With sufficient planning and preparation, most students with disabilities should be able to take an Honorlock-enabled exam successfully. However, instructors and students should be aware of accessibility-related concerns, limitations, and barriers when creating or taking Honorlock-enabled exams.
When considering accommodations, keep in mind that Honorlock does not allow instructors to exempt an individual student from the settings established on the exam. If a setting directly contradicts a student’s accommodation, alternative proctoring methods must be implemented. This includes the possibility of taking the exam without Honorlock enabled. See Honorlock Exam Flexibility for Specific Students guide for more information.
It's important to note that Honorlock may flag behavior that aligns with a student’s approved accommodations. Instructors are responsible for determining if violations occurred and should review the entire exam video to ensure course policies were followed.
Accessibility Barriers
The following are known Honorlock accessibility barriers that students may experience as they take an exam.
Photo ID and Room Scan difficulties for users with motor disabilities, low vision, or blindness
If Photo ID and Room Scans are enabled on the exam, students with motor disabilities, low vision. or blindness may experience difficulties holding up their photo ID or laptop to scan the room.
No auditory feedback is provided to acknowledge a successful completion of validating photo ID or Room Scan which makes this difficult for students with low vision or blindness.
Students experiencing difficulties can contact Honorlock Chat support using the Chat icon on the bottom right of the screen.
Magnification difficulties for users with low vision
Honorlock does not magnify well beyond 200% magnification. This may cause students with low vision to have difficulty using the online proctoring tool.
The use of small images or small text may also impact students with low vision.
Keyboard and screen reader navigation difficulties for users with visual or motor disabilities
Getting into the exam:
- There are known keyboard navigation and screen reader auditory feedback barriers that may prevent students reliant on keyboard navigation and screen readers from going through the Honorlock verification process to enter an exam. These issues are particularly evident when verifying photo ID and performing Room Scans.
- Some focus styling and inconsistencies are present throughout Honorlock. Users reliant on screen readers or other assistive technology may find it difficult to navigate through the verification process to enter the exam.
During an exam:
- People reliant on screen readers or other assistive technologies may experience some navigation issues getting to Honorlock’s Live Chat feature.
- Honorlock’s Hotkey Detection has been enabled preventing the use of certain combinations of keystrokes during the exam, which will result in a blurred screen and a flag if attempted. This may impact some shortcuts used from assistive technology.
- Students will experience issues with inaccessible content. It is the instructor’s responsibility to ensure that all content within the exam meets accessibility standards. These include, but are not limited to, the following considerations.
- If content on the exam uses images, special attention should be made to ensure they are accessible with screen readers or other assistive technologies. Images should not be the only context for answering a question and should contain appropriate alternative text. Images also should be clear enough and large enough for users with low vision or colorblindness to see.
- Videos or other multimedia should be captioned.
- Tables should be clearly labeled and plainly formatted.
- Design and color should follow Universal Design for Learning (UDL) best practices.
- Instructions should be clear and not rely on visual clues for how to answer the question. For example, a matching question visually shows two related columns so students without vision issues might understand what is expected based on that information. Students using screen readers will not see the columns and must rely on clear instructions for how to best answer the question.
- If content on the exam uses images, special attention should be made to ensure they are accessible with screen readers or other assistive technologies. Images should not be the only context for answering a question and should contain appropriate alternative text. Images also should be clear enough and large enough for users with low vision or colorblindness to see.
Color contrast barriers may be difficult for users with low vision or colorblindness
Some of the links, buttons, and filters within Honorlock have insufficient contrast, which may cause users with low vision or colorblindness to have difficulty seeing where to click and interact in order to navigate through online proctoring or exam setup.
Strategies to ensure accessibility
Educators
- Create exam questions and content that is accessible. This includes the use of images or multimedia in accessible ways, even if no student is registered with accommodations related to multimedia.
- Read a student's approved accommodations carefully and consider having a conversation about a student’s comfort level with Honorlock.
- When selecting Honorlock Proctoring settings, only select those settings that are required for you to maintain the integrity of the exam. If appropriate, consider disabling the requirement for validating photo ID, student photo, Room Scan or other settings that might make it difficult to access the exam.
- Set up a practice exam before a high-stakes assessment to ensure your students can take the exam and feel comfortable knowing what the steps are ahead of time.
- Add language on your syllabus about Honorlock and accessibility.
- Look at the approved accommodations and discuss with Student Life Disability Services any questions about how to proceed or if an alternative proctoring method should be used.
- Inform students that you will review all proctoring results to ensure exam policies were followed. Assure them that any flags that the AI proctoring tool adds for behavior that aligns with their approved accommodations will not count against them.
- Set up extended accommodation time and allow extra attempts. This can be set up through the CarmenCanvas quiz in the same way as non-Honorlock enabled exams.
Students
- Take any Honorlock-enabled practice exams that are available for you in your course. This way you can see for yourself if the Honorlock tool is appropriate for you.
- Discuss the exam with your Student Life Disability Service accessibility counselor and/or your instructor to determine if alternative proctoring is needed.
- During an exam, give yourself grace. Understand that the AI proctoring tool may be flagging you but that it is your instructor who will determine if the behavior constitutes potential academic misconduct. After the exam, feel free to contact the instructor with difficulties you experience or concerns you had during the exam.