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PARCC and SBAC
Review of Sample Test Items for Access by Test Takers Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired
The files related to this topic include the following:
Original Presentations
PARCC Overview
SBAC Montage
These files contain useful information/features/examples from the spring 2015 Sample Test Items reviewed by APH Test Editor Katherine Padgett and Accessibility Consultant Paul Ferrara. Their goal was to review each Sample Test Item available at the time for access via use of embedded or built-in features (such as the built-in ruler, protractor, magnifier, equation editor, calculator, line reader, answer eliminator, notepad, pop-up glossary, highlighter, color contrast, answer masking, and more) and via use of common assistive technology such as JAWS screen reader, the HIMS refreshable braille display, and ZoomText screen enlargement software.
Accessible Tests staff reviewed the regular TestNav Version, the original HTML Screen Reader Version, and the newest ARIA Version. According to Wikipedia, Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) is a technical specification published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that specifies how to increase the accessibility of web pages, in particular, dynamic content and user interface components developed with Ajax, HTML, JavaScript, and related technologies. Larry Skutchan, Director of APH’s Technology Department, stated that, in practice, ARIA provides techniques for marking up HTML to provide more information about custom controls. Combined with support from screen readers, it gives blind users a way to use controls that may not otherwise be recognizable or useable.
If you work with students who are blind or visually impaired, and need to know about PARCC’s and/or SBAC’s built-in features and/or the assistive technology that help enable test items to be accessible, then you will find the information and examples on the files listed above to be quite useful.
