Further and Higher Education
1 September 2014
Jennie Short, RNIB
Reading Services Product Manager, Load2Learn
What is Load2Learn?
A free online resource of UK curriculum materials in
accessible formats for all educational levels.
• More than 3,700 books (including textbooks and
reading schemes) downloadable as Word, PDF,
EPUB, audio and braille.
• Over 3,000 accessible images to support the
curriculum and general interest.
• Past exam papers.
• Sheet music.
• Extensive ‘how to’ training guides and videos.
Print disabilities
Load2Learn enables learners who cannot read standard
print to read the same books, at the same time as their
peers, giving them the same educational opportunities.
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Blind
Partially Sighted
Physically impaired
Dyslexia and other cognitive disabilities
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Benefits for students
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Access study materials more easily.
Choice of format.
More engaged in lectures.
Able to join in with peers.
Work independently – lecture, homework, revision.
Improving self-confidence.
"I have a dyslexic GCSE learner who feels his grades have gone up by
one across every subject thanks to Load2Learn. He said 'I can read the
whole page now, before I only read the first paragraph.'" Jeni Parker,
Dyslexia Action
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Benefits for staff
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Save time.
Get resources to students more quickly.
Modify resources more efficiently.
Share scarce resources with other educators.
Learn new skills and improve provision generally.
Load2Learn send annual download report to CLA.
"By reducing the amount of preparation required our Support Workers'
time is freed up to support learners in the classroom setting, as
opposed to spending long periods at the computer." Phil Carrington,
Resource Technician, Staffordshire Vision Impairment Service
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Benefits for publishers
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Save time and costs.
Get resources to learners more quickly.
Meet Corporate Social Responsibility objectives.
Additional marketing opportunity to
colleges/universities.
• Load2Learn can provide regular download reports
"I like the way you are involving publishers, I hope all publishers buy into
this way of providing their resources." Phil Nabozny, Braille and
Visual Resources Technician, Kirklees.
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Members
3,230 members (1,697 different schools/organisations)
• 446 avg. members downloaded resources each month
Reach 6 per cent of UK schools and colleges:
• 22 Universities
• 85 Sixth Form/FE Colleges
• 634 Secondary Schools
• 574 Primary Schools
• 73 Special Schools
• 66 all age schools
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Website traffic
50,594 unique visitors since January 2013:
• 3,508 unique visitors in July 2014
• 75 countries visited in July 2014 (UK service only)
41,777 resources downloaded since January 2013:
• 75 per cent books
• 23 per cent images
• 2 per cent past exam papers, worksheets and music
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Publishers
37 publishers engaged (plus 47 imprints), including:
• Pearson UK
• Palgrave Macmillan
• SAGE Publications
• Hodder Education
• HarperCollins
Further information on our Publisher Supporters page:
load2learn.org.uk/about/Publishers/publishers.php
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Book requests
Members can request books not currently available:
• 2013/14 - 1463 requests.
• 2012/13 - 585 requests.
• 80% of requests fulfilled.
• 20% unfulfilled (book too old / publisher not yet engaged).
Further information on our book request page:
load2learn.org.uk/about/request/request_books.php
"Sourcing accessible books takes much less time using Load2Learn, than
when I had to approach publishers myself. The book also now usually
reaches the learner when it's needed." Angela Bale, Sensory Service, Telford.
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Books by education level
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FE/HE (including A Level): 9 per cent
Key Stage 4: 19 per cent
Key Stage 3: 14 per cent
Key Stage 2: 25.5 per cent
Key Stage 1: 27 per cent
Early Years: 1.5 per cent
General: 4 per cent
Focus on Further and Higher Education in 2014.
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FE / HE in 2014
• Over 2,000 titles provided by SAGE Publications and
will start to appear on the site through September 2014.
• Strong relationship with Jisc TechDis.
• Upload your resources and help to build a great
central pool of accessible resources. This will reduce
duplication of everyone's effort, whilst getting faster
access to the resources your students' need.
Further information on our contribute page:
load2learn.org.uk/about/contribute.php
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Development in 2014
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Increase publisher engagement.
Increase Sheet Music and Past Exam Paper offering.
100 children's books in Unified English Braille (UEB).
Develop our Welsh language content.
Marketing campaigns to schools, colleges and
universities - increase members by a minimum of 15
percent year on year.
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Member comments
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"Load2Learn has transformed a dyslexic girls life. She told me 'I'll
never grow up, I'll always have to have someone reading to me'. Now
thanks to Load2Learn she is like all the other girls and her sensory
advisor has never seen her so happy." Wendy, SENCO, Secondary
School.
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"Load2Learn has become an invaluable resource for our visually
impaired learners, our service and the schools we support. It is difficult
to imagine life without it now!" Liz Cullen, Specialist Advisory
Teacher, Hertfordshire
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"Daily I sing your praises more! Thank you for this superb website.
There is real expertise and understanding of the issues for print
disabled youngsters." Sarah Cross, QTVI, Leeds
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For more information
Website. load2learn.org.uk
Email. info@load2learn.org.uk
Tel. 0300 303 8313
FAQ pages: load2learn.org.uk/help/FAQ_homepage.php