The University of Delaware and the University of Dundee are collaborating on a project that is investigating the application of spatialization and spatial metaphors to interfaces for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. This paper outlines the project's motivation, goals, and methodological considerations. It presents a number of design principles obtained from a review of the HCI literature. Finally, it describes progress on the demonstration of this approach. This application called VAL provides a computer-based word board that retains spatial equivalence to the user's paper-based system. It also allows the user to access an extended lexicon through an interface to the WordNet lexical database.