Deploy with Google Workspace

What you are deploying

The Model Communicator extension adds one toolbar button. Clicking it opens the web app at modelcommunicator.com/app in its own full-screen window, with no tabs or address bar to touch by accident.

Because it asks for no access to browsing data, it usually passes an extension review without questions.

Force-install the extension

1. Sign in to the Google Admin console with an administrator account.
2. Go to Devices → Chrome → Apps & extensions → Users & browsers.
3. On the left, select the organizational unit that contains the students. To target individuals across OUs, select a group instead.
4. Click the yellow + button at the bottom right and choose Add Chrome app or extension by ID.
5. Paste aclidjfnklhmcbmakcjaahoegehdeihf, leave the source as From the Chrome Web Store and click Save.
6. With the extension selected, set Installation policy to Force install. On Chromebooks, Force install + pin to ChromeOS taskbar also puts it on the shelf.
7. In the same panel, set the toolbar pinning option to force-pinned, so that the button is always visible in Chrome's toolbar.
8. Click Save. Chromebooks pick up the change within a few minutes of the student signing in.

If your district blocks all extensions by default and you would rather not force-install, set the policy to Allow install instead. Staff can then add it from the Chrome Web Store for the students who need it.

Allow the app through filters

The extension only opens a web page, so that page has to be reachable.

• Chrome URL blocking: if you block by default, go to Devices → Chrome → Settings → Users & browsers, find URL blocking and add modelcommunicator.com to the blocked URL exceptions.
• Content filter (Securly, GoGuardian, Lightspeed, Linewize and similar) and firewall: allow the hosts listed under Network requirements.
• Testing and lockdown tools: exempt AAC users from anything that closes other windows during an assessment. Their voice should not disappear during a test.

A Chromebook used only for communication

For a Chromebook that should do nothing else, skip the extension and run the web app as a kiosk app.

1. Go to Devices → Chrome → Apps & extensions → Kiosks and select the OU that holds the device.
2. Click + and choose Add by URL. Enter https://modelcommunicator.com/app.
3. Set it as the auto-launch kiosk app for that OU and save.
4. Restart the Chromebook. It starts straight into the board, with no sign-in screen.

Managed guest sessions are a poor fit. The session is wiped on sign-out, so the offline copy and any downloaded voice are lost every time.

Managed Chrome on Windows and Mac

Computers enrolled in Chrome Browser Cloud Management use the same steps under Chrome browser → Apps & extensions. If you manage Chrome with Group Policy, Intune or a Mac configuration profile instead, set one of these Chrome policies.

ExtensionInstallForcelist, one entry:

aclidjfnklhmcbmakcjaahoegehdeihf;https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx

Or ExtensionSettings, which can also pin the button:

{
  "aclidjfnklhmcbmakcjaahoegehdeihf": {
    "installation_mode": "force_installed",
    "update_url": "https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx",
    "toolbar_pin": "force_pinned"
  }
}

Check that it worked

• On a student device, open chrome://policy and click Reload policies. The extension ID appears under the extension policies.
• chrome://extensions lists Model Communicator with the note that it is installed by your organization.
• Click the toolbar button. The board opens full screen. Press Esc or the full-screen key to leave.
• Turn off Wi-Fi and click the button again. After one online visit, the board should still open. See Using the web app without internet.

What students and staff see from here is covered in Install and offline use.