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Civica UK Limited

Civica Managed UKCloud Platform

A professional and managed service to exploit the UKCloud platform allowing you to focus on your services and users. Our management, monitoring, support services manage UKCloud solutions hosted in Assured/Elevated PSN tiers using VMware, OpenStack, AzureStack, OpenShift cloud platforms. We offer services in Defence to host systems in the RLI.

Features

  • Managed Service underpinned by a Service Level Agreement (SLA)
  • Service adoption, transition, migration projects
  • Managed private cloud platforms at Assured/Elevated tiers (PSN), RLI
  • Application management, DevOps, support and maintenance
  • Secure architecture design, management and guidance
  • Security cleared staff (BPSS, SC, NPPV3DV Clearance)
  • Cloud service monitoring, patching, configuration and optimisation
  • Service configuration via Terraform, Ansible, Puppet and Chef
  • Up to 24/7 service desk and support engineering
  • Deployment within AzureDtack, VMware Cloud, OpenShift, OpenStack and Oracle

Benefits

  • Agile: DevOps and configuration provisioning and management
  • Highly resilient Tier 3, UK sovereign data centres
  • Native PSA-A, PSN-P, RLI, ALI, HSCN and Janet connectivity
  • Secure: process and people for OFFICIAL and OFFICIAL SENSITIVE services
  • Certified: 9001, 20000, 27001, 27017, 27018, PASF, Cyber Essentials+
  • Comprehensive: management of platform, OS and application services
  • Technology: support for Microsoft, Java and node.js application stacks
  • Cost efficient: scale your platform up/down based on need
  • Release resources: we take on responsibility, freeing your engineers
  • Scope: portals, web applications, legacy integration/modernisation, enterprise content management

Pricing

£1 a unit a month

Service documents

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at g-cloud@civica.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

5 0 7 1 0 6 3 1 5 4 9 9 9 8 4

Contact

Civica UK Limited Civica UK Limited
Telephone: +44 (0) 3333 214 914
Email: g-cloud@civica.co.uk

Service scope

Service constraints
None
System requirements
None

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
Civica offers four levels of support ranging from core working hours (9am to 5pm Monday to Friday excluding English public holidays) to full 24x7 support. Our Silver service response times depend on the severity of the incident and are as follows:
a) Severity Level 1 (Critical) - 1 hour to respond, 1 day to resolve.
b) Severity Level 2 (Severe) - 1 hour to respond, 3 days to resolve.
c) Severity Level 3 (Disruptive) - 2 hours to respond, reasonable 5 days to resolve.
d) Severity Level 4 (Minor) - 2 hours to respond, reasonable efforts to resolve.
User can manage status and priority of support tickets
No
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
Web chat support
No
Onsite support
Yes, at extra cost
Support levels
Civica offers four levels of support with the following support hours:
1) Platinum: Full 24*7 support service suitable for the most business critical applications.
2) Gold: On-call 24*7 support service appropriate for public facing applications that are utilised 24*7.
3) Silver: 8am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. This extended hours model is targeted at customers requiring cover for a flexible working day.
4) Bronze: 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday excluding public holidays.
The Civica Digital Service Desk is contactable from 8am to 6pm on UK working days.
The Service Desk responds to questions depending on the Severity Level of the call as follows:
a) Severity Level 1 (Critical) - the reported problem causes a halt to the client’s core business processes and no workaround is available.
b) Severity Level 2 (Major) - the reported problem causes degradation of the client’s core business processes and no reasonable work-around exists.
c) Severity Level 3 (Intermediate) - the reported problem impacts the client’s operational environment, but does not affect core business processes. A work-around is available.
d) Severity Level 4 (Minor) - a non-critical problem is causing some disruption, but with little or no impact on the client operation.
Support available to third parties
No

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
During initiation the Civica Delivery Manager (DM) assesses what help, support and training users require to start using the service. The DM works closely with the customer to agree an on-boarding plan that ensures users are ready to start using the service, typically priced from the SFIA rate card. The on-boarding plan may incorporate the following: Support Documentation – availability and access to online user support documentation and resources. Cloud Induction Training for system administrators and online product help. Provides the skills to run cloud services. Cloud Standard Training in the core system for system champions and end users. Covers system administration, security and cloud service monitoring/managing. Cloud Specialist Training – advanced training for system champions. This may involve Accredited Courses from Civica Cloud delivery partners including Google, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft. Cloud Training Packages, tailored package of training for specific business requirements for system administrators, business managers, and end users. The Delivery Manager also facilitates skills transfer throughout the project and provides access to Civica Knowledge Sharing activities including supplier briefings, Webinars.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
  • HTML
  • ODF
  • PDF
  • Other
Other documentation formats
Video & Webinars
End-of-contract data extraction
Termination period depends on the payment model. When paying per user per month, customers may terminate their G-Cloud service with 30 days’ notice. When buying an enterprise licence, the minimum term is a year. Customers can terminate their service by contacting Civica in writing. Customers may request all associated data is extracted and provided securely to a destination of their choice (see pricing for charges associated with data extraction). If no data extraction is requested, then the associated data will be deleted within 5 working days of service termination. The three step off-boarding process is: 1. Termination Notification – one month termination notice sent; 2. Data Extraction – Optimal Data Extraction for Test Migration; 3. Service Termination – All Data Wiped.
End-of-contract process
For monthly contracts, Civica require 30 days’ notice to terminate a G-Cloud service. When buying an enterprise annual licence, the minimum term is a year and 3 months’ written notice must be provided. At the end of the contract, the service will be turned off unless the customer decides to extract their data as per the extraction process detailed above. Customers will be credited for any amount that has been paid beyond the termination date once the service has been terminated subject to minimum terms.

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Using the web interface
We provide a control panel allowing users to provision, manage and decommission various aspects of this service. It also allows users to interface with the UKCloud service management system including raising tickets and requests. The web interface also provides access to a comprehensive set of documentation and videos. Launch, manage and delete virtual network, compute and storage resources. Display network topology. Manage images including creation and recover of backups. Control access and security including key pairs, API access and floating IPs. Manage load balancers.
Web interface accessibility standard
None or don’t know
How the web interface is accessible
The web interface is accessible using the most common web browsers and is delivered over various public and private networks including the internet, PSN, N3/HSCN and Janet. The web interface is protected by standards-based encryption, two-factor authentication and optionally IP address restrictions. The web interface is entirely HTML5 and does not require any auxilary plug-ins, therefore the web interface is accessible by any modern day desktop or mobile internet browser able to support secure HTTPS connections.
Web interface accessibility testing
None
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
You can use API calls to create, manage and monitor Service Requests and view information about the components of your environment. We provide native access to underlying APIs such as vCloud and OpenStack. These are compatible with tools such as Terraform and platforms such as AWS S3.
API automation tools
  • Ansible
  • Chef
  • OpenStack
  • SaltStack
  • Terraform
  • Puppet
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
  • Open API (also known as Swagger)
  • HTML
  • ODF
  • PDF
Command line interface
Yes
Command line interface compatibility
  • Linux or Unix
  • Windows
  • MacOS
Using the command line interface
Customers can full manage their virtual infrastructure resources including compute, storage and networking, including management of virtual images, programmatically or manually via the CLI

Scaling

Scaling available
Yes
Scaling type
  • Automatic
  • Manual
Independence of resources
In order to guarantee that users are not affected by the demands from other users, we use resource reservations and shares such as internet bandwidth shaping. In addition, the capacity planning team ensure that usage in terms of all resources are constantly monitored and increased accordingly relating to user demand.
Usage notifications
No

Analytics

Infrastructure or application metrics
Yes
Metrics types
  • CPU
  • Disk
  • Memory
  • Number of active instances
Reporting types
  • API access
  • Reports on request

Resellers

Supplier type
Reseller providing extra features and support
Organisation whose services are being resold
UKCloud

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Other security clearance
Government security clearance
Up to Security Clearance (SC)

Asset protection

Knowledge of data storage and processing locations
Yes
Data storage and processing locations
European Economic Area (EEA)
User control over data storage and processing locations
No
Datacentre security standards
Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
Penetration testing frequency
At least once a year
Penetration testing approach
‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
Protecting data at rest
Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
Data sanitisation process
Yes
Data sanitisation type
Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
Equipment disposal approach
Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Backup and recovery

Backup and recovery
Yes
What’s backed up
All UKCloud services can be backed up
Backup controls
Customers can choose what backup model they would like to use at the time of configuration. This model dictates the location, frequency and retention of the backups.
Datacentre setup
Multiple datacentres with disaster recovery
Scheduling backups
Users schedule backups through a web interface
Backup recovery
  • Users can recover backups themselves, for example through a web interface
  • Users contact the support team

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
  • Private network or public sector network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Bonded fibre optic connections
Data protection within supplier network
TLS (version 1.2 or above)

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
UKCloud has different models of contractually guaranteed availability depending on the service taken. The lowest of these is 99.9% based on 24 x 7 availability. Civica’s service desk is available 09:00am – 5:30pm UK Working Days. If you would like service levels to apply outside of normal service hours, then please contact us with your requirements. Civica will act as the customer’s agent to liaise with UKCloud to resolve issues. UKCloud pay service credits directly if the cloud platform does not meet pre-defined service levels. Civica will pass onto the customer any service credits received from UKCloud.
Approach to resilience
The UKCloud service is deployed across a number of sites, regions and zones. Each zone is designed to eliminate single points of failure (such as power, network and hardware). Customers are encouraged to ensure their solution spans multiple sites, regions or zones to ensure service continuity should a failure occur.
Outage reporting
All outages will be reported via the Service Status page and the notifications service within the UKCloud Portal.  Outages are identified as Planned maintenance, Emergency maintenance, and platform issues.

Identity and authentication

User authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
For online systems (e.g. Customer Portal & API interfaces), all users are required to have a unique username, password and memorable word combination. Customers may also use 2FA authentication tokens.
Access restriction testing frequency
At least every 6 months
Management access authentication
Username or password
Devices users manage the service through
  • Dedicated device on a segregated network (providers own provision)
  • Dedicated device on a government network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated device over multiple services or networks
  • Any device but through a bastion host (a bastion host is a server that provides access to a private network from an external network such as the internet)
  • Directly from any device which may also be used for normal business (for example web browsing or viewing external email)

Audit information for users

Access to user activity audit information
Users contact the support team to get audit information
How long user audit data is stored for
Between 1 month and 6 months
Access to supplier activity audit information
Users contact the support team to get audit information
How long supplier audit data is stored for
Between 1 month and 6 months
How long system logs are stored for
Between 1 month and 6 months

Standards and certifications

ISO/IEC 27001 certification
Yes
Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001
Alcumus ISOQAR Ltd
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
4th May 2016
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
Civica's ISO27001 certificate covers the full breadth of services that we deliver. The certificate does not extend to the inner workings of the UKCloud Data Centres but these are covered by UKCloud's ISO27001 certificate.
ISO 28000:2007 certification
No
CSA STAR certification
Yes
CSA STAR accreditation date
28/10/2016
CSA STAR certification level
Level 1: CSA STAR Self-Assessment
What the CSA STAR doesn’t cover
None
PCI certification
No
Cyber essentials
Yes
Cyber essentials plus
Yes
Other security certifications
No

Security governance

Named board-level person responsible for service security
Yes
Security governance certified
Yes
Security governance standards
ISO/IEC 27001
Information security policies and processes
Civica is ISO27001 accredited. It has 15 years of experience in delivering highly-secure, business critical services for public sector clients, including the development and management of several national critical systems. All of Civica’s activities are carried out under its ISO27001-compliant Information Security Management System (ISMS) which defines the secure operating procedures for every single aspect of Civica’s operational processes, including its engagement with partners such as Microsoft. Microsoft are themselves ISO27001 accredited and Civica has worked to ensure this service offers seamless operational security coverage. Ultimate responsibility for Civica’s security policies rests at board level; day-to-day operational responsibility is held by Civica’s Head of Security who manages a team of Security Administrators involved in supporting operations and technical owners. Operational security for this service is assured by the internal service owner, with the support of the security team.

Operational security

Configuration and change management standard
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Configuration and change management approach
UKCloud has documented configuration and change management policies and processes, which have been implemented, maintained and assessed in accordance with the guidance from ITIL v.3 and the current ISO20000 standard. Formal configuration management activities, including record management and asset reporting, are monitored and validated constantly, and any identified discrepancies promptly escalated for investigation. A robust, established process for the formal submission of change requests is mandated prior to review and approval of the daily Change Advisory Board, which is attended by a quorum of operational and technical management personnel.
Vulnerability management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Vulnerability management approach
UKCloud has a documented vulnerability management policy and process, which have been implemented, maintained and assessed in accordance with the guidance from ITIL v.3 and the current ISO20000 and ISO27001 standards. Where technically possible, real-time updates and status reports are identified and sourced from credible vendor sources, which cover a significant proportion of UKCloud’s asset population. For other systems and software, assigned personnel have responsibility for regularly reviewing technical forums and specialist groups to promptly identify and evaluate any emerging patches or updates which require our attention.
Protective monitoring type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Protective monitoring approach
Following best practice from the National Cyber Security Centre, UKCloud protects both its Assured and Elevated platforms with enhanced protective monitoring services (SIEM), at the hypervisor level and below. Our approach to protective monitoring continues to align with the Protective Monitoring Controls (PMC 1-12) outlined in CESG document GPG13 (Protective Monitoring for HMG ICT Systems). It includes checks on time sources, cross-boundary traffic, suspicious activities at a boundary, network connections and the status of backups, amongst many others. All alerts are immediately notified to the UKCloud NOC for prompt investigation.
Incident management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v3.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Incident management approach
UKCloud has a documented incident management policy and process, which have been implemented, maintained and assessed in accordance with the guidance from ITIL v.3 and the current ISO20000 and ISO27001 standards. This activity is responsible for the progression of alerts generated by automated monitoring systems, issues identified by UKCloud personnel, and incidents identified and reported to UKCloud by its customers and partners. All incidents are promptly reported into a central ticketing system, which ensures that each is promptly assigned to an appropriate resource, and its progress tracked (and escalated, as required) to resolution.

Secure development

Approach to secure software development best practice
Independent review of processes (for example CESG CPA Build Standard, ISO/IEC 27034, ISO/IEC 27001 or CSA CCM v3.0)

Separation between users

Virtualisation technology used to keep applications and users sharing the same infrastructure apart
Yes
Who implements virtualisation
Supplier
Virtualisation technologies used
VMware
How shared infrastructure is kept separate
At the compute/storage layer, consumers are separated via robust hypervisor controls based on VMware vSphere technology. This solution has been previously been validated by the NCSC PGA and the implementation is regularly tested via by regular PGA scoped independent IT Security Health Checks conducted by a CHECK service provider.

Energy efficiency

Energy-efficient datacentres
Yes
Description of energy efficient datacentres
Please contact Civica for details.

Social Value

Fighting climate change

Fighting climate change

Civica’s Environment and Social Governance team provides clear focus for the ongoing development and implementation of our environmental policy, which is supported by our ISO 14001 environmental standard. We are committed to working with our staff, customers, suppliers and partners to recognise and reduce the impact we all have on the environment. This goes hand-in-hand with optimising our services to support environmental and community initiatives.

Through the delivery our services, we support fighting climate change by:
- Helping employees improve their own environmental footprint at work. Initiatives include: environmental policy training; Single use plastic reduction; electric vehicle salary sacrifice; cycle to work scheme; solar panel and LED lighting installation; tree planting scheme, offsetting carbon emissions. We also encourage and advise employees on positive activity at home and in their personal lives.
- Working with suppliers to deliver environmentally sound processes and incorporate sustainable criteria into product/service specifications.
- Operating socially responsible purchasing, considering sustainable procurement, environmental and social effects and reduced consumption.
- Selecting suppliers, goods and services that demonstrate environmentally sustainable, socially responsible and ethically sound standards.
- Leading by example/raising awareness with customers via activities such as: reducing our single use plastic consumption by 70% within the next 5 years; prioritising use of green energy in our facilities; promoting recycling through our ‘Zero to Landfill’ and ‘Zero Print’ schemes; working towards carbon neutrality with workforces and facilities to reduce carbon consumption over the next 10-years.
- Working with customers to develop innovative software-based services that reduce property/power requirements.
- Meeting/exceeding environmental legislation through ISO audits.

We have a Carbon Reduction Plan in place and a commitment to achieve Net Zero by 2040 at the latest. We are reviewing our energy mix and the materials we use, and working with partners to plant a Civica Forest.
Covid-19 recovery

Covid-19 recovery

In the spring of 2020, Civica were an early signatory to the C-19 Business Pledge. We focused on safeguarding our people and communities and ensuring the successful ongoing provision of our business-critical software and services.

Supporting customers: Alongside business as usual for our customers, we have worked hard to support the national and local level response through practical, innovative and updated software capability. We have delivered a range of new capabilities quickly, such as those listed below, and continue to provide system advice, configuration and data insights to ensure effective action.
- COVID-19 App (the first of its kind in the UK and Ireland) was developed and launched with the Northern Ireland Department of Health, and helped reduce the pressure on the 111 helpline.
- Developed local track and trace solution for London Borough of Redbridge, enabling it to support localised contact tracing/escalations.
- Community Helper software - built on the iCasework platform to help local authorities co-ordinate rapid support for vulnerable people while minimising safeguarding risks.
- Our Trac e-recruitment software was used to help NHS recruiters get the right candidates into posts quickly and fast-track DBS checks.
- Supporting social housing tenants - assisted teams to re-focus resources and provide vital support to tenants.
- Supporting Revenues and Benefits teams - software solutions for the two largest UK government measures, Business Rates Grant fund and the Council Tax Hardship fund.

Supporting employees: We proactively provide guidance and support for our people, from keeping remote workers engaged, to our mental health champions and free-to-access Employee Assistance programme. We have adopted a blended working model enabling colleagues to work safely and flexibly at various locations and hub offices, enhanced how we communicate, and continue to look for new ways to share ideas and inspiration.
Tackling economic inequality

Tackling economic inequality

Create opportunities for entrepreneurship and help organisations to grow:
Civica is committed to working with its customers to deliver value into the community by supporting young people, developing skills and mentoring businesses to attract inward investment and growth that brings with it employment and skills.

We support innovation through our NorthStar innovation lab, a company-wide initiative focused on enhanced client outcomes by applying fresh ideas on data, automation and new technologies. We work with our customers to co-create public services that are fit for today and for the future. Our Civica NorthStar innovation lab creates physical and virtual opportunities for us to jointly explore trends and technologies.

Create employment and training opportunities:
Civica is a member of the 5% Club, and aims to have 5% of its UK work force as either apprentices, graduates or work experience students by the end of 2025. We employ apprentices and graduates into a number of different disciplines and locations, with a focus on ensuring they are long term employees of Civica.

Support educational attainment:
Learning and development is at the core of the Civica Quality Management Framework. We believe in investing in our people and are proud of our Investors in People Gold accreditation and in being a top rated Glassdoor Employer.

We run our own Civica Academy for employee development and skills enhancement, which delivered over 220,000 hours of training during 2021. We provide our own apprenticeship programme (team leader level 3) for our aspiring and current managers that are considered stars of the future.

We are working on building some new apprenticeship standards such as the UX degree apprenticeship. This will benefit not only Civica’s Digital Team but all companies and customers that need UX talent.
Equal opportunity

Equal opportunity

Civica is a 2022 Financial Times Diversity Leader and is ‘Gold’ Investors in People accredited, demonstrating our commitment to promoting equal opportunity by tackling inequality in employment, skills and pay in our workforce. We proactively implement equal opportunities for employment and personal development among diverse groups and local areas, and ensure rights for all staff are always protected. This is led by our Group Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) team, championed by our CEO who is also our Chief Diversity Sponsor. The strategy and policy manages:
- Interview training, focusing on unconscious bias/equal opportunity.
- Anonymising CVs and ensuring interview panels represent minority groups.
- Using a decoder to ensure job advertisements use gender and culturally neutral language.
- Attracting/recruiting from minority backgrounds/disadvantaged groups across the organisation, especially into under-represented areas.
- Advertising vacancies in a wide variety of places and diversity/disability portals (including; BME jobs, Disability jobs and LGBT job sites), to increase gender diversity and ethnicity.
- Company-wide Diversity & Inclusion network, including affinity groups relating to under-represented groups.
- Mandatory Diversity & Inclusion training for all staff.
- Pay equity reviews addressing inequality and UK gender pay gap.
- Flexible Working to encourage higher uptake for women, working parents and disabled groups.
- Partner with a social innovator company to help recruit and support employees with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

We gather and analyse data on our performance from regular surveys such as ENPS, IIP, Pulse survey, employee engagement surveys.

Our D&I team monitor the take-up, use and effectiveness of our measures, such as the number of new recruits from minority backgrounds, women, parents and diverse groups, and provide statistics for our Annual Review on performance against targets. For example, we report on the number of people attending training sessions and the split of male to female attendees.
Wellbeing

Wellbeing

Civica actively promote a mentally healthy workplace and workforce through our 40+ Mental Health Champions (MHC) and our ‘Health and Wellbeing’ policy, encouraging a flexible and realistic work/life balance. We integrate mental health and general wellbeing in all that we do from recruitment and ‘First Impressions’ to appraisals and strategic management.

Our ‘Health and Wellbeing’ policy and programme for all employees provide a foundation to support both the mental and physical health of our staff. Examples include:
- Employee Assistance Programme and online Wellbeing Hub, which provides 24/7 access to websites, e-mail, phone and face-to-face counselling on all personal issues.
- Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace App providing external mental health consultancy.
- Mental Health Champions who support colleagues’ wellbeing in the workplace.
- RedArc Personal nurse service.
- Management Coaching - managers are trained in GROW (Goals, Reality, Options and Will) and in being Health and Wellbeing Advisors, supporting employees with mental/physical health needs.
- Health assessments/advice aimed at improving physical health.
- Cycle to Work scheme to aid physical and mental health.
- Weekly fruit drop for offices, encouraging a healthier diet.
- We provide free eye tests for all VDU users, encourage staff to take advantage of NHS flu vaccinations services, and support people wishing to use the NHS Stop Smoking Service.

We also support our customers’ and communities’ physical and mental wellbeing through: Employee ‘Donate-a-Day’ to local charities; Local events organised through “Charity Champions”; Directors providing guidance to local community health and wellbeing projects; Supporting social housing tenants to re-focus resources and provide vital support to tenants.

Suppliers/subcontractors are subject to Civica’s Sub-contractor Selection Process as defined in our ISO9001 Quality Management System, which includes criteria for assessing health and wellbeing policies and their promotion.

Pricing

Price
£1 a unit a month
Discount for educational organisations
No
Free trial available
No

Service documents

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at g-cloud@civica.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.