Symbols on any text, in any app

Select any text in any Windows application — Symboliser instantly displays communication symbols and reads it aloud.

My Document — Notepad
Learning about nature is fun. The cat sat on the warm mat while rain fell outside the window.
Symbolise
Symboliser
▶ 🖶
The
cat
sat
on
the
warm
mat
⬇ Download for Windows

Key Features

Works in Any App

Detects text selections across every application on your desktop — Word, Notepad, Chrome, PDFs, emails and more.

Three-Tier Matching

Direct lookup, lemmatisation, and synonym matching with 692,000+ entries work together to find symbols for the widest possible range of words.

Text-to-Speech

Listen to selected text read aloud sentence-by-sentence with word-by-word highlighting. Choose from any Windows voice installed on your system.

Print Support

Print your symbolised text with Ctrl+P. Symbols are included in the printout with a portrait-optimised layout ready for the classroom or home.

Custom Symbols

Import your own symbol library from a ZIP file. Supports Bliss, Mulberry, PiCom, and other symbol set formats out of the box.

Smart Detection

Detects text you select by dragging and shows a floating button near your cursor. The button fades after 5 seconds if not clicked.

How It Works

1

Select any text

Highlight text by dragging your mouse in any application. Symboliser detects the selection automatically in the background.

The cat sat on the warm mat
2

Click the floating button

A small indigo button appears near your cursor. Click it to send the selected text to Symboliser for processing.

Symbolise   appears near your selection
3

See symbols and hear speech

A symbol panel opens showing communication symbols above each word. Press play to hear the text read aloud with highlighting.

the cat sat   ▶ Play

Three-Tier Symbol Matching

Symboliser uses three strategies to find a symbol for every word, with 692,000+ synonym entries.

1

Direct Match

"cat" → cat symbol found instantly

2

Lemmatisation

"running" → base form "run" → run symbol found

3

Synonym Lookup

"enormous" → synonym "big" → big symbol found

And More

Voice SelectionChoose from any Windows voice installed on your system
Settings PersistenceYour preferences saved between sessions
Keyboard ShortcutsQuick access to speech, print, and settings
Education ReadySupports standard AAC symbol sets used in schools and therapy
Print-FriendlyCtrl+P prints symbols in portrait layout
Read-Only PanelClean, focused symbol display without editing

Part of the Sensory Symbols Suite

Symboliser is one of five tools designed to support symbol-based communication.

Symboliser

Add symbols to any text selection on your desktop.

SymBrowser

Web browser with symbols above every word.

SymWord

Word processor with symbols displayed as you type.

Sensory SurfBoard

Always-on-top AAC communication board runner.

SensoryBoards

Create and run AAC communication boards.

Get Symboliser

Free symbol support for any text, in any application on Windows.

Download for Windows

Requires Windows 10 or 11 · free prerequisites installed automatically if needed

🔒 Your privacy is protected. Symboliser is a Windows desktop application that works entirely offline. All text is processed locally on your device — nothing is sent to the internet, and no data is shared with third parties.