What is it?
Voice-activated environmental control allows a person to operate devices or features in their surroundings using spoken commands. Voice assistants and compatible smart devices can be used to control items such as lights, outlets, fans, media, timers, and other connected equipment. For learners who can reliably use speech but have difficulty physically accessing standard controls, voice activation can provide an alternative way to interact with the environment.
How to use it?
Identify classroom devices that can be safely and appropriately controlled through voice commands and connect them to a compatible voice-activated system. Teach and practice the commands needed to operate them, keeping language simple and consistent when helpful. Voice controls can be incorporated into authentic routines, such as turning lights on or off, starting music, setting a timer, or operating connected equipment. Provide another access method when speech recognition is unreliable or voice activation is not accessible to a particular learner.
Why use it?
Voice activation can reduce physical access barriers and allow learners to control aspects of their environment without reaching, grasping, or manipulating standard buttons and switches. This can increase independence, participation, and agency for learners with physical disabilities or limited motor access. Offering voice control as one of several possible access methods also reinforces an inclusive approach in which the environment adapts to different ways of interacting with it.
