1. Agreement Between ASHFoundation and User
This is a binding agreement ("Agreement") between the ASHFoundation and you, the user ("You" or "Your") and governs Your use of all portions of www.ashfoundation.org ("ASHFoundation's website"), and any associated material or functionality contained on ASHFoundation's website. ASHFoundation's website is offered to You conditioned on Your acceptance, without modification, of the terms and conditions contained herein. By using ASHFoundation's website, You confirm Your acceptance of, and agree to be bound by, this Agreement and all such terms, conditions and notices.
2. Modification of These Terms of Use
ASHFoundation reserves the right to change the terms and conditions of this Agreement from time to time as we deem appropriate. Such changes, modifications, additions or deletions shall be effective immediately upon posting unless otherwise indicated. ASHFoundation has no duty or obligation to inform prior users of ASHFoundation's website that changes have been made, regardless of the scope and importance of the changes. You are responsible for regularly reviewing these terms and conditions. Your non-termination or continued use of ASHFoundation's website after changes are posted constitutes Your acceptance of this Agreement as modified by the posted changes. ASHFoundation may change, restrict access to, suspend, or discontinue ASHFoundation's website, or any portion of ASHFoundation's website, at any time.
3. No Professional Advice
The information and materials available through ASHFoundation's website are for informational and educational purposes only and are not a substitute for the professional judgment of legal, financial or health care professionals. The medical, scientific, legal, reimbursement and general information included on ASHFoundation's website may reflect innovations and opinions not universally shared and does not necessarily reflect the view of ASHFoundation. Your use of ASHFoundation's website does not create an attorney-client or doctor-patient relationship between you and ASHFoundation or between you and any of ASHFoundation's employees or representatives.
USE OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED ON ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE REQUIRES THE INVOLVEMENT OF TRAINED INDIVIDUALS AND YOUR RELIANCE UPON INFORMATION AND MATERIALS OBTAINED BY YOU AT OR THROUGH ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE OR FROM ASHFOUNDATION'S STAFF IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. ASHFOUNDATION HAS NO CONTROL OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR USE OF THE INFORMATION OR MATERIALS PROVIDED ON ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE AND HAS NO KNOWLEDGE OF THE SPECIFIC OR UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH SUCH INFORMATION MAY BE USED BY YOU. THE PARTIES AGREE THAT ASHFOUNDATION IS NOT ENGAGED IN THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE AND ASHFOUNDATION DOES NOT PROVIDE LEGAL ADVICE. YOUR USE OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE OR PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL JUDGMENT.
4. Privacy Statement
ASHFoundation will operate ASHFoundation's website in accordance with its Privacy Statement, which is incorporated into this Agreement by this reference and which may be viewed by following this link to the Privacy Statement. BY CONSENTING TO THIS TERMS OF USE AGREEMENT FOR ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE, YOU CONSENT TO THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT.
5. Usage of ASHFoundation's Website
You represent and warrant to ASHFoundation that You will not use ASHFoundation's website (i) for any unlawful purpose or in any manner prohibited by this Agreement or (ii) in any manner which could damage, disable, overburden or impair ASHFoundation's website or interfere with any other party's use and enjoyment of ASHFoundation's website.
Certain portions of the ASHFoundation website ("Members Only Site") will be accessible only to registered users of ASHA ("Members") and are governed by the terms and conditions contained herein. You agree that when using ASHFoundation's website, You will not:
- Violate any applicable laws or regulations;
- Send, publish, post, upload, distribute or disseminate any information that may violate antitrust law, including without limitation past, current, or future fees; fee discounts provided; terms of credit; price and pricing information; inventories; commission information; profit information, including what is a reasonable or fair profit margin;
- Upload information that contains material protected by intellectual property laws, including without limitation material protected by patent, copyright, trademark (such as ASHFoundation's logo), or trade secrets, or by rights of privacy of publicity unless You own or control the rights thereto or have received all necessary consents;
- Falsify or delete author attributions, legal or other proper notices or proprietary designations indicating the origin or source of information that is uploaded or downloaded from ASHFoundation's website;
- Send, publish, post, upload, distribute or disseminate any inappropriate, threatening, abusive, profane, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, or otherwise objectionable materials, or any materials which encourage conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or violate any law, or contain any advertising or any solicitation with respect to products or services;
- Harass, abuse, threaten or otherwise violate any legal rights of others;
- Attack, ridicule, denounce, impugn an person's character, or impute immoral or dishonorable attributes to members on the basis of race or ethnicity, gender, age, religion, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation;
- Upload viruses, corrupted files or any other software or information that may damage the operation of another's computer or network;
- Use ASHFoundation's website for commercial purposes, including, but not limited to, advertisements, promotions, offers to buy or sell goods or services, surveys, contests, pyramid schemes, or sponsorship banners;
- Use ASHFoundation's website to forward chain letters;
- Violate any of ASHFoundation's policies, guidelines or other codes of conduct which are applicable to ASHFoundation's website or in particular to one of ASHFoundation's Web Services;
- Reproduce, re-transmit or re-present in any form, in whole or in part, any content, programming code, images or graphics without express written permission of ASHFoundation;
- Frame, squeeze back, overlay or employ other techniques to enclose or display the ASHFoundation website, or any trademark, logo, content or other proprietary information (including images, text, page layout, or form) included on the ASHFoundation website, with any other software or content of a third party;
- Use any meta tags or any other "hidden text" utilizing the names or trademarks of ASHFoundation without its prior written consent;
- Access, monitor or copy any content or information of this website using any "robot", "spider", "deep link", "scraper" or other automated means, methodology, algorithm or device or any manual process for any purpose; or
- Violate any of ASHFoundation policies, guidelines or other codes of conduct.
ASHFoundation has no obligation to screen or monitor ASHFoundation's website; however, ASHFoundation reserves the right to review information or materials posted to ASHFoundation's website, to remove any such information or materials in its sole discretion, and to use any other forms of information available to us by virtue of Your use of ASHFoundation's website. ASHFoundation reserves the right at all times, in its sole discretion, to refuse to post, delete, move, edit or to remove any information or materials from ASHFoundation's website, including without limitation any information or materials posted through use of ASHFoundation's website, regardless of whether such material does or does not violate this Agreement or any of ASHFoundation's policies, guidelines, or other codes of conduct which are applicable to ASHFoundation's website or in particular to one of ASHFoundation's Web Services.
ASHFOUNDATION DOES NOT CONTROL OR ENDORSE THE CONTENT, MESSAGES OR INFORMATION FOUND IN ANY PORTION OF ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE, AND ASHFOUNDATION SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY LIABILITY WITH REGARD TO ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE. ASHFOUNDATION DOES NOT ENDORSE OR OTHERWISE VERIFY THE ACCURACY, TRUTHFULNESS OR RELIABILITY OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED ON ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE UNLESS IT IS PROVIDED BY AN AUTHORIZED ASHFOUNDATION SPOKESPERSON. ANY STATEMENTS MADE ON ASHFOUNDATION WEBSITE REFLECT ONLY THE VIEWS OF THEIR AUTHORS, AND YOUR RELIANCE ON ANY SUCH CONTENT IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE WILL BE MANAGED OR HOSTED BY EITHER EMPLOYEES OR VOLUNTEERS OF ASHFOUNDATION, WHO ARE NOT AUTHORIZED ASHFOUNDATION SPOKESPERSONS, AND THEIR VIEWS OR ACTIONS IN MANAGING OR HOSTING ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE OF ASHFOUNDATION.
6. Accounts, Passwords and Security
Certain features or services offered on or through ASHFoundation's websites require a user identification and password to access and use, and certain services may require additional codes. You are solely responsible for (1) maintaining the strict confidentiality of the user identification, passwords and codes ("Member Information") assigned to You; (2) charges, damages or losses that may be incurred or suffered as a result of Your or Your personnel's failure to maintain the strict confidentiality of Member Information; and (3) promptly informing ASHFoundation in writing of any need to deactivate or replace any Member Information due to security concerns. ASHFoundation is not liable for any harm related to the theft of Your Member Information, Your disclosure of Your Member Information, or Your authorization to allow another person or entity to access and use the Members Only Site using Your Member Information. You agree to notify ASHFoundation immediately as soon as You become aware of any unauthorized use of Your Member Information. Notice to ASHFoundation under this section of the Agreement may be accomplished by sending e-mail to webmaster@asha.org or by conventional mail to:
Webmaster
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
2200 Research Boulevard #420
Rockville, MD 20850
7. Copyright and Trademark Ownership, Notices and Infringement
Copyrights
All contents of ASHFoundation's website are: Copyright ©1997–2023 ASHFoundation. All rights reserved.
ASHFoundation's website and the content displayed on ASHFoundation's website and all software, data and information used to provide ASHFoundation's website, including text and images, method of display and presentation, source code, embedded routines and programs and other materials, as well as all copyrights, trademarks, patents, and other intellectual property rights therein or thereto, are owned and are proprietary to ASHFoundation, its affiliate and licensees and are protected by the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. The compilation of the content on ASHFoundation's website is the exclusive property of ASHFoundation and is protected by the copyright laws of the United States and other countries.
- ASHFoundation does not claim ownership of the individual materials or information You may provide to ASHFoundation, including without limitation feedback, suggestions, posts, uploads, inputs, or submissions (collectively, a "Submission") to ASHFoundation's website. However, if You provide a Submission, You: Represent and warrant that You own or otherwise control all of the rights to Your Submission including, without limitation, all the rights necessary for You to provide, post, upload, input or submit the Submission and license or sublicense the Submission; and
- Grant ASHFoundation, its affiliated entities and necessary sublicensees a nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide, sublicenseable, transferable, perpetual, unlimited, assignable, fully paid up and royalty-free right to copy, display, edit, publish, prepare derivative works of, distribute, process, analyze, use and commercialize, in any way now known or in the future discovered, such Submissions (or any content or materials contained therein), including without limitation the rights to publish Your name in connection with Your Submission. ASHFoundation will not pay You compensation with respect to the use of Your Submission.
You may not modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer, or sell any information, software, products or services obtained from ASHFoundation's website, without the prior written permission of ASHFoundation.
ASHFoundation grants You the limited and nonexclusive right and license to access or download content from ASHFoundation's website solely for Your personal and non-commercial use and as necessary in connection with the use of any services available through ASHFoundation's website. Except as expressly authorized in this Agreement, You may not modify, distribute, reproduce, display, or use ASHFoundation's website or any elements thereof. All rights not expressly granted to You by us in this Agreement are reserved to ASHFoundation and You acknowledge that You do not acquire any ownership rights by accessing or downloading copyrighted material from ASHFoundation's website as authorized hereunder.
Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.
Trademarks
Nothing in this Agreement or its performance shall grant You any right, title, interest, or license in or to ASHFoundation's names, logos, logotypes, trade dress, designs, or other trademarks.
Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.
Repeat Infringer Policy and Copyright Complaints:
In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and other applicable law ASHFoundation has adopted a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances and in ASHFoundation's sole discretion, accounts deemed to be repeat infringers. ASHFoundation may also, in its sole discretion, limit access to ASHFoundation's website and/or terminate any account used in connection with the infringement of any intellectual property rights, whether or not there is repeat infringement. If you believe that any user of ASHFoundation's website or any account holder has engaged in repeat infringement of your copyrighted materials on or in connection with ASHFoundation's website, you may provide our designated agent with information about your allegations of repeat infringement.
If you believe in good-faith that anything on ASHFoundation's website infringes any copyright that you own or control, you may file a written notification of alleged copyright infringement with our designated agent that contains the following:
- A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of a right that is allegedly infringed;
- Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single website are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that website;
- Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit ASHFoundation to locate the material;
- Information reasonably sufficient to permit ASHFoundation to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted;
- A statement that the complaining party has a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
- A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
The alleged infringer may provide our designated agent with a proper counter-notification. To be effective, the counter-notification must be a written communication that includes the following information:
- The counter-notifying party's physical or electronic signature;
- Identification of the material that has been removed or disabled and the location where the material was before its removal or disablement;
- A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the party has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification;
- The counter-notifying party's name, address, phone number, and a statement that the party consents to the jurisdiction of a Federal District Court for the District of Maryland; and
- A statement that the counter-notifying party will accept service of process from the person who provided ASHFoundation with notification or an agent of such a person.
Notifications and counter-notifications may be sent to our designated agent, Sharon Moss, at the following address: webmaster@asha.org.
If you would prefer to mail your notification or counter-notification to our designated agent, you may use the following address:
Sharon Moss
ASHFoundation
2200 Research Boulevard
Rockville, MD 20850-3289
8. Links to Third Party websites
ASHFoundation's website may contain links to third party websites. The third party websites are not under the control of ASHFoundation, and ASHFoundation is not responsible for the contents of any third party websites, and the inclusion of any link is as a convenience and does not imply endorsement by ASHFoundation of the sites or any association or relationship with its operators. Your use of third party websites and any purchases of products or services from such third party websites are subject to the terms and conditions of such third party websites. You agree that you will bring no suit or claim against ASHFoundation arising from or based upon any such use of third party websites, including, without limitation, websites that we link to from ASHFoundation's website.
9. Termination
ASHFoundation reserves the right in its sole discretion to terminate Your access to all or a portion of ASHFoundation's website at any time without notice for any reason whatsoever.
Provisions of this Agreement which by their nature are intended to survive termination or expiration of this Agreement will survive any termination of this Agreement, including but not limited to the representations and warranties contained herein.
10. General Disclaimers, Exclusion of Damages, and Limitation of Liability
The information, software, products and services included in or available through ASHFoundation's website may include inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein. ASHFoundation may make improvements or changes to ASHFoundation's website at any time. Advice received via ASHFoundation's website should not be relied upon for personal, medical, legal or financial decisions, and you should consult an appropriate professional for specific advice.
ASHFoundation makes no representations about ASHFoundation's website, including, without limitation, ASHFoundation's website's suitability, reliability, availability, timeliness and accuracy of the information, materials, software, products, services and graphics found on or through ASHFoundation's website.
ASHFOUNDATION PROVIDES ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ALL INFORMATION, MATERIALS, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND GRAPHICS "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, ASHFOUNDATION DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ALL INFORMATION, MATERIALS, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND GRAPHICS FOUND ON OR THROUGH ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OR WARRANTIES ARISING BY COURSE OF DEALING OR CUSTOM OF TRADE.
FURTHER, ASHFOUNDATION ASSUMES NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN THE CONTENT OF ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE OR FOR INFORMATION AND OPINIONS RECEIVED VIA ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE, WHICH SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON FOR PERSONAL, MEDICAL, OR LEGAL DECISIONS. ASHFOUNDATION SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY DUTY TO UPDATE THE CONTENT, OR ANY OTHER INFORMATION ON ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE.
Your sole and exclusive remedy if you are dissatisfied with any portion of ASHFoundation's website is to discontinue using ASHFoundation's website.
IN NO EVENT AND UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER SHALL ASHFOUNDATION BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, COMPENSATORY, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE; THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE; THE PROVISION OF OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE SERVICES; ANY INFORMATION, MATERIALS, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES OR GRAPHICS OBTAINED ON OR THROUGH ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF TECHNIQUES OR PROCEDURES DISCUSSED ON OR THROUGH ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE; OR SECURITY BREACHES, OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF ASHFOUNDATION HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES.
IN NO EVENT SHALL ASHFOUNDATION BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, COMPENSATORY, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH ASHFOUNDATION'S WEBSITE, WHETHER BASED ON BREACH OF CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT, PRODUCT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE, AND WHETHER OR NOT ASHFOUNDATION HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
Some jurisdictions do not permit the exclusion or limitation of implied warranties or the exclusion of certain types of damages. Therefore, if required by applicable law, some of the foregoing exclusions may not apply to You.
11. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify ASHFoundation from and against any and all liabilities, expenses (including without limitation attorneys' fees) and damages arising out of claims based upon your use of ASHFoundation's website, including without limitation any claim of libel, defamation, violation of rights of privacy or publicity, loss of service by other members, and the infringement of intellectual property rights or other rights. ASHFoundation will notify you of any claim for which ASHFoundation seeks indemnification and will afford you the opportunity to participate in the defense of such claim, provided that your participation will not be conducted in a manner prejudicial to ASHFoundation's interests, as reasonably determined by ASHFoundation at its sole discretion.
12. Governing Law
This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Maryland, USA. You hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of courts in Montgomery County, Maryland in all disputes arising out of or relating to the use of ASHFoundation's website. Use of ASHFoundation's website is unauthorized in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of these terms and conditions, including, without limitation, this paragraph.
13. No Relationship
You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between You and ASHFoundation as a result of this Agreement or use of ASHFoundation's website.
14. Construction
If any part of this Agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including without limitation the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations set forth above, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision, and the remainder of the Agreement shall continue in effect.
15. Entire Agreement
Unless otherwise specified herein, this Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between You and ASHFoundation with respect to ASHFoundation's website, and it supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral or written, between You and ASHFoundation with respect to ASHFoundation's website.
16. Notices
Notices given by ASHFoundation to You will be given by a general posting on ASHFoundation's website or by an e-mail, if an e-mail address is available. Notices given by ASHFoundation to Members may also be given by conventional mail. Notices to ASHFoundation must be sent by conventional mail to:
Webmaster
ASHFoundation
2200 Research Boulevard #420
Rockville, MD 20850
17. Assignment
ASHFoundation may assign this Agreement, in whole or part, in its sole discretion. You agree not to assign, transfer or sublicense Your rights as a user without the prior written consent of ASHFoundation.
18. Captions and Headings
Captions and paragraph headings are for convenience only and are not a part of this Agreement and shall not be used in construing it.
These Terms of Use were last updated on April 4, 2019.