Further and Higher Education
1 December 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 4,100 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 and worksheets.
• 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
Further information on our Print-disability definitions page:
load2learn.org.uk/help/print_disability_definitions.php
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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 supports reporting requirements.
"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
4,146 members (2,156 different organisations)
• 900 avg. members downloaded resources each month
Reach 7.5 per cent of UK schools and colleges:
• 46 Universities
• 107 Sixth Form/FE Colleges
• 824 Secondary Schools
• 745 Primary Schools
• 90 Special Schools
• 73 all age schools
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Website traffic
37,929 unique visitors since January 2014:
• 5,842 unique visitors in November 2014
• 89 countries visited in November 2014
• Membership opened to overseas in November 2014.
29,698 resources downloaded since January 2014:
• 81 per cent books
• 17 per cent images
• 2 per cent past exam papers, worksheets and music
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Publishers
41 publishers engaged (plus 53 imprints), including:
• Pearson UK
• SAGE Publications
• Palgrave Macmillan
• Hodder Education
• HarperCollins
• Taylor and Francis
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:
• 2014/15 - 1,790 requests to end of November 2014
• 2013/14 - 1,637 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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Book request turn-around time
While you may initially experience a longer turn-around
time requesting books through Load2Learn. But by
using Load2Learn to drive those requests through to
publishers you are helping to building a more
comprehensive collection of FE/HE materials.
In the long-term, accessible editions of the books will
already be on Load2Learn, so there won't be a need to
request them. Meaning that getting files to students
becomes even quicker - and the publisher no longer
receives multiple requests for the same book.
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Publisher, L2L or both?
It would confuse matters if you requested the book from
both the publisher and Load2Learn.
Where this happens the publisher often contacts us to
query the requests - which extends the turn-around time
for the file provision.
Some publishers now direct anyone who requests a file
from them for a print-disabled student to come through
Load2Learn.
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Books by education level
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FE/HE (including A Level): 9 per cent
Key Stage 4: 20 per cent
Key Stage 3: 17 per cent
Key Stage 2: 24 per cent
Key Stage 1: 25 per cent
Early Years: 1 per cent
General: 4 per cent
Focus on Further and Higher Education in 2014/15
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FE / HE in 2014/15
• Over 2,000 titles provided by SAGE Publications and
started to appear on the site from 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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SAGE Publications
• Over 2,000 titles (4,123 files in PDF/EPUB) provided
• 46 per cent of the titles (766 PDFs) are in the validation
queue, waiting to be made live on the site
• 8 per cent of the titles (169 PDF's) are live on the site
• 3,182 files still to upload (1,030 PDFs, 2,152 Epub)
Our volunteers are working hard to clear the books in the validation queue so
that over 50 per cent of the titles received from SAGE appear on the site and
are available for you to download.
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Batch-uploading
• Our batch-upload tool is in development
• Once complete, we'll be able to upload publisher files
in bulk and make them live on the site straight away
• Making accessible file provision even quicker!
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Development in 2014/15
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Increase publisher engagement.
Increase Sheet Music and Past Exam Paper offering.
100 children's books in Unified English Braille (UEB).
Increase textbooks available in UEB and Word
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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Uploading your content
It is important to us that you contribute your own
resources, sharing the accessible materials you already
have in your collections. By doing so you'll be helping to
build a great central pool of resources for everyone that
will reduce duplication of effort, while getting faster
access to the resources your students' need.
Simply enter the ISBN, attach the file and check/complete the data:
load2learn.org.uk/upload/create/book.php
Full uploading guidance is also available:
load2learn.org.uk/about/contribute/contributeguidance.php
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Uploading publisher files
You cannot upload the original files you have received
directly from publisher onto Load2Learn, unless you have
their permission to do so.
It is important that publishers agree to their original
content be hosted on Load2Learn and where appropriate
sign formal partnership agreements with us.
If however, you have had to modify their file to create an
accessible edition, the new file can be uploaded with you
as the contributor.
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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 learners." 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
Your Load2Learn: load2learn.org.uk/YourLoad2Learn/fehe.php