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Note: Avaz is based in India

Avaz AAC - Making Every Voice Heard

What is Avaz?

Avaz, meaning voice in Hindi, is loved by over 100,000 users around the world. We have been Making Every Voice Heard since 2010. 

A robust, full featured picture and text based AAC system, Avaz AAC is available on iOS and Android devices, including phones and tablets of all sizes. Its design and technology is informed by the experiences and expertise of communicators, caregivers and therapists from across the world. 

Avaz is used by speech-language pathologists and school districts all over the United States. The Los Angeles Unified School District, San Diego City Unified (California), Fredrick County Public Schools (Maryland), Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky) are just some of our many customers. 

The Journey

Our journey began in India a decade ago when the concept of AAC was new here. Schools and special educators were using low-tech picture boards. Few had heard about high tech AAC. Of these, only a handful with the means were able to import expensive and bulky AAC devices from the US. 

Right then, we understood that problems of accessibility and inclusion did not exist in a vacuum. In a place like India, the formidable cost of interventions came in the way of accessing something even as basic as the right to communicate. Hence we sought to put affordable, life changing technologies in the hands of those who needed it. And Avaz AAC was born. 

Holistic AAC Implementation

Starting up in India enabled us to solve problems that are universal in nature. We concluded that viewing AAC implementation holistically was the key.

For instance, India is home to over 22 languages and 19,500 spoken tongues. From the perspective of implementation, text to speech could not be limited to English alone. We created the technology to easily add custom vocabulary in any language and made Avaz available in 6 Indian languages. It became accessible to non-English speaking and multilingual homes. This capability allowed us to create Avaz versions in numerous languages. Today, Avaz AAC is available in 16 languages and is used in over 50 countries. 

Every unique feature in Avaz AAC has its genesis in the approach that centres holistic AAC implementation. 

AAC System That’s the Easiest to Use

An AAC system should be so easy to use that even the minimally tech savvy can pick up the basics and make the system their own. This is a belief that drives all the feature innovations on the Avaz AAC system. A testament to this is the celebrated customization feature in Avaz. This feature is great for those who are low on time and need things done quickly - like working parents, therapists and special educators. 

Access! Access! Access!

Accessibility is supreme! Avaz was one of the first AAC systems to be available on the Android platform. 

Unless communicators have access to their vocabulary everywhere and all times, progress will be slow. Avaz’s unique Print feature ensures that communicators have access to light tech versions of their vocabulary in places where they cannot take their devices. Or during those times when devices cannot be used. 

The Avaz keyboard provides word prediction along with pictures. This is fantastic for communicators who need literacy supports. The prediction is as powerful as the one you would find on any iPhone/Android smartphone keyboard. Avaz's Phonetic Match feature serves as a spelling corrector. This means that when the user spells KNIFE as NIFE or LEG as LAGE, the Avaz keyboard will predict the correct word. By doing away with spelling anxiety, Avaz’s keyboard prediction enables faster, happier learning progress!

Partnering With YOU! 

Team Avaz is within reach of every stakeholder at the click of a button. This approachability has earned us a lot of affection. It has also helped us to build meaningful partnerships. Many of the languages that we support today - French, Swedish, Danish, Faroese, Hungarian, Vietnamese, Sinhala - have been possible because parents or organizations working in those countries reached out to us after experiencing success with the English version of Avaz. 

For example, our Hungarian partner saw immense growth in their son’s communication abilities after using Avaz. They came to us with a vision to create an Avaz for every child in Hungary. Their language and disability experts joined forces with Team Avaz to launch Avaz Hungarian in December 2020. Similarly, a passionate mother from Faroe Islands did not want to leave any stone unturned for her autistic, non verbal son. She partnered with us on a project to make Avaz AAC available in Faroese and applied for a government grant to fund its development.

We would be delighted to work with you on your ideas - write to us at hello@avazapp.com

Building Ecosystems of Support!

AAC is a continuous process. Every aspect of the ecosystem around the AAC user needs to work well together. AAC usage needs to continue at home and other informal settings. Since parents usually lack the formal training to get started with AAC with their children, progress is slowed. In India this problem is exacerbated by the low availability of therapists trained in AAC use. To remedy this, we included an inbuilt training module in Avaz that guides communication partners to model any sentence and explore the vocabulary. 

We also work with therapists to support them with knowledge of the latest developments and approaches in AAC. In this manner, we empower the ecosystem of support around every communicator. 

Team Avaz has been uniquely privileged to impact wide ranging change for thousands of communicators and their families across the world. 

Avaz is constantly evolving and growing. We keep adding new features and capabilities as requested by communicators, caregivers, educators and therapists. We are eternally grateful to receive such belief and inspiration from this worldwide community. 

Click here to read more about Avaz AAC. Sign up for a free 2 week trial and explore the world of benefits Avaz AAC has to offer!

Thank you Avaz for contributing a post to the NWACS blog! You can view our summary page for this organization here. View our full curated collection here.