[CATO] Examsoft VPAT, YIKES!

[Rovner, Amy]

Zach - thank you so much for taking a deep look/test of Examplify!  That is super disturbing that it's so inaccessible but not surprising.

Our nursing dept uses it for nursing exams to hep with "integrity" of exams for accreditation purposes. Ugh.

To add insult to injury - it's very expensive yet thy can't use some of those funds to improve its accessibility.

GRRRR...

Amy

Amy Rovner, M.P.H., R.D.
Acting Director eLearning Services
ctcLink Training Lead
Shoreline Community College
www.shoreline.edu<http://www.shoreline.edu/>  |  206.546.6937
eLearning Office: 206.546-6966
Pronouns: she, her, hers
[Shoreline Community College logo]<https://shoreline.edu/>


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From: CATO <cato-bounces at lists.ctc.edu> On Behalf Of Lattin, Zachary via CATO
Sent: Tuesday, February 7, 2023 11:45 AM
To: cato at lists.ctc.edu
Cc: Lattin, Zachary <ZLattin at clark.edu>
Subject: [CATO] Examsoft VPAT, YIKES!

[ CAUTION: This email originated from outside Shoreline Community College. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. ]

Greetings CATO,

I just tested assessment software Examplify for our institution and it was a particularly egregious accessibility failure, so I figured I would share some of my findings.  Attached is the first red flag ... I mean VPAT, which is a completely inaccessible and untagged pdf.  After I OCRed it with ABBYY Finereader I found the following concerns in the "Partially Supports" and "Does not support" columns, which I then verified in subsequent testing of the windows and IOS Apps:

  *   Hotspot questions using images cannot be used with VoiceOver.
  *   Some controls have accessible labels. Some form fields such as edit fields do not have accessible names.
  *   Some functions are keyboard operable. The Spreadsheet tool is not keyboard operable and the text editor used in Essay questions does not support keyboard shortcuts for formatting functions when using a physical keyboard.
  *   iOS devices are intended for touchscreen use. The home menu and PDF attachments traps VoiceOver focus when focus is moved to the menu.
  *   Programmatic focus that VoiceOver follows does not follow reading order on exam question pages or when opening a PDF pop out.
  *   Some user interface components with labels contain the text that is presented visually. Some "Next" buttons do not have an accessible name that matches the visible text.
  *   Some components (e.g., input fields) do not provide some required information (e.g., names).
  *   Application restricts content to landscape orientation.
  *   Minimum contrast ratios are used with some exceptions.
  *   Operating system functions for changing text size are not supported. Functions to bold text are supported.
  *   Visual focus is shown where there is keyboard functionality.

The first deal-breaker for me was the completely inaccessible text editor for composing essay questions.  I will point out that inaccessible text editors in products like this stem from a particularly ablest assumption that AT users don't need to create content, they just need to consume it.  if you're testing a product, please remember to test its ability to create content inside itself!

I could go on and on about these issues but I think you get the gist.  Clark will need to work on finding an alternative to using Examsoft.
--Zach

Campus IT Accessibility Coordinator and Assistive Technology Specialist
IT Services
Phone (call or text): (360) 992-2016
Email: zlattin at clark.edu<mailto:zlattin at clark.edu>

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