Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy

This policy sets out how Shift AI Technology Ltd, trading as Deep Space Commodities, treats learners on the Deep Space Commodities course, and what we do to make sure the course is genuinely available to people regardless of who they are or where they study from. It applies to everyone who buys, is given or uses a seat on the course, and to anyone acting for us.

It is written to be checked. Where we do something concrete, we say what it is. Where there is a gap, we say that too.

We are subject to the Equality Act 2010. Under that Act it is unlawful to discriminate against, harass or victimise a person because of a protected characteristic, and there is a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people so that they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage.

The protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

We will not refuse enrolment, withdraw access, withhold a certificate, or treat any learner less favourably in the delivery or assessment of the course because of a protected characteristic. Because the course is sold online and studied online, we hold very little personal information about learners in the first place, and none of the characteristics above forms part of any enrolment or assessment decision.

Some of the most common barriers in professional development are structural rather than attitudinal: the event is in a city you cannot easily reach, on a day you are working, at a pace set by whoever is in the room. The design of this course removes several of those before any adjustment is needed.

• There is no venue and no travel. The course is delivered entirely online, so physical access to a building, the cost of getting there, and the time away from home or work are not factors.
• There is no timetable. All 73 video lessons across 12 chapters are available on demand, so study fits around shift work, caring responsibilities, medical appointments, religious observance or a fluctuating condition rather than the other way round.
• It works in any timezone. Nothing is scheduled and there are no live sessions to miss, so a learner in another country is not disadvantaged relative to one in the United Kingdom.
• Any lesson can be replayed as many times as you like, paused, and returned to. Lifetime access means a learner who has to stop for weeks or months loses nothing by doing so.
• Lesson quick checks and chapter practice quizzes have unlimited retries, so the practice layers of the course do not penalise anyone for needing more attempts.
• The AI tutor is available alongside every lesson, so a learner who wants a point explained again, or explained differently, can ask without having to raise their hand in front of a room or wait for office hours.

Where the standard arrangements would put a disabled learner at a substantial disadvantage, we will make reasonable adjustments. In practice these are the ones we are most often asked for and can put in place quickly.

• Additional time on module exams. The standard limit is 30 minutes per attempt and it can be extended on request.
• Reset exam attempts where a condition, a flare-up or an assistive technology failure affected a sitting.
• An accessible alternative to a piece of content — for example a transcript or a written description of an on-screen graphic — where the standard format does not work for you.
• Adjustments to how we communicate with you, such as plain-text email rather than formatted email.

To request an adjustment, write to info@spaceeconomy.education describing what you need, or what you find difficult if you are not sure what would help. Ask before you start an exam where you can, because a time extension has to be applied to the account before the attempt begins. We will reply within 3 working days. You do not have to tell us your diagnosis, and anything you do choose to tell us is kept confidential and used only to make the adjustment.

If we do not think a requested adjustment is reasonable, we will say so in writing with our reasons and suggest what we can do instead. That decision can be appealed under our Complaints and Appeals policy. What is currently in place technically, and what is not yet, is set out in our Accessibility Statement.

The space economy is not a national industry and we do not teach it as one. The course draws on contributing authors working in several countries, and the material covers markets, launch capability, regulation and commercial practice across multiple jurisdictions rather than presenting one country's arrangements as the default and everywhere else as an exception. A learner outside the United Kingdom should not find that the course quietly assumes they are somewhere else.

In writing and recording the material we also apply some ordinary discipline: examples and named figures are drawn from a range of backgrounds rather than one; we avoid idioms and cultural references that only land for one audience; we explain acronyms and jargon on first use rather than assuming a shared professional background; and we do not use imagery or examples that stereotype or demean any group.

Lessons are short by design, averaging a few minutes each, which suits learners who find long unbroken sessions difficult as well as those fitting study into fragments of a working day.

The course is delivered only in English. Every video lesson, quiz question, exam question, explanation and interaction with the AI tutor is in English, and there is no translated or subtitled-in-other-languages version. A learner whose English is not strong enough to follow technical material at pace will find the course harder than a native speaker does, and that is a real barrier we have not yet removed.

Two things partly mitigate it: nothing is timed except the exams, so material can be replayed and worked through slowly, and additional exam time is available to learners for whom English is an additional language on the same no-evidence basis as any other time extension. Those help, but they do not amount to offering the course in another language, and we are not going to describe them as though they do.

Accessibility of the platform itself is a work in progress rather than a finished achievement, including transcript coverage that is not yet complete. The current position, including what is and is not in place, is stated honestly in our Accessibility Statement.

If anything in the course material is discriminatory, stereotyping, or gets something wrong about a group of people, tell us. That includes a throwaway example, an assumption baked into a case study, or something that has simply dated badly. Write to info@spaceeconomy.education with the chapter and lesson so we can find it.

The same applies to the conduct of anyone acting for us, and to anything the AI tutor generates. The tutor is scoped to the lesson being watched, but it is a language model and it can produce a poor or inappropriate answer. If it does, send us the lesson and the question you asked and we will investigate it as a fault in the product.

Reports are handled under our Complaints and Appeals policy: acknowledgement within 3 working days and a written decision within 15. Where we agree the content is wrong, we correct or re-record it, and we tell the person who reported it what we changed. Reporting something will never affect your access to the course, your results or your certificate.

Responsibility for this policy sits with the directors of Shift AI Technology Ltd. We are a small provider without a separate equality function, so it is owned at director level rather than delegated.

The policy is reviewed every 12 months, and sooner if a learner report or a complaint shows something needs changing. Each review looks at the adjustments requested over the period, whether any were refused and why, and any reports of discriminatory content, so that the review is based on what actually happened rather than on intentions.

Reasonable adjustment requests, reports of discriminatory content or conduct, and questions about this policy: info@spaceeconomy.education.