What's a Custom Keyguard?

A custom keyguard is one that's specifically made to meet the needs of an individual user.  There are lots of fine keyguards made by different companies, but most of them are designed by a manufacturing team to be the most suitable for the largest number of users.  Then they can be manufactured in large enough quantities to make the expensive tooling affordable.

We take the opposite approach.  Every keyguard is made to order, and is fully customizable to match the device being used, the case that protects it, any software program that is being used, and any settings that have been set to best suit the student's needs.

When you buy a keyguard from one of the big manufacturers, they tell you which app to run, which device to buy, which case you're allowed to put it in, how the keyguard will attach to the device, and how the end user must adapt to the company's preferred settings.  

With a Keyguard Assistive Technology keyguard, when you choose a keyguard for the most common applications, we have you specify all the settings that describe exactly how the software is set up for the user, and thus determine the exact layout of the keyguard.  You can even specify the size and shape of the openings, and which openings are blocked to prevent accidental access by the end user.  If you pick an app layout that can't be defined by settings, or if you want an app that we haven't done before, you simply send us a screen capture of the app in the layout you want, and we make the keyguard to match it pixel-perfect.

Same with the device.  If you want a keyguard for a device we haven't made before, you can just send us the device, and we'll return it in a couple days with the finished keyguard.  If the device is in a case we don't have, we can usually fit it with some careful measurements.  If it's an iPad case we don't have (we have just short of 200 iPad cases as of this writing), we buy one so we have it to measure and test fit, and we'll test fit every keyguard we ever make for that case before we ship it.

Our keyguards are so customizable that 1/3 of all keyguards we deliver are unique in the world.  That's right, they are literally one-of-a-kind.  Here's the approximate breakdown of the keyguards we ship every day.

• 1/3 are of a layout we've done before, and with the way we index our designs, we're able to reuse an existing design file.
• 1/3 are of a layout we've used, but on a different device (most often a different iPad case, or with a different attachment method), so we need to adapt an existing layout design to a different device design.
• 1/3 require either a totally new layout design or a totally new device design, or both.  Of course we save and index that file so we can use it again later if it comes up, but when you get the first one, it truly is a one-off!

Since our keyguards are laser-cut to order, special modifications are usually doable and affordable.  Don't be afraid to ask.