Assistive communication technology for people who type to speak.
TRL Agency builds AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) software that looks and feels like an everyday messaging app — available on Android and iOS — with built-in, privacy-protecting progress measurement.
Contact usThe Problem
- Millions of nonspeaking people rely on AAC devices to communicate.
- Most major AAC software is iOS-only, while most U.S. households — especially bilingual and lower-income families — use Android.
- AAC devices are often abandoned because they look like disability equipment. Ours looks like texting.
What We're Building
- A cross-platform AAC app (Android + iOS, one shared codebase) that looks like an ordinary texting app
- Full bilingual English/Spanish support with real-time code-switching
- On-device privacy: no identifiable data ever leaves the user's device to third parties
- Continuous, embedded assessment: everyday use quietly produces clinically meaningful progress data for clinicians and families
Where It Stands
Built and hardened through nine development phases with 126 automated tests, independent security audit (all findings remediated), and a deployed production relay. Clinical validation is planned in partnership with qualified speech-language pathologists.
About TRL Agency
TRL Agency LLC is a Houston-based small business founded by Richard Tubbs, a systems architect and full-stack/AI engineer who has spent years building production AI systems. Richard is also the parent of a nonspeaking autistic teenager and navigates Houston ISD's ARD/IEP process firsthand. That combination — engineering depth and lived experience — shapes everything we build. We focus on assistive technology that people choose to use, not equipment they abandon.