SkillPort, SkillSoft’s e-Learning Platform, Now Accessible to Employees with Disabilities

NASHUA, NH – March 19, 2002 – SkillSoft Corporation (NASDAQ: SKIL), a leading

provider of e-learning courseware and referenceware for business and IT professionals,

today announced that SkillPort 2.3, the company’s web-based e-learning platform,

has been upgraded to fully meet technical requirements for Section 508 of the

Rehabilitation Act, which requires computer software applications purchased

or developed by federal agencies to be designed for equal accessibility by people

with disabilities. Learners with vision, hearing, or motor skill disabilities

can now use SkillPort to access SkillPort courses, search the SkillPort course

library for specific learning events, and launch courses in the appropriate

mode for use with assistive technology.

SkillSoft used Bobby, a validation service offered by the Center for Applied

Special Technology (CAST) to test for compliance with Section 508, as well as

guidelines for web accessibility established by the World Wide Web Consortium.

SkillPort 2.3 gives all learners equal access to its learning management functions.

Employees have the ability to create personal learning plans, track and manage

test results, and receive e-mail reminders and new course alerts. SkillPort

2.3 also gives training administrators the ability to set up profiles for learners

using assistive technology. SkillPort will then automatically launch courses

selected by the learner in a mode ready for use with assistive technology. It

also lets learners designate the type of assistive technology – screen readers

or keyboard equivalents, for example – which they choose to use to go through

the course.

SkillPort 2.3 is part of a year-long development initiative which included

adapting SkillSoft’s 600-plus U.S. English courses to work with screen readers

such as JAWS and other assistive technologies, providing text descriptions for

all visual imagery, and ensuring all audio components have text equivalents.

All components of SkillSoft courses, including learning objects and job aids,

were incorporated into the development initiative.

"The Internet has become an increasingly critical component of business

and everyday life, " said Chuck Hitchcock, chief education technology officer

for CAST, a non-profit organization founded in 1984 that develops technology

to expand opportunities for all people, including those with disabilities. "Technology

should be an enabler, not a barrier. Everyone should have equal opportunity

to take advantage of the information and opportunity now available through the

web."

"We believe universal access is an important criteria for all e-learning,"

said Karen Beauregard, SkillSoft product manager. "While Section 508 technically

applies to only federal agencies, this issue is becoming increasingly important

to commercial companies and state and local agencies."

If interested in seeing a demonstration of the use of assistive technology

with SkillPort 2.3 and SkillSoft courseware, contact Karen Beauregard at kbeauregard@skillsoft.com

About SkillSoft

With more than 500 corporate customers and two million user seats, SkillSoft

is a leading provider of comprehensive, integrated e-learning solutions for

Global 2000 companies and government organizations. Customers receive comprehensive

learning and performance support solutions for their workforce through SkillSoft’s

business skills library, comprised of more than 1,200 courses and simulations

for global business markets, of which more than 600 are in U.S. English. The

library, which includes more than 3,000 hours of interactive instruction, encompasses

a wide array of business skills, such as management, leadership, communication,

project management and customer service, as well as business subjects such as

e-commerce, finance, marketing, sales, and strategy. The library also includes

more than 12,000 learning objects, 2,500 job aids, 3,000 SkillBriefs.

SkillSoft complements SkillSoft courses with SkillSimulations, Web-based simulations

designed to reinforce skills newly acquired through specific courses. SkillSoft

courses can be managed and tracked through SkillPort, an e-learning management

platform that offers rapid implementation at a cost-efficient price point, or

through third-party learning management systems.

SkillSoft’s subsidiary, Books 24×7, offers subscription clients detailed online

searches to more than 1,900 unabridged IT and business titles and 300,000 knowledge

objects. Books24x7’s patent-pending technology platform gives users the ability

to perform multi-tier searches of the company’s Referenceware: ITPro, BusinessPro

and OfficeEssentials. The Books 24×7 Referencware libraries include offerings

from more than 65 publishers, including AMACOM, ASTD, Harvard Business School

Publishing, McGraw-Hill, Microsoft Press, and Sybex and Wiley.

Additional information about SkillSoft is available by calling (603) 324-3000.

SkillSoft, SkillPort, RolePlay, Search-and-Learn, e-Learning for the Knowledge

Economy, NetUniversity, and Accelerated Path are trademarks and/or servicemarks

of SkillSoft Corporation. Books24x7.com

and Referenceware are servicemarks of Books247x.com, Inc. All brand names,

trademarks, or registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

Safe harbor language: This release includes information that

constitutes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions

of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such forward-looking

statements involve risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to

differ materially from any future results encompassed within the forward- looking

statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include

competitive pressures, changes in customer demands or industry standards, adverse

economic conditions, loss of key personnel, litigation and other matters disclosed

under the heading "Future Operating Results” in the Company’s most recent

Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking

information provided by the Company in this press release represents the Company’s

estimates as of November 2001. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments

will cause the Company’s estimates to change. However, while the Company may

elect to update this forward-looking financial information at some point in

the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. This

forward-looking information should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s

estimates of its future financial performance as of any date subsequent to the

date of this release.