Troubleshooting

Common situations and what to do. Badges: School · Pro · Clinician · AAC.

"It's asking for a PIN and I don't have one"

School Pro AAC ask for a staff PIN to open Settings and to edit content.

• Enter the staff PIN created at first launch (chapter 00). On School, another staff account may also have access.
• Forgot it? On School, Pro, and AAC, tap Forgot PIN? on the PIN screen to recover with your security question or recovery code.
• Everyday communication does not need a PIN — you can always tap and speak on the board.

"Incorrect PIN" or the PIN screen is locked

• After a wrong PIN you'll see "Incorrect PIN. Try again."
• After several wrong tries the screen locks for a short time and shows how many seconds to wait. Wait for the countdown, then try again.
• With VoiceOver on, these messages are announced aloud.

"I can't start an assessment"

Starting an assessment requires a staff PIN.

• If you see a message that no clinician/staff accounts are set up, the Start button stays disabled. Fix it in Settings → Access & PIN by adding a staff account with a PIN, then return to the assessment.
• If a staff account exists, enter its PIN on the Authorize Assessment screen. A fresh PIN entry is needed each time an assessment starts.

"No units are showing for my student"

Academic units are not on the default board — an educator turns them on in the Unit Library (this applies to every student on the iPad).

1. Open Settings → Unit Library and confirm the units are turned on.
2. Check the student's Grade Band in Student Profile — units are offered by grade.
3. Make sure you're on the right student (tap the student circle — the small colored circle with the student's initial — to check).
4. If you use schedules, confirm a unit is linked to the current time block in Settings → Schedule.

"The board is too full / too small for my student"

• Simplify what's shown in Settings → Board Visibility (hide the folder row or the category pills) and Settings → Cell Layout (fewer, larger cells).
• For low vision, use Settings → Vision Accessibility to scale up — the board will show fewer, larger cells per page (chapter 04).

"Two iPads won't pair"

Pairing needs two devices, both nearby with AcademicVoice open.

• On Clinician, open Settings → Dual-Device Session to scan for the student device.
• On School, Pro, or AAC, open the same setting to connect to the Clinician device.
• Keep both iPads awake and close together while connecting; if a device isn't found, make sure the other is on the pairing screen too.

If pairing can't start, you'll see a "Pairing problem" message that stays on screen (it is also read aloud with VoiceOver) with steps to fix. Work through these:

1. Turn Wi-Fi on on both iPads. Pairing does not work over cellular alone — if the status bar shows only a cellular signal, turn Wi-Fi on.
2. Allow Local Network access. Open the iPad's Settings app → Privacy & Security → Local Network and make sure AcademicVoice is turned on. (The first time you pair, the iPad may ask for this permission — choose Allow.)
3. Turn off Personal Hotspot. Pairing doesn't work while an iPad is sharing a Personal Hotspot.
4. Both apps open. Make sure AcademicVoice is open on both iPads and each is on its pairing screen.

Fix what applies, then tap Retry on the message. Tap Dismiss to close it.

"The staff PIN was entered on the student's iPad but the two iPads still didn't connect"

If the connection is started but doesn't finish — for example the staff PIN entry on the student's iPad took a while and the invitation timed out, or Wi-Fi dropped mid-connection — you'll see a "Pairing problem" message such as "The invitation expired — ask the clinician to connect again." (also read aloud with VoiceOver).

• On the clinician iPad, start the connection again.
• On the student iPad, tap Retry.
• Keep both iPads on Wi-Fi, close together, and awake while connecting.

You can retry right in the app — you do not need to close and reopen AcademicVoice.

"Switch scanning is too fast / too slow"

• Adjust the scan speed in Settings → Haptic Feedback (default 2.0 seconds). This is saved per student.
• Turn on the auditory-scan announcements in Settings → Vision Accessibility so the student can hear where the scan is.

"A setting says 'Available in the Clinician edition'"

Some features — Session Notes and Clinical Tools — are part of the Clinician edition only. On School, Pro, and AAC they appear as an entry labeled this way and have no function there. On School, Board Creator also appears as a locked entry (it is available in the Pro, AAC, and Clinician editions).

Legal, privacy, and support

• Terms, privacy, and support information are in Settings → Legal, shown inside the app.