However, we have found that some adults are reluctant to consider using a "kid" app. So we have an adult version of our website and a child version to speak to these two different audiences about how they can "get a voice."

For example, a picture representing Food can lead to a page with pictures of Fruit, Vegetables, Sandwiches, Snacks and other foods, up to twelve pictures per page.

When a picture is tapped and its sound plays, that picture is displayed on the top screen by the TapToTalk Nintendo App, and at at the top of the screen by the TapToTalk Web App, Android App and iPhone/iPad App.

Optionally, text can also be displayed for each picture. And with the TapToTalk Web App, you can print out all the pictures used in your TapToTalk.

For Nintendo users, we provide the TapToTalk Nintendo Starter Kit that includes the TapToTalk cartridge and a standard memory card to copy pictures and sounds from your computer for use on a DS. The TapToTalk Web App, Android App and iPhone/iPad App sync with your TapToTalk pictures and sounds as needed when you are online, each time they are run. Alternatively, you can sync the Android App and iPhone/iPad App offline, from your computer.

When you are done building albums, you 'publish' them to the device of your choice: the TapToTalk memory card for the Nintendo, the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, or Android device. Or publish to the web. In fact, you can publish to any or all of these! So you can run TapToTalk on your choice of devices.

TapToTalk Designer is where your pictures and sounds are stored. They will always be there. You can get to TapToTalk Designer from anywhere you can get an internet connection.

As a user's needs change, you can change TapToTalk to meet them with TapToTalk Designer!

You can run your TapToTalk on any and all of our supported devices.

You can run your TapToTalk on as many devices as you wish.

No extra charge.

TapToTalk Nintendo App
The TapToTalk Starter Kit includes everything you need to run TapToTalk on a Nintendo DS, the most popular portable game systems available. The Starter Kit comes with a TapToTalk cartridge and a standard memory card found in many cell phones and digital cameras.

TapToTalk Android App
Many Android devices can run the TapToTalk Android App. Because of the wide variety of Android devices, we recommend that you try the free app from the Android Market to see how it runs on your device.

TapToTalk iPhone/iPad App
Any iPhone, iPad or iPod touch can run the TapToTalk iPhone/iPad App. (However, the first generation iPod touch has no speakers).

TapToTalk Web App
Almost any computer with Internet access can run the TapToTalk Web App.

TapToTalk Designer
To use the TapToTalk Designer web site, you need a PC running Windows XP or later, a Macintosh running OS X, or an iPad. TapToTalk Designer can be used on Windows with Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome web browsers, on Macintosh with Firefox or Safari, and on iPad with Safari.

The TapToTalk Starter Kit includes an adapter for your computer that you use with TapToTalk Designer to write to the TapToTalk card.

To record sounds, you need a microphone for your computer.

For more information on Android device requirements, see Technical Requirements and Android FAQs.

1. Your TapToTalk is just a set of one or more of your albums. When you added your TapToTalk to Designer and named it, Designer gave you a unique number for that TapToTalk. That is your "mailbox" number which we call a TapToTalk ID. You either gave the TapToTalk a password then or the first time that you published your albums. Your password is the "key" to the mailbox. Your "mailbox" is on the TapToTalk Designer server "in the cloud." If you bought more than one TapToTalk, you get different TapToTalk IDs for each one.
2. On your iPad, you use the Settings App to enter the TapToTalk ID and password, and you turn on the "Download Albums" option. When "Download Albums" is "ON" you are telling the TapToTalk App to check the mailbox automatically.
3. Each and every time you run the free TapToTalk App on the iPad, it checks to see if there are new albums in the "mailbox." If there are, the app downloads the content from the server and stores it on the iPad. All this happens as the app is starting up. You'll see messages like "Downloading Albums" and "Extracting Content" when this happens.

If your Device is not connected, you will get a message that tells you it is not connected. To be honest, we wish we didn't have to have that message come up, but Apple makes us do it. You can turn download albums "OFF" if you don't like the message, but remember to turn it back "ON" the next time you publish.

There is one difference between our server and a mailbox. Your albums can be picked up by as many devices as you have that use your TapToTalk ID and password. It's like the mailbox is never really empty. Your iPad, the school's iPad, your Android phone, whatever, can all pick up the same mail. (That’s how we distribute the "free additional content" that you may have tried. It's a public "mailbox" and key we let everyone use.)

Also, the iPad doesn't have to be in same room, state or even on the same continent as your computer. It's all in the "cloud." Just like your email, you can get it from anywhere your iPad can connect to the Internet.

The same process described above is how TapToTalk works on the iPod touch, iPhone, Kindle Fire, Android devices and the Nook Color and Tablet. There is also a way to download albums to these devices through a Windows PC or Mac computer if the device itself is not online. All of this is explained in Designer's online help.

Nintendo App
The Nintendo does not need an Internet connection. The Nintendo App runs on a card that is inserted into the Nintendo. It does not need to be able to access the Internet.

Apple and Android Apps
You can use the TapToTalk Apps for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android anywhere without an Internet connection. However, installing these apps on your device and downloading (syncing) albums is easier when the device is connected via WiFi or 3g/4g.

If you are connected:

• You can use TapToTalk to communicate.
• Apple: You can install the TapToTalk App directly from the App Store.
• Android: You can install the TapToTalk App directly from the Android Market.
• Both: Your device can sync new or changed albums anywhere, anytime.

If you are not connected:

• You can use TapToTalk to communicate.
• Apple: You can install the TapToTalk App and download new or changed albums through iTunes when your device is connected to your computer.
• Android: You can download the TapToTalk App and download new or changed albums to your Android device when connected to your PC in Mass Storage mode.

Web App
Computers running the Web App need an Internet connection.

• Your can use TapToTalk on you Apple or Android device with no Internet connection.
• The iPad and Android tablets have WiFi, which allows you to connect to the Internet without a data plan using your WiFi at home, work or favorite hotspot.

A data plan gives you the additional capability of accessing the Internet when WiFi is not available. But the data plan is only available where you have cellular coverage.

With all of these, it is a good idea to shut them off when not in use to preserve battery life.

The loudness of TapToTalk on the DS is affected by a few of things:

• The loudness of the recording itself. You can adjust that on the sounds you record.
• The volume setting on the Nintendo itself. Make sure that the volume is on maximum on your Nintendo. As a consumer device for children, the Nintendo has some limits based on safety laws.
• The L and R buttons on the back of the Nintendo are also volume controls. The child may have inadvertently lowered the volume. Press the L button a few times. We are working on a software enhancement that will allow you to disable those buttons for a particular TapToTalk, as some children hit them all the time.
• The volume on a DSi is louder than on a DS Lite. The speakers are a little better, too.

The DSi, DS Lite and original DS are pocket size. The older DS and DS Lite are less expensive, especially used ones, but if you can afford the DSi, it would be our choice, simply because it has more up-to-date technology and features.

The DSi XL is ideal for a child who has motor skill or visual issues and can benefit from a larger screen and larger pictures. It also has better sound than its little DSi brothers. For more information, see our blog post TapToTalk on the DSi XL: Bigger Pictures, Bigger Sound, and our DSi XL Video that includes a side-by-side comparison of the two DSi models.