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ReadSpeaker TextAid supports any student who has difficulty with reading and processing text. It’s especially beneficial for individuals who have Dyslexia, ADHD, medical conditions which cause fatigue, concentration difficulties and studying in a second language. It reads any text aloud, changes the way documents look so they’re easier to read, encourages active reading, translates and supports writing and reading on any device, including phones.
Agreement start: 1 December 2025
Agreement end: 30 November 2028
Standard rate VAT applies to the TextAid licence agreement.
3 years from start date on Order, with option to opt out at the end of each year with three months’ notice.
Site Licence
HE and FE institutions in the UK and Ireland.
Other organisations aligned with Jisc’s charitable objectives of supporting education, research bodies and the public sector may ask to participate in the Agreement. Chest will liaise with the Supplier about any such requests.
Owner: Aventido Limited, (company number 1091268 ), whose registered office is Bridge House, Ashley Road, Altrincham, WA14 2UT
ReadSpeaker TextAid is a web-based assistive technology solution designed to support individuals who experience barriers to reading and writing digital text. It enables users to listen to written content using natural-sounding text-to-speech and provides tools that support comprehension, focus, and independent access to information.
TextAid is accessed through a standard web browser and does not require local installation. It is commonly used within education and public-sector environments to support learners and staff with dyslexia, visual impairments, neurodivergent profiles, cognitive load challenges, or temporary accessibility needs.
The service complements existing digital platforms by offering alternative access to content rather than replacing current systems or workflows.
WCAG 2.1 AA
TextAid is delivered as a secure, web-based service and can be accessed using individual user accounts. Access is typically managed through institutional authentication processes and aligns with standard identity and access management approaches used across education and public-sector organisations.
As a web-hosted solution, TextAid supports remote and flexible access while maintaining appropriate controls around user authentication and data security
TextAid is a cloud-hosted, browser-based platform with the following technical characteristics:
The platform is designed for reliability and ease of deployment, integrating smoothly into existing digital environments with minimal technical overhead.
If you have any general questions about he TextAid product you can fill the feedback form the Aventido website (UK distributor of TextAid)
The Supplier will grant a royalty free trial licence for less than thirty days.
How to Add Users in ReadSpeaker TextAid?
There are three options to add users to your ReadSpeaker TextAid site license:
1) The easiest and most common method is through a Single-Sign-On which automatically generates an account. This can be linked to either Microsoft's Office365 (which almost all higher ed institutions already have in use for their students), or Google for Education.
Share the TextAid login page with students either via a link in the university LMS or by email. TextAid login page
The student then clicks on ‘Sign in with Office 365’ and uses their university domain email address. This will automatically create an account.
Emails are sent out to inform students of their password, and to the main admin to notify of a newly created sub-user.
2) Manually through the main admin 'Manage Users'-interface, which can be found by clicking on the name in the upper right corner, click Organisation, click Manage Users.
3) A CSV file import, which can only be done through our Support team, but allows a mass generation in one go. Users' passwords can either be fed back to you (the admin), or by emailing a standard message to each of the users (with a 'Create your password'-link).
email: saas_support@readspeaker.com
UK Phone: +44 (0)203 318 5619
Voices – is there more than one UK English voice available?
There are 6 British voices: 4 English accents, 1 Scottish and 1 Irish. You can also choose from an Indian, South African, New Zealand, Australian or American accent. Here’s a link to listen to the voices: https://www.readspeaker.com/demo/ With a site licence you can choose 10 voices to be available to users including other languages such as Welsh.
Where are files from the online dictation stored?
TextAid uses Google speech-to-text and here is some information about this data storage Google Cloud Speech-to-text.
Is speech from users’ data collected and stored?
No. ReadSpeaker is not enrolled in the data logging opt-in program. See answer above regarding storing online dictation files.
Are user documents encrypted at rest and in transit?
Yes, both.
Where is the data stored?
EU (Sweden and Ireland)
How long are personal data and documents kept for after deletion of the user account?
Personal data and documents are not kept after deletion, they are deleted immediately. If automatic user inactivation is enabled, user accounts are automatically inactivated 180 days after the last login and then permanently deleted after another 90 days. These time periods can be configured per customer.
Who has access to the personal data and a user’s personal document library?
Only ReadSpeaker staff that need it in order to develop the product, or give support to customers.
Accessibility of TextAid? Does it meet the WCAG standard?
Here’s a link: https://www.readspeaker.com/blog/web-accessibility-guide/
Is there a VPAT statement for TextAid?
Here’s a link to the report: https://docs.readspeaker.com/assets/textaid/vpat/eng/LATEST_VERSION
Is there a GDPR / data protection statement available?
There is a GDPR consent form that users must consent to when logging into TextAid the first titime.
Do the TextAid browser extensions collect or store data?
No data is collected or stored.
Can the user change their password?
Yes, they can do so in their Profile in TextAid, anytime, anywhere, from any device.
Regarding the usage and statistics section of the admin account, who else has access to this?
Can they be changed as we don’t require access to individual user statistics. Only the main admin account has access, and all data is anonymised.
What measures do TextAid / ReadSpeaker have in place to protect users' data on their servers?
The data is only accessible to a small number of ReadSpeaker staff, and the data is encrypted both at transit and at rest. ReadSpeaker's procedures for information security are described in our Information Security Management System, which is ISO 27001 certified.
Is there a Data processing agreement available?
Yes, if you’d like a copy we can provide one. And ReadSpeaker is always willing to consider any such Processor Agreement provided from the prospect/customer/university.
Licensor: Aventido Limited, (company number 1091268 ), whose registered office is Bridge House, Ashley Road, Altrincham, WA14 2UT
The Chest Order, together with the Licence Terms and Conditions, and any exceptions listed below, create a legally binding contract between your institution, organisation or company and the Licensor. Therefore please read the terms and conditions carefully and only submit a Chest Order if its terms and conditions are acceptable to your institution, organisation or company and you have the authority to make the financial commitment shown.
This Site licence is subject to the terms and conditions of the Chest Software as a Service (SaaS) licences please read these terms and conditions carefully and only submit an order if they are acceptable to your organisation.
On receipt of a completed Chest Order sites will be invoiced for the Agreement year in which the licence is signed, additional add-ons will be pro-rated to match initial contract. For each subsequent year, sites will be invoiced three months in advance of the Licence anniversary date.
Chest is an Enterprise of Jisc. All Purchase orders must be made out to Jisc Services Ltd, 4 Portwall Lane, Bristol, BS1 6NB to cover all charges plus VAT.
All terms contained in a PO are expressly rejected and do not form part of the Licence or vary the Licence terms in any way.
Payments are due within thirty days of the invoice date; recipients of late payments are entitled to interest in accordance with UK statutory provisions.
At the end of a licence period, Access will be removed for all users.
Standard Opt-out for annual commitments.
Annual agreements that renew have a 3 month opt-out clause applied as standard. If an institution does not op-out 3 months or more days prior to the renewal date, then the agreement will automatically be renewed, and they will be invoiced.
The product(s) may be used by any Authorised User of the Licensee for Educational Purposes which includes the administration and management of the licensee’s educational and research operations. These permissions are described in the terms and conditions for the Standard Chest Licence for Software.
The site licence is based on student users, however staff may use the product at no extra cost.
| Students | Yes |
| Academic Staff | Yes |
| Non-Academic Staff | Yes |
| Administration and management | Yes |
| Staff home use rights | Yes |
| Student home use rights | Yes |
The term "Head Licensor" is added as a clause between 1.1 (c) and 1.1 (d) and reads:
'Head Licensor means ReadSpeaker UK or the ultimate owner of the intellectual property rights in the Software.'
The term "Licensee Data" is added as a clause between 1.1 (f) and 1.1 (g) and reads:
'Licensee Data means any content made available or shared by the Licensee and/or its Authorised Users via the Software including documents, data, information and other materials.'
The term "UK GDPR" is added as a clause between 1.1 (j) and 1.1 (k) and reads:
'UK GDPR means the retained EU law version of the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), as it forms part of the law of England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland by virtue of section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, and as amended by Schedule 1 to the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/419).'
A new clause is added between clause 3.1 (c) and 3.1 (d) and reads:
'input, upload, transmit, or otherwise share, provide to or through the Software, any content or other information or materials (including Licensee Data) that are unlawful, illegal, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise injurious, or contain, transmit, or activate any software viruses, worms, Trojan horses or any computer code, files or programs designed to disrupt, destroy, invade, gain unauthorised access to, corrupt or modify data in, prevent authorised access to, the Software or any part of the Licensor's system.'
Clause 6.2 is added to the bottom of this clause and it reads:
'For the use of the 2.5GB storage capacity under the Essential option offered by the Licensor, the Licensor will promptly notify the Licensee if there is significant increase in usage and will provide an opportunity for the Licensee to correct their usage to remain in compliance with their subscription. The Licensee will not be liable to pay for overuse.'
Clause 7.3 is added to the bottom of this clause and it reads:
'The Licensor acknowledges that all proprietary and intellectual property rights in the Licensee Data are the exclusive property of the Licensee or its licensors or the Authorised Users and that this Licence Agreement does not assign or transfer to the Licensor any right, title or interest in such Licensee Data save that the Licensee shall grant to the Licensor (or procure the grant to the Licensor) all rights necessary for the Licensor to access and use the Licensee Data to the extent necessary to provide access to and use of and to ensure functionality of the Software in the manner provided for in this Licence Agreement.'
The new clause is called "Data Protection" and reads:
The Licensee is deemed the ‘Data Controller’ and the Head Licensor the ‘Data Processor’ as defined under the UK GDPR. Any “Processing” of “Personal Data”, as each term is defined by UK GDPR, carried out pursuant to the Order will be governed by the ReadSpeaker Data Processing Agreement set out in the Appendix to this Agreement. The Licensor will not process personal data pursuant to the Order.
Clause 9.6 is added to the bottom of clause 9 and it reads:
On any termination by the Licensee under clause 9.3, the Licensor shall use all commercially reasonable efforts to assist the Licensee in effecting a complete transition of all Licensee Data and processes related to the provision of the Software, to the Licensee or replacement licensor as directed by the Licensee, without any material interruption of, or adverse impact on, the provision of the Software, and with no additional charge to the Licensee.
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