Credits & Acknowledgments

Visual artists & creators

TeachSmartHQ™ sources visual content through individual licensing agreements with creators, primarily independent artists working on platforms like Etsy. Each agreement is documented privately, and each creator’s work is used only within the terms they granted us.

Out of respect for our creators’ preferences and privacy, we do not publicly identify individual artists by name on this page unless they have explicitly asked to be credited. Some artists prefer the recognition; others prefer to keep their work’s use quiet. Both choices are equally valid, and we honor whatever each creator asks for.

If you are a TSHQ-licensed creator and would like to be publicly credited here — or if you would prefer your existing credit be adjusted or removed — please see Section 06 below.

What we’ve committed to creators

• We use licensed work only within the agreed scope (typically: flattened, non-extractable, in worksheet outputs only).
• We never sublicense, resell, or redistribute creators’ work to third parties.
• Our Terms of Service explicitly prohibit users from extracting, isolating, or harvesting clipart from generated worksheets.
• We notify creators in writing of any meaningful change to our business that could affect the scope of their license.

This is part of TSHQ’s broader commitment to ethical sourcing — we do not use what we do not have explicit permission to use.

Open-licensed resources

Where possible, TSHQ uses resources released under open licenses such as Creative Commons or the SIL Open Font License. These resources are made available by their creators for free reuse, with attribution. We honor those attribution requirements here.

Open-source fonts

TSHQ uses fonts licensed under the SIL Open Font License (OFL) for accessibility and inclusive design, including:

• OpenDyslexic — designed by Abelardo Gonzalez to support readers with dyslexia. Licensed under the SIL OFL.
• Andika — designed by SIL International for literacy and language learning. Licensed under the SIL OFL.

These fonts are provided to TSHQ users as accessibility options inside the worksheet generator. We thank the creators who release such valuable work under licenses that allow everyone to benefit.

This section will expand as TSHQ incorporates additional open-licensed resources. Each addition will be documented here with proper attribution per the source license.

Software & infrastructure

TeachSmartHQ™ is built on a thoughtfully chosen set of platforms and services. Each provider plays a specific role in keeping TSHQ reliable, secure, and useful for educators. We’re grateful to the teams who build and maintain these tools.

For full details on which providers receive what kind of information, see our Privacy Policy.

Educator & advocacy communities

TSHQ’s design choices are not made in a vacuum. They’re shaped by decades of work from educators, researchers, and advocates whose contributions to special education, augmentative and alternative communication, and disability rights inform every part of our platform.

We are grateful to:

The K-12 special education community

The teachers, paraprofessionals, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and intervention specialists who do this work every day. Many of TSHQ’s design decisions come directly from observing how SPED educators actually serve their students — with creativity, patience, and an unshakable belief that every student can learn.

The AAC and assistive technology community

Researchers, clinicians, and developers who have built the field of augmentative and alternative communication. TSHQ’s commitment to communication board templates, visual schedules, and symbol-supported content rests on the work of this community.

The disability rights and self-advocacy community

The advocates, scholars, and lived-experience experts whose work has reframed disability as an identity and a community, not a deficit. Our design philosophy — “slower, not limited” — comes from this community’s decades of insistence that students with disabilities can learn at any level when given the right access.

The structured literacy and reading research community

The researchers and practitioners advancing evidence-based reading instruction. TSHQ’s phonics and decoding work draws on this body of research.

We do not list individuals here because the contributions are too vast to enumerate fairly. But the gratitude is real, and the influence is everywhere in the platform.

How we source content

For schools, districts, and procurement reviewers who want to understand TSHQ’s sourcing practices, here’s the short version.

What we use

• Privately-licensed visual content from individual artists, with each license documented in writing.
• Open-licensed resources (Creative Commons, SIL OFL, etc.) where the license terms permit our use case and proper attribution is provided.
• Original content created by the TSHQ team, including prompts, templates, frameworks, and copy.
• AI-generated content, produced through Anthropic AI under our subscription terms.

What we do not use

• Content from creators who have not granted us license to use their work.
• Content under licenses incompatible with platform-as-a-service use (such as “non-commercial only” licenses, when the use would be commercial).
• Copyrighted characters, branded content, or licensed properties (Disney, Marvel, sports leagues, popular media, etc.).
• Real student information of any kind, in any context.

Why this matters

Ethical sourcing isn’t just a values statement — it’s part of how we keep TSHQ trustworthy for the schools and districts that use it. When you generate a worksheet on TSHQ, every visual element in it has a documented chain of permission behind it. That’s a commitment we take seriously.

How to be credited (or removed)

This page is a living document. If you’ve contributed to TSHQ — through licensing your work to us, providing software or infrastructure, or any other meaningful contribution — and you’d like your credit adjusted, added, or removed, please reach out.

If you’d like to be publicly credited

If you’ve licensed work to TSHQ and would like to be named on this page (with or without a link to your shop, portfolio, or website), email privacy@teachsmarthq.com with:

• Your preferred display name (real name, shop name, pseudonym — whichever you want shown).
• Whether you’d like a link, and if so, what URL.
• Any specific phrasing you’d like us to use (e.g., “Custom-licensed clipart by Studio X”).

If you’d like to be removed

If you’re currently named or referenced on this page and you’d like that adjusted or removed, just email us. We’ll honor the request promptly.

If you have a concern about how your work is being used

Please contact us at privacy@teachsmarthq.com. We take licensing concerns seriously and will respond promptly.