For over two decades, the Boardmaker CD was the undisputed king of visual supports. While modern users might search for "Boardmaker Online" or "Boardmaker 7," there is a growing nostalgia and practical need for understanding the original CD-ROM versions. Whether you are a seasoned educator looking to recover old resources, a retro-tech enthusiast, or a school district trying to support legacy systems, this deep dive into the Boardmaker CD is for you. Boardmaker, developed by Mayer-Johnson (now part of Tobii Dynavox), is a software program designed to create printed visual supports. The "CD" refers to the CD-ROM format that dominated the market from the early 1990s through the late 2000s.
If you still have a Boardmaker CD in your basement, treat it with reverence. You are holding the key to a pre-subscription world—a world where you paid once and printed forever. boardmaker cd
These are the versions most veterans remember. Running on Windows 95/98 and Mac OS 9, this CD offered over 3,000 symbols. The interface was clunky—saving files required a floppy disk—but the output was pristine. This era introduced the "Addendum" CDs (sports, health, and international symbols). For over two decades, the Boardmaker CD was
While Tobii Dynavox would prefer you subscribe to their cloud service, the truth is that millions of PECS boards, visual schedules, and choice boards printed from those silver discs are still hanging on classroom walls today. The ink may have faded, and the velcro might be dusty, but the communication those boards enabled is timeless. Boardmaker, developed by Mayer-Johnson (now part of Tobii