Principles of Symbol Design

• Principles of Symbol Design

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    In this topic we will consider:  

    • The importance of language and culture in symbol design
    • Recognising the importance of both translation and localisation
    • How symbol design is influenced by how the symbols will be used 
    • Why open licences are important 

    
    

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    Pictographic Symbol Sets

    In the following YouTube video Edie's mother goes through some symbols watching for her reaction - look at the symbols carefully and think about the mix on offer.

    There are many pictographic symbol sets available for AAC users and several are suitable for children with complex communication needs, such as those offered to Edie. They tend to be made up of core and fringe words and have consistent design principles and schema as illustrated by Widgit.

    Some symbol sets are available across the world, but often they have been developed specifically for a language with a particular group in mind. You will have already explored the range available on Global Symbols and Open Symbols when using Boardbuilder. 

    
    

    Open licenced symbols offer us the chance to explore which symbols need adaptations to suit localisation and personalisation as we discussed early on in the course.

    
    

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    Activity - Considering symbol design

    Symbol design is not just about the graphics, there may also be challenges with the orthography.  Think about the way a language is written - the spelling of words.  Have you thought how this affects symbol design and the choices you may make for the symbol labels when working on communication boards?

    

    • Write two sentences that involve the past and future tense, two plurals and a male and female character with descriptive adjectives. 
    • What happens to the symbol label when the way the text is written depends on grammar, number and gender and even the next word in a sentence?  Does every language use the root word?
    • Words have mulitple meanings (polysemy) for example the word 'will' in English or there are different words which have the same sound (homophones) as in 'bough' and 'bow' said in the same way as 'cow'.  You can also say 'bow' as in 'know' which can also be a problem when searching for symbols or using text to speech, unless there is more information provided.  
    • Explore how a search for these words on a symbol repository such as Global Symbols (which offers different languages) might affect the symbols found. 
    • Did you discover any verbs with past tense?  If not, how will you deal with this concept? 
    • Widgit offer clear guidelines to their schema.

    Make a note in your reflective journal about any issues that you feel are relevant to symbol design that you wish to explore further - it is a subject that is often left to the symbol set developers! 

    In some ways it is much easier to think about the look and feel of images that might reflect cultural differences such as housing, social settings and dress compared to abstract concepts.  Small adaptations to symbols can improve iconicity as we have already discussed.  

    
    

  • Breaking down Barriers

    Consider participatory ways of encouraging collaboration when designing and developing symbols, as this can have an impact on AAC users and their families  When a whole team is involved there is often an increased willingness to use the localised symbols.  

    Using social media and open communication systems can make for easier changes; being responsive to comments and requests based on the opinion of the majority.

    Think about developing a voting system if you are involved in symbol designs.  In the picture Adam is voting on new symbols in Qatar.  You are welcome to make use of the free voting training materials available.  

    The image below is an illustration of a symbol set where symbols have received votes and a survey has been completed.

    
    

    
    

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    Symbol Design requirements

    Main Points

    • Iconicity
    • Size
    • Outline
    • Consistency
    • Colour

    Iconicity is when a symbol’s relationship to its referent (what it relates to) can be guessed,  consider the ease of learning as this is important. A child may move from objects to photographs that have a particular meaning, but understanding the concept may be harder.

    
    

    Average symbol size tends to be 500 x 500 pixels (use points for measuring unit options) but this can vary especially when used in different settings or for those with specific pointing difficulties. It is therefore important to remember that symbols will always need to be resized to suit individual requirements.

    
    

    There should be clear outlines to all parts of a symbol. Usually these are black outlines around and within objects, faces and bodies from 2 to 7 points (although it depends on the size of the character within the image).

    
    

    The style of the symbols needs to be consistent where possible, with a understandable schema such as the one Widgit offer.

    File names and symbol IDs need to be unique. Use vector files to allow for adaptations for example .svg with transparent backgrounds, but offer an alternative such as a .png. There may be a need to convert the images to jpgs and pdfs for print outs of any size  

    Colour may be used as a border around a symbol cell or as a background to the symbol.  Colour contrast levels are important especially for those with visual difficulties.

    
    

    Remember Symbols are used everywhere and ...

    • may need to be printed on card, on a chart, on a wall – size matters
    • can provide text enhancement for literacy skill development, so need flexibility for label changes or even appearance.
      
    • have to transfer from paper to device.
      
    • need to be device agnostic – used with various applications on different types of AAC aids
      
    • Integrate with text to speech – labels with accents (diacritics)

    Download a Word document about AAC Symbol Design  
    

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    Activity - thinking about developing a schema for design

    There are times when iconicity or guessability and developing a schema for particular types of words can be challenging.  There may also be the problem of the gloss or text label failing to translate well into another language. Drag the labels to the appropriate symbol. (Thanks to ARASAAC)

    
    

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    Open Licences

    You may feel that a discussion about licences related to the content on an AAC communication chart is not relevant to your support for a young child's communication skills.  However, anyone building or making use of symbols on assistive technology devices needs to be aware of the copyright of images  and how they can be shared or adapted to suit user needs.  Open licences and Creative Commons licences (like commercial licences) can be quite complex, but the main point is to share symbols in the same way that the developers or owners have chosen to share their symbol set or images.  It is also important to use the same type of licence if you want to create symbols that you are adding to a particular set. 
    

    The advantage of an open licence is in the way localisation and personalisation can happen in the particular region or setting in which the potential AAC users are living. 
    

  • Summary 

    • Whilst some symbols can be considered “universal” we recognise that symbols are nuanced and carry meaning beyond concrete representation.
    • "Symbolic value rests only in the mind of the user, the picture or manual sign has no symbolic meaning unless the user knows or recognises the meaning" (Loncke, 2014)
    • Because symbols are open to interpretation engaging in the design of symbols for a specific community will help ensure that there is a shared understanding and interpretation of all of the symbols in a set.
    • Always check the copyright of images and symbols you may be sharing publicly. 

    
    

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    Further Reading 

    • Light, J., Wilkinson, K.M., Thiessen, A., Beukelman, D.R. and Fager, S.K., 2019. Designing effective AAC displays for individuals with developmental or acquired disabilities: state of the science and future research directions. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 35(1), pp.42-55.
    • “Getting Started with AAC: Using low tech symbol based systems with children” – introduces low tech symbol based AAC to support individuals who can’t rely on speech to communicate to the best of their ability.
      
    • AAC Applications for Beginning Communicators: Design and Application (2016) K. Drager & N. Muttiah
      
    • Loncke, F., 2019. Augmentative and alternative communication: Models and applications for educators, speech-language pathologists, psychologists, caregivers, and users. Plural Publishing. (Amazon book purchase updated) 
      

    
    

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    Reflective Journal 

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    Presentation slides

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