These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of IEPVue (the "Platform"), operated by Eccleston Education Consulting LLC ("IEPVue," "we," "us," or "our"). By creating an account or using the Platform, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.
You must be at least 18 years old and capable of forming a binding contract to use the Platform. The Platform is intended for use by parents, guardians, and adult advocates in the United States. By using the Platform you represent that you meet these requirements and that any information you provide about a student is information you are authorized to share.
IEPVue is an AI-powered educational guidance platform that helps parents and guardians understand the Individualized Education Program (IEP) and Section 504 process and prepare for school meetings. The Platform provides educational information and guidance — not legal advice, not medical advice, and not professional diagnostic assessment. It uses artificial intelligence, informed by the expert practitioner methodology of Dr. Kristen C. Eccleston — who holds a doctorate in Mind, Brain, and Teaching and a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University, has two decades in special education, and is a former National Board Certified Teacher (Exceptional Needs Specialist, 2017) — to generate guidance based on the information and documents you provide. Dr. Eccleston and IEPVue are independent and are not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Johns Hopkins University.
What "Dr. Kristen's method, delivered by AI" really means. The guidance is designed using Dr. Kristen's professional approach, developed over two decades in special education, but it is produced by an automated AI system, not by Dr. Kristen personally. Dr. Kristen does not review your individual documents or results, and the AI's output is not her personal opinion about your child. We do not promise that any analysis matches what Dr. Kristen — or any human professional — would conclude about your situation.
The Platform DOES: explain IEP and 504 processes, timelines, and terminology; help you organize documents and questions for meetings; provide general information about your rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and offer jurisdiction-oriented educational guidance for Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
The Platform DOES NOT: provide legal advice on whether a school's proposed IEP is legally sufficient; advise you on the strength of potential legal claims; represent you in due process hearings, mediation, or litigation; provide legal-dispute strategy; prepare pleadings or legal documents; or make any medical, psychological, or other professional diagnostic assessment or recommendation. IEPVue does not make, and is not a substantial factor in, any eligibility, placement, or legal-sufficiency decision — those determinations are made by your child's IEP/504 team and school district.
3.1 Self-help letter templates. IEPVue provides optional educational letter templates — for example, a request to evaluate, or a letter for your student's own provider to complete — that you may personalize with information you enter. These templates are general educational self-help tools, not legal documents, and no attorney has drafted or reviewed them for your situation. IEPVue does not select a template for your legal circumstances and does not advise you on whether or when to send one, and preparing or sending a template does not create an attorney-client relationship. You are responsible for reviewing, personalizing, and deciding whether to use any template; confirm anything tied to your legal rights or deadlines with your school district or a licensed attorney. Provider letters are intended for your student's own licensed provider to complete on their own letterhead and professional judgment; IEPVue does not originate or provide medical or clinical information.
IEPVue gives you general information and educational guidance — not legal advice, not medical or clinical advice, and not professional advice of any kind.
Not a substitute for an attorney. IEPVue is a self-help informational tool. It is not a law firm or a lawyer, does not practice law, and is not a substitute for the advice of a licensed attorney. Laws and your rights vary by state and change over time; only a licensed attorney can advise you about your specific legal situation.
Guidance is jurisdiction- and time-specific. IEPVue's guidance is built around special-education practice in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., and reflects our understanding of the rules at the time it was created. Special-education rights, regulations, and timelines change, and federal and state education policy is currently in flux. Treat IEPVue's guidance as a starting point and confirm specifics with your school district, your state's special-education office, or a qualified professional — especially anything tied to deadlines, eligibility, or your legal rights. Where the Platform references filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, note that federal complaint processing is currently operating with reduced staffing and significant delays; state-level options (state complaint, mediation, due-process hearing) may be more timely.
IEPVue's guidance is generated by an automated AI system we call Vue (powered by Anthropic's Claude). We want you completely clear on what that means:
By using IEPVue you acknowledge you are receiving AI-generated information and are responsible for how you use it.
6.1 Advocate Review (optional, à la carte). IEPVue offers an optional Advocate Review: a written review of the IEP or 504 documents you upload, prepared by Dr. Kristen C. Eccleston, a special-education consultant. Dr. Kristen is not an attorney, therapist, or licensed healthcare provider. An Advocate Review provides IEP advocacy guidance and educational information, not legal advice or legal representation, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and is not a privileged communication. No professional diagnosis, medical advice, or therapeutic recommendation is provided. An Advocate Review is a one-time charge of $299 and includes three (3) months of Guide access as a non-recurring, expiring benefit that does not auto-renew or auto-charge. To perform the review, you upload the documents you want reviewed and give your separate, express consent for us to store them temporarily; those documents are handled as described in the Privacy Policy (see "Advocate Review — how we handle your uploaded documents"). Reviews are typically delivered within 3 to 5 business days, are subject to available capacity, cover one student and up to three documents, and include one revision. An Advocate Review is non-refundable once it has been delivered, except that if we fail to deliver your review within the turnaround stated to you at purchase, you may request a full refund (see §8).
6.2 Working with Dr. Kristen directly. If you would like to work with Dr. Kristen one-to-one, you can engage her through her own advocacy practice at ecclestonedu.com/advocacy. Those services are provided by her practice under its own separate terms and pricing and are not part of the IEPVue Platform or governed by these Terms.
7.1 Our plans. IEPVue offers a free plan ($0), a 7-day trial of our Guide plan for a one-time $4.99, and paid Guide subscriptions billed $29 per month or $249 per year. Prices are in U.S. dollars and shown to you before you pay.
7.2 Your trial, and what happens when it ends (please read this part). When you start the $4.99 7-day trial, you are signing up for a subscription that automatically begins billing when the trial ends unless you cancel first. At the end of your 7-day trial, we will automatically charge you $29 per month using the payment method you provided, and we will keep charging you each billing period until you cancel. The $4.99 trial fee is charged when you start the trial. You can cancel anytime before the trial ends to avoid being charged the subscription price — see Section 8.
7.3 We will remind you. Before your trial converts to paid, we'll email you a reminder (about 3 days before) telling you the date you'll be charged, the amount, and how to cancel. For annual subscriptions, we'll email you a renewal reminder about 30 days before each renewal. For monthly subscriptions, we'll send a periodic reminder of your active subscription as well. These reminders are a courtesy; your responsibility to cancel remains the same whether or not you see one.
7.4 Auto-renewal — your consent. By checking the auto-renewal consent box at checkout and providing your payment information, you expressly agree that IEPVue may automatically charge your payment method on a recurring basis (monthly or annually, as you selected) at the then-current price, until you cancel. Your subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing period.
7.5 Price changes. If we change the price of your subscription or any material term, we'll give you clear notice by email at least 30 days before the change takes effect, along with how to cancel if you don't want to continue. If you keep your subscription after the change takes effect, the new price applies.
7.6 Billing. Payments are processed by Stripe; your card details never touch our servers. You authorize us and Stripe to charge your payment method for the amounts and on the schedule described here and shown at checkout. If a charge fails, we may retry and may suspend access until payment succeeds.
8.1 Cancel anytime — it's easy. You can cancel your trial or subscription anytime from your Account Settings, using the same kind of simple online steps you used to sign up — no phone call required and no hoops. Canceling is at least as easy as subscribing.
8.2 If you can't cancel online. If for any reason you're unable or unwilling to cancel through your account, you can also cancel by emailing us at [email protected], and we'll process it promptly.
8.3 When cancellation takes effect. When you cancel, your cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period. You keep access to your paid features until then, and you won't be charged again after that. Canceling during your 7-day trial stops the conversion charge so you are not billed the $29/$249 subscription price.
8.4 Refunds.
You agree not to: upload documents you are not authorized to share; use the Platform to provide professional services to third parties without authorization; reverse-engineer, scrape, or overload the Platform; or use it for any unlawful purpose. You are responsible for the accuracy of information you provide.
THE PLATFORM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
10.1 Limitation of Liability. To the fullest extent allowed by law, and except for the carve-outs in Section 10.2:
This limit applies no matter the legal theory (contract, warranty, negligence, or otherwise), even if we were told the harm was possible. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so parts of this section may not apply to you; in that case, our liability is limited to the smallest amount the law allows.
10.2 What this limit does NOT cover. Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability that the law does not allow us to limit. The caps and exclusions above do not apply to: (1) our gross negligence, recklessness, or willful misconduct; (2) our unauthorized access to or disclosure of your or your child's personal information caused by our failure to use reasonable safeguards; (3) violations of FERPA, COPPA, the FTC Act, or the Maryland Consumer Protection Act or other applicable state consumer-protection or privacy laws (including your non-waivable statutory data-protection rights, which these Terms do not and cannot waive); (4) professional negligence in an Advocate Review; or (5) any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law.
IEPVue treats the information contained in special-education documents as health-related information and maintains a breach-response program designed to meet the requirements of the FTC Health Breach Notification Rule (16 CFR Part 318). In the event of a breach of security involving unsecured identifiable health information, we will notify affected individuals without unreasonable delay and no later than 60 calendar days after discovery, and — where 500 or more individuals are affected — will notify the Federal Trade Commission and prominent media as required by the Rule. (IEPVue is not a HIPAA-covered entity and does not claim to be.) We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards described in our Information Security Program. Our ephemeral processing of uploaded documents — and, for an optional Advocate Review you separately purchase and consent to, our short, encrypted, consented retention of the documents you upload for it — minimizes, but does not eliminate, breach exposure.
These Terms govern IEPVue's relationship with individual parents and guardians. If IEPVue ever provides services to a school, district, or other educational agency, any records that agency shares with IEPVue will be governed by a separate written agreement under the FERPA "school official" exception (34 CFR 99.31(a)(1)) — including direct-control, purpose-limitation, no-redisclosure, and deletion obligations — and not by these consumer Terms.
Our collection and use of your information is described in our Privacy Policy, Information Security Program, and Data Retention Policy, which are incorporated by reference. We do not sell your personal information, do not use it for targeted advertising, and do not use your data to train AI models.
Sensitive data and your rights. Because some of what you share is sensitive — health information and information about children — we process sensitive information only when strictly necessary to provide the service you asked for, consistent with the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act (Md. Code, Com. Law §§14-4701–14-4714). We do not sell your or your child's personal information, and we do not use children's information for targeted advertising. Depending on where you live, you may have the right to confirm, access, correct, obtain a copy of, and opt out of certain uses of your data. To exercise these rights, contact [email protected]; see our Privacy Policy for how we respond and appeal rights.
Marketing email. Every marketing email includes a clear way to unsubscribe (honored within 10 business days) and our physical mailing address. You can opt out of marketing email anytime without affecting transactional messages you need to use IEPVue.
14.1 Our intellectual property. The IEPVue Platform — including its software, design, text, graphics, the Vue assistant, and the content and methodology we create (but not Your Content or the source documents you upload) — is owned by Eccleston Education Consulting LLC or its licensors and is protected by intellectual-property laws. We grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Platform for your own family's advocacy purposes, subject to these Terms. You may not copy, resell, redistribute, reverse-engineer, scrape, or create derivative works from the Platform except as the law expressly permits.
14.2 Your content, and the license you give us. You keep all rights to the documents, information, and other content you upload or enter ("Your Content"). You grant IEPVue a limited license to host, process, display, and analyze Your Content solely to provide the Platform's features to you — including sending document content to our AI provider for real-time analysis and, for the optional Advocate Review you separately purchase and consent to, storing your uploaded documents temporarily as described in §6.1 and our Privacy Policy. This license exists only to operate the service for you and ends when Your Content is deleted, except for the limited retention described in our Privacy Policy and Data Retention Policy. We do not use Your Content, your student's information, or your uploaded documents to train AI models, and we do not sell or share Your Content.
14.3 Reports and outputs. The educational reports, summaries, and letter drafts the Platform generates for you are yours to use for your own advocacy. The underlying templates, formats, and methodology remain IEPVue's intellectual property.
14.4 Feedback. If you send us suggestions or feedback, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use them to improve IEPVue, with no obligation to you.
You agree to defend and hold harmless IEPVue (Eccleston Education Consulting LLC) and its owners, employees, and contractors from third-party claims, losses, and reasonable costs (including reasonable attorneys' fees) that arise from: (a) your violation of these Terms; (b) your misuse of the Platform; (c) content or documents you upload that you didn't have the right to share, or that violate someone's rights or the law; or (d) your violation of any law or another person's rights. This does not apply to anything caused by IEPVue's own negligence, gross negligence, or willful misconduct, or IEPVue's own violation of law — you are only responsible for claims arising from your own conduct. We'll promptly tell you about any claim, let you control the defense of claims you're indemnifying (with counsel we reasonably approve), and reasonably cooperate; you won't settle in a way that imposes any obligation or admission on us without our consent.
We may update these Terms from time to time — for example, to reflect new features, legal requirements, or changes to how IEPVue works. Here's how we'll handle changes, and what you can do:
16.1 Notice of changes. If we make a material change to these Terms, we'll give you at least thirty (30) days' advance notice before it takes effect — clearly and conspicuously, by email to the address on your account and/or a prominent notice within the IEPVue platform — and we'll tell you the effective date and summarize what's changing.
16.2 Your right to decline. You don't have to accept a material change. If you don't want the new Terms to apply, you may cancel your subscription and close your account at any time before the change takes effect, and the change won't apply to you. If you keep using IEPVue after the effective date, that means you accept the updated Terms.
16.3 Changes apply going forward only. Material changes apply only to your use of IEPVue on or after the effective date. They do not apply retroactively, and do not change how we handle any dispute, claim, or liability that already arose before the change — those continue to be governed by the version of the Terms in place when the relevant events happened.
16.4 Minor changes. For non-material changes — fixing a typo, clarifying wording that doesn't reduce your rights, adding a new optional feature, or updates required to comply with the law — we may post the revised Terms with a new "Last updated" date, without the 30-day advance notice. We'll never use a "minor change" to quietly take away a right or protection you have under these Terms.
16.5 We're bound too. These Terms bind both you and us. We remain bound to the current Terms until any change's effective date, and we can't escape our own obligations by changing the Terms; any change is subject to the notice, opt-out, and going-forward-only protections above.
17.1 Let's try to work it out first. Most concerns can be resolved quickly without a lawsuit. Before either you or IEPVue starts a formal court case against the other, the party with the concern agrees to first send a written Notice of Dispute and give a good-faith chance to resolve it.
17.2 Governing law & venue. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Maryland, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Disputes shall be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Frederick County, Maryland, and you consent to their jurisdiction.
18.1 Your right to stop. You may stop using IEPVue and close your account at any time from your Account Settings (see §8 for cancellation and refunds).
18.2 Our right to suspend or terminate. We may suspend or terminate your access to the Platform, with notice where practicable, if: (a) you materially breach these Terms, including the Acceptable Use rules in §9; (b) your use creates a legal, security, or safety risk to IEPVue, other users, or third parties; (c) we are required to do so by law; or (d) you fail to pay amounts due (see §7). Where the issue can be fixed, we will, where practicable, give you a reasonable chance to fix it before terminating.
18.3 Effect of termination. On termination, your license to use the Platform ends. We will handle your data as described in our Privacy Policy and Data Retention Policy, including honoring your export and deletion rights. Provisions that by their nature should survive — including §§4, 5, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, and this §18 — survive termination.
18.4 No liability for good-faith action. We are not liable to you for any suspension or termination taken in good faith under this section; this does not affect any refund you are due under §8.
19.1 Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, Information Security Program, and Data Retention Policy (each incorporated by reference), are the entire agreement between you and IEPVue about the Platform and replace any prior understandings on that subject. Anything not stated in these documents is not part of the agreement unless we put it in writing.
19.2 Severability. If any part of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, that part will be limited or removed to the minimum extent necessary, and the rest of the Terms will stay in full force.
19.3 No waiver. If we do not enforce a provision of these Terms right away, that is not a waiver — we may still enforce it later. A waiver is effective only if we put it in writing.
19.4 Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our written consent. We may assign these Terms to an affiliate or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, provided the recipient honors your rights under these Terms and our Privacy Policy.
19.5 No third-party beneficiaries. These Terms are between you and IEPVue only and do not create rights for anyone else.
19.6 Force majeure. We are not responsible for any failure or delay caused by events beyond our reasonable control — such as natural disasters, outages, network or service-provider failures, labor disputes, or government action. Where such an event prevents us from delivering a paid Advocate Review within the stated turnaround, your remedy is the refund described in §§6.1 and 8.4.
19.7 Electronic communications and signatures. You agree that we may communicate with you electronically (by email and through the Platform), that your electronic acceptances and consents (including account creation, the auto-renewal consent, and other in-app consents) have the same legal effect as a handwritten signature, and that electronic records satisfy any requirement that a communication be in writing.
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