • People of all ages whose first language is not English 
  • Non disabled professionals who have a slow “typing speed” and who have a specific vocabulary,  such as the medical and legal professions
  • Non disabled students who have a slow “typing speed”  
  • Subject specific prediction glossaries can be easily created and added to the words that can be predicted 
  • Any background colour and font can be used to tailor the prediction menu to meet specific needs
  • Predicted words can be selected with either:
    •  1 to 9 number keys above the QWERTY row
    •  Ctrl + 1 to 9 number keys above the QWERTY row
    •  1 to 9 numerical keypad keys
    •  1 to 9 function keys *
    •  The Windows mouse pointer, so a mouse, specialist trackball etc

      *  Apart from the 1 to 9 function keys, all three keyboard methods of selecting a predicted word can be used with the Windows onscreen           keyboard once it’s own word prediction has been disabled 

The information on this page shall be split into two categories:

  • Use by people who have dyslexia or other literacy difficulties 
  • Use by people who have cerebral palsy or other physical impairments that make typing slow and inaccurate 

 

For users who dyslexic and / or need support with literacy and spelling such as those whose first or second language is not English, the prediction menu is best used in the following two column configuration:

Two word prediction menus each containing 9 words. The two menus are side by side, are yellow, and have the numbers 1 to 9 each in a grey box to the left of each word in both prediction menus. On the right of each word is a blue box, some containing a write icon of a camera, dictionary, or a document. In the right hand side prediction menu, each blue box is followed by a thin red rectangle showing the letter i. The words listed in the left side prediction menu are: 1 about, 2 side, 3 above, 4 absence, 5 ability, 6 absolutely, 7 absolute, 8 absurd, 9 abandoned. The right hand side menu shows: 1 back, 2 base, 3 bacteria, 4 based, 5 basis, 6 bed, 7 approach, 8 applied, 9, appeared. End of description.

 The left column shows nine words predicted after the letter a, then b have been entered. The right column shows words that alinea word prediction thinks the user may actually want. Using the mouse to click on each word will result in it being spoken aloud by the SAPI 5 text-to-speech voice that has been selected in the below settings options:

 

The following three images (with lengthy text descriptions for screen reader users) show all of the options relating to the word prediction menu (referred to as the “prediction menu”. The glossary settings are not included in these three windows.  

This page and it’s image alt descriptions have been typed by myself, a user of alinea Suite word prediction for Windows. I have cerebral palsy so use the single column setting, the number keys for word selection, and the numerical keypad for actually entering numbers into whatever application I am using, typically LibreOffice Write. 

I have the selected predicted word spoken aloud by an English language text-to-speech voice so that I am immediately alerted to the pressing of the incorrect number key. This was one of my recommendations when writing a Disabled Students Allowance report for a student who needed word prediction software due to cerebral palsy or Parkinson’s.  

This is the Write settings window from the <span style=alinea Suite word prediction application for Windows. Write is the first tab before Read and Image. The Write tab has a small image icon showing a green pencil. There is then the following vertical list of tick boxes beneath the heading Word predictor menu: Word predictor follows the cursor, unticked. Word prediction in two columns, ticked and two indented radio buttons Show columns side by side (active) show columns as list. Moving downwards again. Wildcard asterisk allowed, ticked. Include word pairs, ticked. Word predictor, number box showing number 1, then the word characters, Minimum length of predicted words, number box showing number 2. Show used corrections in the prediction window, ticked. Show images in the prediction window (mouse over). There is then a new section called "shortcut button for inserting words". Two columns of two radio buttons with the options: Control + number keys 1 to 9. Function keys F 1 to F 9. Num Pad keys 1 to 9. At the bottom right of the window are two large buttons, a green tick and a red cross consisting of two diagonal lines. End of description.” loading=”lazy” />
This is the Read settings window from the <span style=alinea Suite word prediction application for Windows. Read is the middle tab after Write and before Image. The Read tab has a small image icon showing a blue speech bubble. Moving down is the text "Speech" and a tick box that is ticked. Beneath it is the text "Speak when typing" and to the right of that, the following three tick boxes: Letters, words (ticked), and Sentences only on K 3000, Word, and Wordpad. Moving down and back to the left is Clipboard reader and then an unticked box. Moving down is the word "Speaker", a drop down menu stating "English" followed by another stating "Jill". Moving down again is the word "Speed", a zero, and a sliding horizontal scale with a blue position indicator. Moving down again is a text box followed by a green "play" button containing a right facing triangle, the standard icon for playing music. In the text box are the words: Sensotec develops technological tools for people with a reading impairment. At the bottom right of the window are two large buttons, a green tick and a red cross consisting of two diagonal lines. End of description.” loading=”lazy” />
This is the image settings window from the <span style=alinea Suite word prediction application for Windows. Image is the final tab after Write and Read. The image tab has a small image icon showing a landscape. Moving down is the text "User interface", then "level". To their right is a drop-down menu showing the text "Secondary education". Beneath that are four small icons used in each level, Primary Education, Secondary Education, and Adults. Moving right is the text "Glossary colours" and four buttons that can have their colour changed. They are named "Basic glossary", "Extended glossary", "Custom glossary", and "Word pairs". Beneath those are three font colour options followed by a drop-down colour menu. Compound and red, Homophone and green, Verb and blue. To their left are options for font style, size, bold, italics and extra line spacing, then an example showing the resulting text. In the bottom right of the window are two large buttons, a green tick and a red cross consisting of two diagonal lines. End of description.” loading=”lazy” />

For people who have physical difficulties with typing speed and accuracy 

Alinea Suite word prediction for Windows offers opportunities and accessibility not currently seen in other word prediction applications. 

At this point, it should be noted that I have cerebral palsy and have written all content on this website using the Springboard PC-1 Keyboard and alinea Suite word prediction for Windows. I am a former DSA assessor and have a personal and professional interest in alternative text input methods. 

I use the single prediction column configuration as seen in the below YouTube video: 

 

https://youtu.be/f-mNzkzxh90?si=XpQxjj8FLm8FImae

By using the one column configuration and the top 1 to 9 row of number keys for the selection of predicted words, and the numerical keypad for actually typing numbers, I can work much quicker than I have been able to do using other currently available word prediction applications. 

I use the “speak predicted words” option with my choice of English language SAPI5 text-to-speech voice, which we sell as bundled products with alinea Suite in the English speaking countries section of our Text-to-Speech Central store. This immediately alerts me to the insertion of a correctly spelt, but unwanted word. 

Alinea Suite’s word prediction can also be used together with the Windows onscreen keyboard, making it accessible to many people for whom typing can be a challenge, at home, in education, or in the workplace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGMw2b91V74

If you have any questions, please contact us! A fully functional trial copy of alinea Suite can be requested here!

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Page created: 13 April 2024
Last updated: 20 April 2024