Activ Receives an Award at the BCS Accessibility Awareness Day

At the BCS Accessibility Awareness Day, held at the BCS’s Covent Garden offices on 30th October, Activ received an Award for its highly acclaimed ActivTest automated test system.  The award was given because of the advances Activ have made to the ActivTest system to ensure that it serves the needs of a variety of candidates with disabilities.

The BCS programme for the Awards provided the following information:

“Activ Training Ltd, headquartered in Bedford, England, is the only UK-based provider of approved ECDL/ICDL training and testing software.  Established in 1995, Activ has earned an outstanding reputation in business, education and government for providing quality learning solutions.

Over 5000 organisations worldwide are using their e-Learning and multimedia training solutions to improve their knowledge and skill base.  Their test materials provide 100% additional time for candidates to complete an assessment.  This provides increased accessibility for a wide range of disabled candidates.  They are working closely with technical partners to achieve compatibility with magnification and screen-reader software.”

The picture shows Michael Barclay, e-Learning Development Manager at Activ, receiving the Award on behalf of the company. To the right stands Peter Bayley, Director of BCS Qualifications and on the left, Chris Mairs, Chief Technical Officer at Data Connection, who has been registered blind since the age of 18.

Phil Jones, Managing Director of Activ, commented: “We are naturally delighted to receive this Award.  Ensuring our ECDL products, and those for other BCS Qualifications such as e-Citizen and e-type, meet exacting accessibility requirements, is of paramount importance to us.  This Award represents the start of a major program of research and development which will ensure that our courseware and examinations software are accessible to the widest possible range of disabled candidates.  We passionately believe that all candidates should have the chance to prove what they are capable of, no matter what their disability.  We will be making further announcements regarding progress along these lines during 2008.”