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CIPHR LIMITED

Ciphr: Secure Human Resources & Payroll Software as a Service

SaaS Human Resource, Payroll and People Management Software supporting employee lifecycle management, talent attraction, development and retention, online recruitment, employee onboarding, absence management, pay management, talent management, flexible benefits and reward, eLearning, content and performance. Business systems integration and AI features. Implementation, consultancy and managed services.

Features

  • HR and people management, browser/mobile self-service and document storage
  • Flexible benefits, reward and recognition, total reward statement, survey
  • Employee training, learning management including content, performance management, online appraisal
  • Payroll software, bureau, outsourced payroll, expenses, online payslips, payroll integration
  • Absence management, holiday, sickness entitlements and timesheets
  • Management information, standard and bespoke reporting, data analytics and dashboards
  • Talent Attraction, e-Recruitment, candidate management and candidate onboarding
  • Compliance, policy acceptance, case management, ER, safeguarding and checks
  • Configurable options for branding, form and field creation
  • Secure role based access with multi factor authentication

Benefits

  • Secure public cloud data storage resource data management
  • Secure data access and management accessible 24/7 on multiple devices
  • Improve employee retention and performance via effective talent management
  • Accurate management and processing of pay, rewards, benefits and expenses
  • Reduce absence costs via trend reporting and alerts
  • Inform decisions via real-time reporting, analytics and management information
  • Reduce recruitment costs, time to hire and increase retention
  • Compliance via employee relations, background checks and secure data management
  • Improve employee engagement through learning, content, survey and recognition
  • Reduce administration using e-Sign and secure document remote access

Pricing

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 jtrickett@ciphr.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 15

Service ID

9 6 9 2 9 0 9 1 3 6 1 5 9 0 0

Contact

CIPHR LIMITED Jade Trickett
Telephone: 01628814000
Email: jtrickett@ciphr.com

About the service

Service categories

Applications

Enterprise resource management

  • Payroll management

Human capital management

  • Core Human Resources Applications
  • Talent Management Applications
Multi cloud support
Yes

Service scope

Software add-on or extension
Yes, but can also be used as a standalone service
What software services is the service an extension to
Ciphr can integrate with a wide range of business systems, including; active directory, payrolls, finance, school management system, LMS, benefits, health & safety, employee recognition and time and and attendance.
Cloud deployment model
Public cloud
Service constraints
Ciphr is accessed via supported browsers, latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari. Users will require access to the Internet to access the service and to be suitably trained.
System requirements
  • Access to the Internet via supported browsers
  • An appropriate account with AdobeSign or DocuSign to use e-Sign

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Yes
Support response times
Responses provided in line with published SLA and subject to priority from under 4 hours to 48 hours. User support is available as standard during working hours Monday to Friday, excluding UK Public Holidays.
User can manage status and priority of support tickets
Yes
Online ticketing support accessibility
WCAG 2.2 AAA
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
Web chat support
Yes
Web chat support availability
9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
Web chat support accessibility standard
WCAG 2.2 AA
Web chat accessibility testing
Ciphr utilises Zendesk Chat. Zendesk uses the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT), to publish an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR), which documents an audit of our systems relative to WCAG 2.1 AA performed by a third party accessibility vendor.
Onsite support
Yes, at extra cost
Support levels
Ongoing communication and relationship management will encompass: support via allocated Ciphr Customer Success Manager through regular meetings and review, service Updates via email, Ciphr Social Media, Ciphr Customer Hub via SharePoint online, ‘update’ communication via email, Ciphr Academy – online learning materials and content, regular online webinars to customers.

Ciphr is a 24/7 available solution, subject to any planned downtime covered under the standard Ciphr SLA. Ciphr support is designed to provide clients with a variety of ways of getting the most out of their solutions and included within the annual subscription charge: Customer Care telephone support between 09:00 and 17:30. Monday to Friday (excluding UK bank holidays) , Customer Success support, regular news update bulletins, free legislative and software updates.

The Customer Care team can be contacted by telephone, online support portal and live chat. Service Requests are automatically logged and a response, including a reference number will be emailed to the requester.

As a subscription-based service, all functional and maintenance upgrades will be covered under the annual subscription fee.

Ciphr SaaS Service Levels are set out in Ciphr Terms and Conditions. Standard User Support and Technical Infrastructure Support is included as part of the Annual SaaS Subscription Fee.
Support available to third parties
No
AI chatbot
Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
Full implementation services are available to support robust and flexible project planning, management and coordination, risk management and change control, appropriate systems consultancy, guidance and support, data migration, and comprehensive education and learning via the Ciphr Academy. All services will be delivered remotely.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
  • HTML
  • ODF
  • PDF
End-of-contract data extraction
The Customer may request a copy of the customer data held by Ciphr on the SaaS Services at any time during a paid Subscription Period. Users with appropriate security access can export data in a variety of formats, including Excel, CSV and PDF. Provision of data extracts in any other format will require scoping and services at standard daily rate. In compliance with applicable DPL, on contract end, Ciphr will securely return and/or destroy customer data in its possession. Ciphr shall provide the customer with a copy of the Customer Data in the form of a standard CSV file to an SFTP site at no charge to the customer.
End-of-contract process
At the end of the contract the service will be terminated and in compliance with applicable DPL, all customer data and content will be securely returned and/or or deleted.
Documentation accessibility standard
None or don’t know
How the documentation is accessible
Documentation can be provided in a range of formats, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, ODT and many others, no specific Accessibility testing has been carried out on any document format.

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Supported browsers
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Other
Application to install
No
Designed for use on mobile devices
Yes
Differences between the mobile and desktop service
All features can be accessed via supported browsers on any device. For smaller screen devices a mobile optimised site is available for the most commonly used features which include booking time off and checking employee directory details and viewing team absence details.
Service interface
Yes
User support accessibility
None or don’t know
Description of service interface
Intuitive UI providing access to different user roles to different areas of functionality and groups of records and data.
Accessibility standards
None or don’t know
Description of accessibility
Program to date enables compliance with WCAG2.1AA in common areas (pages allow for keyboard-only interactions; Arias used to allow screen readers to describe each function), with other areas to follow. In addition to current compliance, the Customer, via standard security, can define features available to specific user groups (e.g., in “Time Off”, enabling access to Time Off page supporting text management, whilst hiding the calendar, which, via its visual representation, may not lend itself to aspects of accessibility compliance.

Ciphr is committed to a programme of development, with accessibility considerations/compliance with applicable standards a core tenet of planning, and delivery.
Accessibility testing
Program to date enables compliance with WCAG2.1AA in common areas (pages allow for keyboard-only interactions; Arias used to allow screen readers to describe each function), with other areas to follow. In addition to current compliance, the Customer, via standard security, can define features available to specific user groups (e.g., in “Time Off”, enabling access to Time Off page supporting text management, whilst hiding the calendar, which, via its visual representation, may not lend itself to aspects of accessibility compliance.

Ciphr is committed to a programme of development, with accessibility considerations/compliance with applicable standards a core tenet of planning, and delivery.
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
Ciphr’s RESTful API facilitates integration with a wide range of different applications. Using industry-standard instructions (known as ‘verbs’) – GET (read data), POST (write data), PUT (update data) and DELETE (delete data) – to interact with other applications via HTTPS. API keys are unique for each client, and for each connection. Extra security can be added with domain name and IP mapping, so only certain machines and users are granted access to data held in Ciphr. API Requests returns data in two formats as required; (XML and JSON). API keys can be purchased individually or via enterprise licencing with configuration services for each key. Customers are able to manage API keys through the user interface to enable and disable as required. Deliverables and associated fees based upon standard available API endpoints only. Changes to fields made available through each key are at Ciphr's discretion, conducted by Ciphr on request and may incur service charges.
Ciphr also offers secure web services, configurable to allow authorised users to download pre-defined data queries. Changes to these queries are made through the account manager or Customer Care team. These requests would be initiated by the customer and are conducted across port 443 (HTTPS).
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
HTML
API sandbox or test environment
Yes
Customisation available
Yes
Description of customisation
As a one to many SaaS Service, Ciphr supports tailored customer led configuration vs "customisation". Ciphr is extremely flexible and can be customised through configurable options which include; adding fields, additional pages, tabs and categories of data. Some configurable options are global and others are specific to individual users. Users can configure their own dashboards by choosing which charts and widgets to show and where on the page they are displayed. Workflows can be configured and assigned, reports designed and added to user libraries and on boarding streams created. Configurable options are unaffected by system updates.

Scaling

Independence of resources
All services are load balanced and support scaling technologies, where appropriate, to ensure that customers actions do not impact the performance of any other tenant within the environment.

Analytics

Service usage metrics
Yes
Metrics types
Reports on service metrics are available on request but may incur a charge, subject to the specific metric or frequency of request. Day rate listed in the Pricing Document.
Reporting types
Reports on request
Resource tagging
No
FOCUS resource tagging
No

Supplier type

Supplier type
Not a reseller

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Conforms to BS7858:2019
Government security clearance
Developed Vetting (DV)

Asset protection

Knowledge of data storage and processing locations
Yes
Data storage and processing locations
  • United Kingdom
  • 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 4.0)
Penetration testing frequency
At least every 6 months
Penetration testing approach
‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
Protecting data at rest
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Other
Other data at rest protection approach
All of the customer databases are encrypted using SQL TDE and the encryption strength used is AES256. Databases can only be decrypted on the SQL servers within Ciphr’s cloud by appropriately trained Ciphr support personnel.
Data sanitisation process
Yes
Equipment disposal approach
Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001
Data sanitisation type
  • Data Erasure
  • Physical Destruction / Hardware containing data is completely destroyed

Data importing and exporting

Data export approach
Users with appropriate security access and Report Design licence can export data in a variety of formats, including Excel, CSV and PDF. Subject to license, the customer may also extract data via API
Data export formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data export formats
  • .xlsx
  • PDF
  • Microsoft Word
Data import formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data import formats
  • .xlsx
  • PDF
  • Microsoft Word
  • Using CIPHR API

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Other
Other protection between networks
Customer data is stored in encrypted database unique to that customer. Database and service accounts that are unique to each customer. The entire service is supplied behind multiple firewalls that feature IPS/IDS. All traffic into the environment is over secure channels (Port 443, 22). An active protective monitoring solution is installed and configured to provide alerts based on suspicious activity. These alerts are appropriately actioned and responded to by the Ciphr SaaS Maintenance team.
Data protection within supplier network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Other
Other protection within supplier network
The environment is divided into different network segments that all pass through firewalls with IPS/IDS and strict access control lists. An active protective monitoring solution is installed and configured to provide alerts based on suspicious activity. These alerts are appropriately actioned and responded to by the Ciphr SaaS Maintenance team.

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
System Environment Downtime (SED) is the total number of hours in a calendar month that the Environment is unavailable for the Customer’s use during System Environment Operational Hours (SEO) (0600-0900 daily) and is expressed as a percentage of SEO.
SED only includes those hours of unavailability where the cause of any failure is primarily the responsibility of Ciphr or its contractors.
SED is calculated as the total hours of downtime in a calendar month accumulated as a result of Incidents during SEO, (where those Incidents have had downtime in excess of 5 minutes) plus (+) Planned, Unplanned or Urgent Works carried out during SEO Hours in the same period divided by (/) SEO Hours in the same period times (x) 100%. SED so calculated shall not exceed 3% in any calendar month.
Expressly excluded from any SED calculations is downtime due to force majeure, faults in Third Party Software, Customer Software or any upgrade thereto, failure by the Customer to fulfil Customer Obligations or other reasons not within the responsibility of Ciphr and its contractors, including without limitation the Customer or Customer User’s inability to access the System Environment due to a public communications facility or network including the Internet.
Approach to resilience
The Ciphr SaaS environment takes advantage of Azure Availability Zones (Separate datacentre within the same region that have independent power, cooling, and networking infrastructure.) In an event of a failure in a single zone all traffic is redirected to the remaining availability zones. In addition, we take regular back-up that use Geo-redundant storage (GRS) to replicate the data to a second region 100s of miles apart.
Outage reporting
The communication of any service outage would initially be handled by our Customer Care team. The method of the communication would typically be via email but dependant on the nature of the outage.

Identity and authentication

User authentication needed
Yes
User authentication
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password
  • Other
Other user authentication
Integration with Active Directory and Single Sign on using Azure or Google for authentication is also possible.
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
Access to the Ciphr SaaS environment is only granted to certain employees based on their job role in the organisation. Those employees with access only have permissions according to the requirement of the work they will be carrying out in the Ciphr SaaS environment. All of the Ciphr employees are trained to a high standard of awareness in relation to security surrounding the information assets and SaaS environment in general.
Access restriction testing frequency
At least every 6 months
Management access authentication
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password
  • Other
Description of management access authentication
Integration with Active Directory and Single Sign on using Azure or Google for authentication is also possible.

Audit information for users

Access to user activity audit information
Users have access to real-time audit information
How long user audit data is stored for
User-defined
Access to supplier activity audit information
Users contact the support team to get audit information
How long supplier audit data is stored for
At least 12 months
How long system logs are stored for
Between 1 month and 6 months

Security governance

Named board-level person responsible for service security
Yes
Security governance certified
Yes
Security governance standards
  • CSA CSM version 4.0
  • ISO/IEC 27001
Information security policies and processes
Our ISO27001:2022 accredited policies and procedures are enforced contractually. All security incidents are raised to Ciphr's information security team who then review and record the details of the incident. An appropriate set of actions will then be carried out in response to the incident. These incidents are regularly reviewed at Ciphr's scheduled Information Security Forum meetings which include board level attendance.
Software Security Code of Practice
Yes

Operational security

Configuration and change management standard
Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
Configuration and change management approach
All changes to the environment are raised, reviewed and approved/rejected through Ciphr's change control policy. This policy has been externally reviewed and successfully accredited to ISO27001:2022
Vulnerability management type
Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
Vulnerability management approach
The vulnerability of each asset is addressed according to the effect a security incident would have on an asset or group of assets accordingly and the degree of control/assurance required reducing the vulnerability to the threat. All assets are reviewed on a regular basis to validate that they are appropriately patched and patches are routinely applied on a weekly basis unless required more urgently. Our Information Security team are continually reviewing multiple official sources for news relating to vulnerabilities and threats.
Protective monitoring type
Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
Protective monitoring approach
Our SaaS environment is monitored 24/7/365 using a protective monitoring solution that detects suspicious activity, anomalous traffic, and potential compromises in real time. Alerts are automatically generated and reviewed by our security and cloud operations teams. When a potential compromise is identified, incidents are triaged immediately, investigated, and responded to in line with our ISO 27001:2022‑aligned incident management process. Response actions include containment, eradication, and recovery, supported by Microsoft Sentinel & Defender telemetry and SOC oversight. Incident response begins immediately upon alert, with rapid escalation for high‑severity events.
Incident management type
Complies with a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v4.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
Incident management approach
Security incident management records are centrally maintained, updated and monitored via the ISMS. All employees are aware of what constitutes an actual or potential security incident, how to report the incident and who to report the incident to. The responsibility for the oversight of breaches of technical and physical security rests with the Director of Information Security and IT.
Post-quantum cryptography secure
Yes

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 v4.0)

Public sector networks

Connection to public sector networks
No

Pricing

Discount for educational organisations
No
Free trial available
No

Discount percentage by annual call-off contract value (excluding VAT)

Less than £250,000
0%
Between £250,000 and £500,000
0%
Between £500,001 and £1,000,000
0%
Between £1,000,001 and £2,500,000
0%
Between £2,500,001 and £5,000,000
0%
Over £5,000,001
0%

Standards and certifications

ISO/IEC 27001 certification
Yes
ISO/IEC 27001 accredited by
BSI
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
Tuesday 29 July 2025
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
Whole organisation is covered
ISO 28000:2022 certification
No
ISO 9001 certification
Yes
ISO 9001 certification accredited by
Citation
ISO 9001 accreditation date
Thursday 16 March 2000
What the ISO 9001 doesn’t cover
Currently Ciphr benefits division is not covered
Quality management systems (QMS)
No
CSA STAR certification
No
PCI certification
No
Cyber essentials
Yes
Cyber Essentials Certificate Number
54cd09f0-ce8c-4bff-ace7-b623a18d4510
Cyber essentials plus
Yes
Cyber Essentials Plus Certificate Number
7c759e5d-fdba-4ed1-b37c-1c2b850a96bd
Other security certifications
No

Social value

Mission: Kick start economic growth

To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

Policy Outcome 1: Fair work: That offers fair wages and good working conditions. Help people get a job, stay in work, and progress in their careers, with good employment opportunities across the country. Notes: Where there is a large proportion of labour costs in the contract, commercial teams should consider MAC in Outcome 1 as a priority

  • Providing opportunities for, and measuring and monitoring of, staff workforce conditions over time, including employee engagement, involvement in decision-making and satisfaction and adapting to any changes in the results, with clear processes for acting on issues identified
  • Monitoring of employee engagement rates (by protected characteristic) and, where necessary, the development of actions to ensure all voices are heard across the diversity of the workforce
  • Activities that support an environment where staff are educated about, and feel empowered to, address their physical wellbeing
  • Activities that support an environment where staff are educated about and feel empowered to report and address bullying and harassment
  • Offer a pay and leave entitlement to all eligible staff who become kinship carers, ideally equivalent to statutory adoption pay and leave
  • Payment of more than the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage (as appropriate) to the contract workforce
  • Monitoring and reporting of gender and ethnicity pay gaps and plans to address them where necessary
  • Entitlement to sick pay for the contract workforce, with provision in place for any staff who do not meet the earnings threshold for statutory sick pay, payment of sick pay from day one of absence and payment of staff on the contract workforce who are off sick a replacement income of 100% of their usual earnings for as long as possible
  • Measures to support in-work progression to help people in the contract workforce, to move into higher paid work by developing new skills relevant to the contract
  • Support for the contract workforce by providing career advice, and providing opportunities for staff working on the contract with in-work progression career development into known skills shortages or high growth areas
  • Support for educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications
  • Volunteering opportunities for staff
  • Understanding of the modern slavery risks and issues affecting the market, industry, sector or country (of origin or of source) relevant to the contract, and the workforce in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key subcontractors
  • Measures to identify, mitigate and manage modern slavery risks relating to the contract and how these will be implemented
  • Outline policies and practices to be applied to or put in place for the contract to mitigate and manage modern slavery risks, including: Pre-employment checks, recruitment practices. Workplace conditions, safeguarding plans and processes in place and regular monitoring with relevant groups considered, which may include sampling
  • How these flow down the supply chain and are monitored Illustrative examples include reporting, site visits, audits, etc.

Policy Outcome 2: Skills for growth: Supporting growth sectors and addressing skills gaps.

  • Support for educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications
  • Activities to support relevant sector related skills growth and sustainability in the contract workforce. Illustrative examples: careers talks, curriculum support, literacy support, safety talks and volunteering
  • Delivery of apprenticeships, supported internships and T Level industry placement opportunities (Level 2, 3 and 4+) in relation to the contract
Mission: Make Britain a clean energy superpower

To cut bills, create jobs and deliver security with cheaper, zero-carbon electricity by 2030, accelerating to net zero

Policy Outcome 4: Sustainable procurement practices: Reducing carbon footprints, minimising waste, and promoting the use of clean energy and green technologies.

  • Understanding of opportunities for additional environmental benefits delivery in the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
  • Collaborative ways of working with the supply chain to deliver additional environmental benefits in the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
  • Delivery of additional environmental benefits through the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
  • Activities to reconnect people with the environment and increase awareness of ways to protect and enhance it
Mission: Break down barriers to opportunity

By reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain

Policy Outcome 6: Employment and training: For those who face barriers to employment

  • Understanding of the issues affecting the representation of disabled people in the workforce in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors
  • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, and retention-focused activities, including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition
  • Introducing transparency to pay and reward processes
  • Offering a range of quality opportunities with routes of progression if appropriate, e.g. T Level industry placements, students supported into higher level apprenticeships.
  • Working conditions which promote an inclusive working environment and promote retention and progression
  • Understanding of the issues affecting inequality in employment, skills and pay in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors. Measures to tackle inequality in employment, skills and pay in the contract workforce
  • Inclusive and accessible development practices, including guidance for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition

Policy Outcome 7: Creating a pipeline of opportunities: For the contract workforce, reducing barriers to entry for under-represented groups.

  • Understanding of the underlying factors affecting improvements to reduce barriers to entry and training schemes for the target cohort(s) related to the contract workforce
  • Understanding of issues relating to entering the contract workforce
  • Creation of outreach activities to create a pipeline of employees for the future contract delivery
  • Content of the outreach activity is designed to suit the target cohort
  • Advertising, promotional and outreach activities designed to raise awareness of the offer to reach the target cohort
Mission: Build an NHS fit for the future

That is there when people need it; with fewer lives lost to the biggest killers; in a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer.

Policy Outcome 8: Increasing productivity through physical and mental wellbeing: In the supply chain and communities in the relevant area.

  • Understanding of issues relating to health and wellbeing, including physical and mental health, in the contract workforce
  • Understanding barriers to access to health and social care services or employment opportunities e.g. digital inclusion
  • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, development practices and retention policies that support-focused activities including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing which support people with a disability or health condition
  • Actions to invest in the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the contract workforce

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 jtrickett@ciphr.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.