Browser & device requirements

Supported browsers

Spello's play app works on any modern browser released in the last two years. If your browser is older than that, update it before reporting a problem — most issues we see stop at this line.

Internet Explorer is not supported at any version — it has not received security updates since 2022 and does not implement the web audio features Spello depends on.

Supported devices

Spello is designed for tablets and laptops, but will work on phones in a pinch.

• iPad (any supported by current iPadOS). Our recommended device — the touch keyboard and pen-grip typing work best on a 10-inch-plus screen.
• Chromebooks. Fully supported; the default setup used by most UK primary schools.
• Windows and Mac laptops. Fully supported.
• Android tablets. Supported via Chrome.
• Phones. Works fine — audio, keyboard, and all five game formats behave as they do on bigger screens. We don't recommend a phone for everyday practice (the screen is small for sustained typing and there are more distractions), but if a phone is what's to hand, nothing is going to break.

Network requirements

Spello streams short audio clips for each word and sentence. A normal school or home broadband connection has no trouble with this. There is no video, and we don't require any specific ports beyond standard HTTPS (port 443).

If your school uses a content filter, the following domains need to be reachable:

• play.spello.uk — the child-facing app
• manage.spello.uk — parent & school dashboards
• www.spello.uk — this marketing site
• objects.spello.uk and objects2.spello.uk — where the word-audio clips are served from

Allow-listing the whole spello.uk domain (and its subdomains) is the simplest rule — there's nothing on Spello a child shouldn't reach.

Audio troubleshooting

Spello plays three kinds of sound: the spoken sentence and word (essential), gentle UI clicks on key-press, and correct / session-complete celebration sounds. If any of these aren't working:

1. Make sure the volume isn't all the way down, and that no Bluetooth speaker / AirPods have grabbed the output.
2. Refresh the page. The first sound in a session waits for a tap — if the page was loaded a long time ago, the browser may have put audio to sleep.
3. Try a different browser. If Chrome works but Safari doesn't, check Safari is 16.4 or newer (see the table above).

Keyboard & input

Spello accepts input from either a physical keyboard or the on-screen keyboard it renders itself. The device's native keyboard is deliberately suppressed so children get a consistent layout and letter size on every device — what they see on an iPad is the same as on a Chromebook.

The on-screen keyboard appears automatically on touch devices, and can be toggled on any device via the keyboard icon in the corner of the play screen. Two layouts are available:

• QWERTY — the standard layout children meet in secondary school. Good default for KS2 and confident KS1 typists.
• ABC — letters in alphabetical order, useful for very young readers who haven't yet learned a QWERTY layout.

Children can switch between layouts from within a session; the choice is remembered per device.

Accessibility

Every word is read aloud, so children who can't yet read independently can still play. Colour is never the only signal for correct / incorrect — icons and animation carry the same information.

If there's a specific accessibility barrier that's stopping a child playing, please tell us — our roadmap is shaped by what users need.