Online Assessment: Focus on Accessibility

Accessible Content for All Test Takers

Today’s 1EdTech Question and Test Interoperability (QTI) latest version, QTI 3 standard includes accessibility and internationalization capabilities providing full access for learners and test takers across the globe.

This page gathers information related to accessibility and accommodations for online assessments using international standards. 

The W3C has full online documentation related to online accessibility. This page provides information specific to online assessments and defers to the W3C’s best practices except where noted. 

Accessibility Across the QTI Versions

Accessibility & Testing Accommodation Resources

The QTI 3 exchange format allows for content to be authored to be accessible to all test takers. In addition, QTI 3 has additional capabilities to support testing accommodations unique to online assessment.

Accessibility

The QTI standard (versions 2.2 and 3.0) features foundational accessibility – the technical ability to markup content for full access for all test takers. That capability does not automatically provide accessibility for all users, and content providers should author and review their content with proper accessibility structure and features. Assessment delivery applications have the additional responsibility for ensuring accessibility features actually work for candidates.
See 1EdTech’s Accessibility Rubric for designing accessible products.

• An Overview of Accessibility in QTI 3
• QTI 3’s relationship to W3C Accessibility standards
• Accessibility Implementation Details for QTI 3

HTML Accessibility Structures in QTI

The QTI 3 Best Practices and Implementation Guide provides guidance on how the assessment community has suggested content should be authored for the greatest amount of interoperability and accessibility between exchanging organizations.

Semantic heading levels are important in QTI content - Heading levels are critical for screen reader users for navigating through the content. Headings are not visual concerns.

Spoken Support

Spoken Support refers to Text-to-Speech with customized pronunciation (SSML), Read Aloud (pre-recorded audio files for test takers), and support for screen readers.

Given the importance of pronunciation for candidates perceiving their test content using the spoken word, QTI 2.2 and 3.0 support a variety of standardized approaches to pronouncing text correctly. The recent Data-SSML standard for marking up inline HTML allows SSML (W3C’s Speech Synthesis Markup Language) to be available for Speech Synthesis engines. See the published Support for Speech Synthesis Markup Language Using the ‘data-ssml’ Property for full technical information.

QTI 3 refers to Text-to-Speech and Read Aloud accommodation under the “Spoken” support. QTI 3 supports the use of screen readers and pre-recorded audio files for candidates. See the Spoken Section 5.1.1.6 in the QTI 3 Best Practices and Implementation Guide.

Spoken Support Links:

• QTI 3 Spoken Support
• 1EdTech Standard Data-SSML for inline HTML markup

Internationalization

QTI 3 strives to deliver the ability to make all content across all languages accessible. QTI is an international assessment standard and supports the primary language of the test as well as language alternatives. QTI 3 supports bi-directional text and Ruby markup.

A supplemental document for QTI 3 called the QTI 3 Standardized Shared Vocabulary and CSS Classes provides direction on how to markup content for formatting such as Vertical Writing and List Styles for different languages.

Note that while the QTI content may contain information and markup related to specific languages and their properties, the delivery application should be thoroughly vetted to ensure it meets the language requirements of your assessment program.

Internationalization Related Links:

• QTI 3 Best Practices and Implementation Guide for Internationalization
• Bi-direction Text and Content in QTI 3
• Standardized Classes related to Vertical Writing
• List Styles for various languages

Testing Accommodations

There are some special cases in assessment for accessibility. Specific supports related to assessment (e.g. extra time, different text styles, etc.) can be provided to test takers to accurately measure what they know and can do. Assessments can also provide alternative languages or specialized interfaces for the test taker. Note that providing all supports for all test takers is likely to lead to confusion.

1EdTech’s Access for All 3.0 standard allows for test takers to list their specific learning and/or assessment needs and preferences in an exchangeable format, which 1EdTech calls PNP (Personal Needs and Preferences). A PNP can list one or more individuals needs and preferences, and include a context for any person's needs (e.g. different supports for math or language exams). A PNP only lists the supports needed and does not include any other personal information. A PNP is not an IEP (individualized education plan) or 504 plan – it does not describe why an individual needs a support, only which supports are needed when learning or taking exams.

QTI 3’s supports align to the Personal Needs and Preferences 3.0 standard. Delivery applications that support PNPs adapt the interface to the specific needs and preferences of the learner/test taker. QTI 3 uses these preferences to present content and online tools that are specific to the needs of the test taker. 

For example, if a test taker’s PNP stated that they were allowed to have certain key words translated for them in their native language, the delivery interface would know to indicate those key words had translations available for the test taker, and when the test taker requests the translation, it is provided in their specific language.

A full explanation of the QTI 3 supports is available in Section 5: AccessForAll 3.0 and the QTI 3 Profile of the QTI Best Practices and Implementation Guide.

While your specific assessment program or product is likely to have its own set of supports, 1EdTech has a QTI 3 certification profile called “Elevated Accessibility”. Applications and content that are certified to the Elevated Accessibility profile support the following features:

• Captions
• Glossary
• Magnification 
• Text appearance
• Color themes
• Additional Testing Time 
• Answer Masking
• Audio Description
• Braille
• Breaks during an assessment session 
• Long Descriptions (e.g. data tables to represent graphs and charts)
• ARIA support
• Sign-Language
• Screen Reader support 
• Read Aloud support 
• Tactile (reference to and/or descriptions of the tactile objects, or electronic files for tactile print out)
• Transcripts for media

See the section on RFP language on how to request the Elevated Accessibility profile and/or any specific features required in your assessment program.

Testing Accommodations Related Links:

• Candidate Profiles
• Use of Catalogs to Store Support-Specific Content
• Personal Needs and Preferences 3.0 and QTI 3 (Section 5 of QTI 3 BPIG)

Procurement

Contact support@1edtech.org for more.