Start

Do I need to create an account?

No. There is no account, no password and no email address to give. The page opens and the tool works.

What does it cost?

Nothing, and there is no paid version. ODERSA is a non-profit association under the French law of 1901: it sells nothing in return.

Do I need to install an app?

No. A browser is enough. Your device may offer to add the service to the home screen: that is a shortcut to the same page, not another piece of software.

Does it work on a phone, a tablet, a computer?

Yes. The layout starts at 360 pixels wide and unfolds from there. On a narrow screen, a board shows fewer cells at a time, but it stays whole.

And on a locked-down computer, in a hospital ward?

There is nothing to install and no administrator rights are required. If the computer blocks sound or local storage, the boards still display and still print.

Without a connection

Does it work offline?

Yes, after a first visit online. The pages, the symbols of the core vocabulary, the sounds and the code are kept by the browser. A page that has never been opened, however, is not available offline. The detail is on the page using the service offline.

Do I need to do anything again after an update?

No. The new version installs in the background and waits: it takes over the next time the service is opened with no tab already running. Your boards are untouched.

The voice

Which voice speaks?

The one on your device, and only that one. The service uses only locally installed voices: nothing you compose is sent to a remote synthesis service. This is a choice, not a technical limit: a voice “in the cloud” means sending the sentence to a third party.

No voice can be heard. Why?

Some devices have no voice installed for the language of this page. In that case the service displays the sentence in large type and offers to print it: it neither falls silent nor pretends. In French, and in French only, a few core words also carry a backup recording; these recordings do not exist in the other languages served, and the service does not claim otherwise.

Can the speed be adjusted and the voice chosen?

Yes, among the local voices the device declares. The choice and the speaking rate are kept on the device.

Your data

Where are my boards and my words?

In the local storage of your browser, on this device, and nowhere else. No server receives them, no copy is sent.

What happens if I clear the browser data?

They disappear, with no recovery possible on our side: we hold no copy of them. This is why exporting a file is offered as an ordinary step, not as a hidden option. The exported file is the real backup.

In private browsing?

The session works fully, sentence and voice included, but nothing is kept from one time to the next. The service detects this and says so where it matters.

How do I move my boards from one device to another?

By exporting the file on the first device and importing it on the second. There is no synchronisation, because synchronisation would require an account and a server.

Do photographs of family go anywhere?

No. A photograph added to a cell stays in the browser’s local storage and in your export file. The service accesses neither the microphone nor the camera.

The boards and the vocabulary

Why do the same cells come back at the start of every board?

Because a hand that has learnt where “yes” is must find it in the same place everywhere. The position of the cells is stable from one board to another, and that stability is worth more than a prettier arrangement. The reasoning is set out in how it works.

Can I add my own words and photographs?

Yes, in my boards. A family’s own words, the names, the habits and the places are not ours to invent.

Can I change the symbol set?

Yes. A separate module offers a set designed for augmentative and alternative communication, under a ShareAlike licence: when you choose it, the service tells you what that means for the boards you go on to share. See the symbols.

A symbol does not mean what I think it means. What should I do?

Report it. On a communication tool, an ambiguous symbol can make someone say the opposite of what they meant: these reports come first.

Paper

Why print?

Because a sheet of paper never runs out of battery, fits in a pocket, lies on a hospital bed and can be handed to whoever comes into the room. See print a board.

Is the printed board freely licensed?

Yes, with the notices in its footer: it stays re-usable even when detached from the site. The exact terms are on the page licence and re-use.

Accessibility

Can it be used without touching the screen?

With a keyboard, yes: everything can be reached, every cell as well as every button.

With a single switch, yes as well. Automatic scanning moves through the cells of the board, at an adjustable speed, then through the three commands of the sentence bar, “Speak the sentence”, “Delete the last word” and “Clear all”: a sentence can be built, corrected and spoken without ever using anything but the switch. A row taken by mistake exits on its own after one pass with no press, and the cursor can announce itself aloud, cell by cell, which makes scanning usable without seeing the screen.

One thing still calls for something other than the switch, and we would rather say so: stopping the scan. The Escape key cuts it off, or the “Off” button in the settings. As long as the mode is running, it prevents nothing: building and speaking go on. But to bring it back to rest, a second key is needed.

Can the text be made larger and the contrast increased?

Yes, through the display settings at the top of every page: text size, increased contrast, spacing, underlined links, dark theme, reduced animations. The choices are kept on the device.

The accessibility statement?

It lives on the association’s website: odersa.org/accessibilité.

The framework

Is it a medical device?

No. Words Within Reach is a communication tool: not a medical device, not medical advice, and not a diagnostic tool. The service judges no one and assesses no one.

Does it replace a speech and language therapist?

No, and that is not its purpose. Professional support knows the person; a website does not.

Does the service measure the person’s progress?

No, never, and nothing is sent anywhere. There is no score, no history transmitted, and no usage statistics.

How can I check that nothing leaves my device?

Open your browser’s developer tools, Network tab, and reload the page: you will see the full list of what the site requests. Everything comes from odersa.org.