How to

How to make a First and Then board

Two big pictures: what is happening now, and what comes after it. It takes about a minute to make.

Start a board

1 · Fill in the two frames

Open the board maker. There are two empty frames, headed First and Then.
Tap a frame to pick a picture for it.
Under each frame there is a Words under the picture box. It fills in by itself when you pick a picture, and you can type over it.
Timer for First is optional. Leave it on “No timer” unless you want a countdown on that step.

The board maker on a phone: a heading reading Make a First/Then board, then an empty square frame under the word First with a plus sign and the words tap to pick, a words box below it, a timer stepper reading No timer, and the word Then beginning below. — The board maker, before anything is chosen.

2 · Choose a picture

Tapping a frame opens the chooser. There are three ways to get a picture:

Take a photo — opens the camera. A photo of the actual thing, in the actual room, is often clearer than a drawing of one.
Choose from my photos — a photo you already have.
Choose from our pictures — jumps down to the picture symbols, where you can search in everyday words like “togs” or “bin”.

The picture chooser sheet, open at the top, showing a heading reading Choose a picture and three buttons stacked under it: Take a photo, Choose from my photos, and Choose from our pictures. — All three ways to get a picture, at the top of the chooser.

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3 · Show the board

Tap Next. The first time, you will be asked to read a short note about what belongs in “Then” — you can carry on either way, and the note stays under the board if you do not tick it.

The board itself is the screen you show the person. It is deliberately plain: two cards, a heavy line between them, and nothing to tap by accident.

The finished board: the word First above a tablet picture labelled iPad, a heavy dividing line, and the word Then above a bath picture labelled bath. A slim bar under the first card shows the time going down. — The board as the person sees it. The slim bar under “First” only appears if you set a timer for that step.

4 · Changing it, or getting back out

Press and hold the ⚙ for about half a second — a tap will not open it. That keeps a child leaning on the screen out of the settings. The button fills up while you hold it.

If holding is difficult, a keyboard or a screen reader opens the settings on an ordinary press, with no hold at all.

← All tools — back to the other tools.
Change the pictures — back to the board maker.
Print this board — cut-out cards and a paper version.
How this looks — Match my device, Standard, Higher contrast, Dark, or Softer, warmer. It starts on Match my device.
Pause, restart, or start a step’s timer, if you gave a step one.

The board's settings panel, showing a back link reading All tools, a heading reading Board settings, and buttons for Change the pictures and Print this board, with more options below. — The board's settings, opened by holding the ⚙.

Things that are easy to miss

If you set a timer on “First”, the “Then” timer starts by itself when the first one ends. If the person is not ready, there is a Pause button under the two cards.
“Then” is never hidden or greyed out. Both pictures are on screen the whole time, on purpose — nothing has to be finished first.
It saves as you go. There is no save button and nothing to lose.

Start a board

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