Eduserv Assistive Technology Licences

In May 2003 LIFT and MindGenius became available at no charge to higher and further education institutions through the Eduserv Grants Programme.

LIFT products help ensure that websites comply with current standards and legal requirements such as the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines and SENDA (the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act), and hence are widely accessible.

MindGenius Education is a mind mapping programme that can be used by teachers and lecturers to show the structure of ideas, as well as by students for their own projects. Its use of visual relationships helps facilitate the work of individuals with specific learning difficulties and different learning styles, and has been found to be of value for staff and students with dyslexia.

This grant funded licence programme ended in July 2005. 630 free licences had been taken up by universities and colleges by the end of the programme.

Eduserv Chest, the Eduserv software and information licensing service, consulted with the education community about its wishes for ongoing usage of the products at the end of the funding programme, and as a result has negotiated a new agreement for MindGenius products. See www.eduserv.org.uk/chest/agreements/software/existing/mindgenius2005 for full details of entitlement and licence costs.

Further information and guidance about web accessibility and usability issues can be found on the TechDis website.