Terms of Service

Last updated September 17, 2026

These terms govern your use of Pedagrade, the instructional-design auditor operated by Black Beacon Studios (Todd K. Edwards). By using Pedagrade, you agree to them.

1. The service

Pedagrade reviews e-learning course content you provide against established learning-science frameworks and accessibility guidelines, and returns a scored report with suggested fixes. Its output is professional guidance to help you improve a course, not a guarantee. In particular, an accessibility audit here is a design-and-content review and is not a certification of legal or technical conformance (such as WCAG or ADA compliance) and is not legal advice. You are responsible for your own compliance decisions.

2. Accounts

Some features require an account. You are responsible for keeping your login secure and for activity under your account, and you agree to provide accurate information.

3. Acceptable use

You agree not to: submit content you do not have the right to submit; use Pedagrade for unlawful purposes; attempt to disrupt, overload, reverse-engineer, or gain unauthorized access to the service; or resell or misrepresent it. We may limit or suspend use that violates these terms or threatens the service.

4. Your content

You keep ownership of the course content you submit. You grant us a limited license to process that content solely to provide the service to you, on our own private AI. As stated in our Privacy Policy, your content is never sent to a third-party AI provider and is never used to train a model. You represent that you have the rights to submit the content you provide.

5. Free trial and Pro subscription

6. Intellectual property

Pedagrade, including its rubric, software, design, and content, is owned by Black Beacon Studios. These terms do not grant you any rights in it beyond using the service.

7. Disclaimers

The service is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind. We do not warrant that audit results are complete, accurate, or fit for a particular purpose, or that the service will be uninterrupted or error-free. You are responsible for reviewing and deciding what to act on.

8. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Black Beacon Studios will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, or for lost profits or data. Our total liability for any claim relating to the service will not exceed the amount you paid us for it in the twelve months before the claim.

9. Termination

You may stop using Pedagrade and cancel Pro at any time. We may suspend or terminate access if you violate these terms or to protect the service. Sections that by their nature should survive (ownership, disclaimers, limitation of liability) will survive termination.

10. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms; we will update the date above and, for material changes, take reasonable steps to notify you. Continued use after a change means you accept the updated terms.

11. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Ohio, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules.

12. Contact

Questions about these terms? Email pedagrade@blackbeaconstudios.net.