What began with a simple hardware purchase request has resulted in improved access to ICT facilities for learning and administration for staff and students at Middlewich High School - and all without spending a penny.
The Finance Department had asked the IT Department to source anti-glare filters for the monitors of around half a dozen staff who were experiencing headaches after using their computers for several hours a day. These filters would need to be in different sizes as many of these staff had different-sized monitors. With budgets everywhere under pressure, the IT Department responded by investigating a software solution to the problem of monitor glare and came across ColorVeil. Affected members of staff were shown ColorVeil with the filter opacity set at 60-70%; everyone responded that this resolved their problem.
The Department then made the link to children with Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome, which is a condition affecting reading ability where sufferers can greatly benefit when the paper the text is printed on is of a particular colour - the exact one varies from person to person. Middlewich High School - which prides itself on its highly inclusive approach to education - has a number of students with this condition, so ColorVeil was also demonstrated to these students to see whether a coloured tint across the screen helped with their reading - they reported that it did!
There were some technical issues around the implementation of this software across the school network, so the IT Department worked with the software's developer - who gives his work away for free - to resolve them. In just a short while, everyone who needed ColorVeil was able to have it running automatically on logon, both in school and over remote access from home, with customised settings for each user that they can alter at will.
At one stroke, Middlewich High School has been able to improve its staff's health by reducing eye strain, while also broadening access to learning opportunities for many of its students, all at zero cost to the taxpayer. We are highly satisfied with this outcome, commend the developer for his generous work and would very much recommend ColorVeil to other schools.