AbleLink Technologies has created an XML-based protocol for describing instructional media that creates a common "language" for prompting systems which can facilitate sharing of instructional content across organizations and across technology platforms. This technology was first created by AbleLink to provide a common prompting structure to allow sharing of tasks between its various prompting systems. However, in an effort to promote broader utilization of prompting technology, AbleLink has launched the AIMS initiative which makes this XML protocol freely available to individuals and organization involved in creating instructional media and technology-based prompting systems.

In 2005 a collaborative project was launched to develop a web-based task repository to facilitate sharing of instructional media created in accordance with the AIMS standard. Task categories will include, but not be limited to, Educational, Vocational, Independent Living, Recreation and Leisure, and Community Access. This project is being conducted by AbleLink Technologies in collaboration with the Beach Center on Disability at the University of Kansas and the Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities through the University of Colorado's Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Advancing Cognitive Technologies.

Click here to view an individual description of the organizations involved with AIMS.

AIMS is the culmination of a number of research and development activities over the past decade which have provided the foundation for prompting technologies which exist today. This section provides a timeline of key projects and events which have contributed to the development of prompting technologies. The timeline below provides a historical overview of some of these key events. For a more detailed description of these events, Click here. In addition, a number of articles are listed which address the use of prompting technologies specificaly or in a general sense,

Click here to view these references.