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ComLink is an open modular system for building Augmentative & Alternative
Communication (AAC) software for communication, environmental control, education, employment,
and leisure. ComLink provides sample applications, software for creating and running applications,
a set of basic components, and detailed standards for developing new components. There will be
support for any mix of text, symbols, pictures, and sound.<P>
By using ComLink, Rehabilitation Technology companies no longer need to build entire applications
from scratch. Instead they can use ready-made components, concentrating their resources on creating
specialised components where necessary. The ComLink editors, with their graphical interfaces, make
it easy to combine and adjust ComLink components to make an application.<P>
Assessment and resource centre staff can use the same editors to modify applications to suit the
diverse needs of end-users (adding a speech synthesis component, perhaps, or making major alterations
to the vocabulary or selection sets). Non-technical therapists and helpers can also make some changes
to an application, using a toolbar (created by the application designer) instead of the editors. The
toolbar makes it easy to adjust text size, scanning speed or selection set items, for example.<P>
With manufacturers and assessment centres using a common set of tools to create and modify
applications, it becomes more technically and economically feasible to produce, adapt, maintain,
upgrade, and support new products to meet the diverse needs of the expanding market of elderly
and disabled people.]]>