“Hello Morse” brings a 200-year-old binary alphabet to smartphone keyboards everywhere, providing greater access to the digital world for non-verbal people.

The product is a simple, two-button keyboard that allows users to input dots and dashes to type the alphabet and select helpful text predictions and suggestions. As a result, we’re making typing faster and smarter for people who can truly benefit from the shortcuts this technology enables.

We also wanted to make sure users could customize the keyboard to their unique needs. We decided we would work in tandem with Android Accessibility features like Switch Access and Point Scan. This would provide access to Gboard's AI driven predictions and suggestions, while also acting as an entry point to AI-powered products, like the Google Assistant. The result is an easy and immediate way to try Morse code as a means of assistive communication.

In order to amplify the power of Morse Code, we collaborated with Tania to get immediate feedback and direction as to how to make the keyboard more useful to more people.

Tania emphasized the two main barriers to entry: 1) access to a Morse keyboard and 2) knowing Morse code. Making the keyboard accessible on any Android and iPhone, we could solve the first problem.

In order to address the second problem, we created a set of pictographs for the letters, and then built those into a typing trainer game. With the keyboard and a way to learn - we have the beginnings of an ecosystem, a platform that others could build off of.

Since launching, we’ve been excited to see our partner, Adaptive Design, run a game jam out of which five new games based on Morse code were created for children with disabilities.