Add pages to
your child’s TouchChat.

Choose your board size and page set

48-choice teen boards add more room for conversation and self-advocacy. 36-choice boards combine related words, actions, comments and questions on one page, with suggested contexts from age 5 through 18. 16-choice boards remain available, including early-years activities. Choose by comfortable button size and access, not age alone.

Choose an age-and-topic set. Each set includes a menu and several activities in one TouchChat .ce file. Import it once, copy all its pages together, then add one button that opens its menu. You can use the menu to pick activities as you go; you do not have to download each page separately. Every page’s download screen also links to its matching group.

The grouped files have passed file checks; their menu links still need testing in TouchChat. Start with one set in a copy of your child’s vocabulary.

Part 1 · Import and try the new file

1. Open this website in Safari.

   Choose a page you want to try. Choose a single activity or a topic set from the page sets section.

   Try the Snack time page →

2. Tap “Download this page” or “Download set.”

   If Safari asks you to confirm, tap Download. The file name ends in .ce. That is the file TouchChat needs. “Save a picture of this page” is just a picture.

3. Find the file in Files.

   Open the iPad’s Files app—the blue folder icon. Tap Browse, then iCloud Drive or On My iPad, then Downloads. Look for the page you just downloaded.

4. Open it in TouchChat.

   Tap the file. When TouchChat asks to import it, tap Yes. Give it a new name, such as Snack time test, then tap Save.

   If tapping the file does not open TouchChat, use the “It will not open” help below.

5. Find the new page and try it.

   In TouchChat, tap Vocab, then Choose New Vocab. Open Snack time test, or the name you chose. Tap each button and check that you can see its picture and hear the right words.

Based on Apple’s download guide and TouchChat’s file-opening instructions. Button names can vary slightly by app version.

Part 2 · Copy the pages into your child’s vocabulary

First make a copy of your child’s usual vocabulary: Vocab → Choose New Vocab → Menu → Copy a Vocab. Choose their usual vocabulary, name the copy (for example, My pages with activities), and save. Open that copy.

1. Start in that copy.

   Tap Menu → Edit Page, then Menu → Import/Copy Pages → Import Another Page.

2. Choose the file you just tried.

   Select your imported activity or set as the source.

3. Select the pages, then import.

   For a single activity, select its page. For a set, select every page in that set, including all menu pages. You can select several pages before tapping Import. Then tap Done.

   Keep the page names as they are for this first test. Leaving a page out can leave a menu button with nowhere to go.

Part 3 · Make the button that opens your new pages

1. Choose a place for the new button.

   Stay in My pages with activities (or your copy’s name). Go to the home page or another familiar page with an unused button. Tap Menu → Edit Page.

2. Create the button.

   Tap the unused space and choose Create New Button or Edit This Button. Give it a name such as Holidays or Snack time. Choose a picture if you want.

3. Tell the button where to go.

   Scroll to Button Actions. Tap Add → Navigate. Choose Navigate, not Jump to Page or Visit. This lets your child stay on the activity and choose several words. If you already added Jump to Page or Visit, remove that action and replace it with Navigate. Select the activity page you copied. For a set, choose its main menu page—the exact menu name is shown beside that set’s download.

   Choose No Animation, then Save. Tap Done to leave editing. Navigate keeps the activity open while your child chooses words.

4. Try the new button.

   Tap it to open the activity or set menu. Press two or three word buttons: the activity should stay open after each one speaks. For a set, choose an activity, say a few words, and tap Activities to return to the set menu. Clear should empty the message bar. Home should return to the home page of the vocabulary you copied these pages into.

If Home stays on the new activity or menu: you may still be in the imported standalone file. Tap Vocab → Choose New Vocab, open your child’s copy, and enter through the button you created. Home cannot switch from a separate vocabulary into your child’s usual vocabulary.

Based on TouchChat’s copying pages instructions and linking a button instructions. Names may vary slightly by version.

Does it go home after one word?

Edit the button that opens the activity in your child’s vocabulary: Menu → Edit Page → tap that button → Edit This Button → Button Actions.

Remove Jump to Page or Visit, then add Navigate and choose the copied activity (or the set’s main menu). Choose No Animation → Save → Done. Open it again and try several words.

If it still returns after one word: an earlier Visit may still be active. Add Cancel Visit before Navigate on that opening button. Save and try again. You do not need to change each word button.

TouchChat’s explanation of Navigate, Visit and Cancel Visit

Build a sentence in the message bar

Word buttons should speak and add their words to the message bar. Tap several words, then tap the message bar to speak the sentence. Clear empties it.

If words speak but never appear: download the corrected file and try it separately before copying its page into your child’s vocabulary. Previously copied pages do not update automatically. To fix an existing word button, edit it and replace Speak Message Only with Speech Message.

If words appear and then disappear: check Menu → Settings → Speak → Auto Clear. Choose Off to keep words until you clear them.

TouchChat’s speech-action instructions · TouchChat’s Auto Clear settings