Share

Administering Testing Accommodations

Thank You for Supporting Students with Approved Testing Accommodations

Your commitment to accessibility and collaboration is appreciated. Below, you'll find guidance to help you understand your available options and responsibilities when providing testing accommodations.

Administering exams for your students with accommodations

If you specify that you will provide testing accommodations for students with approved testing accommodations in your course, those accommodations must be honored for all applicable assessments. This includes every quiz, exam, or timed in-class assignment-whether administered on paper, Canvas (here is the guide for extending time on Canvas exams), or other platforms. If you opt to administer the exam yourself, it's your responsibility (and not a TA's) to ensure that all accommodations approved through SAS are provided. Please see our Alternative Testing FAQs for additional guidance on how to appropriately provide testing accommodations.

When giving tests to SAS students with accommodations, it's important to provide the same access to information and instructor support as their peers in the main classroom. This means:

  • Sharing any announcements, corrections, or clarifications made during the test
  • Allowing students to ask the instructor questions during the exam

This applies whether you're administering the test yourself and using additional rooms for testing or using the SAS A11y Testing Center.

Implementing Common Accommodations

The most common approved testing accommodations at Dartmouth are:

  • Extended test time (which includes quizzes, midterms, finals, and other timed assessments)
  • Breaks that do not count against test time
  • Use of a computer (e.g. word processing, text-to-speech software, speech-to-text software, magnification software, braille)
  • Use of a calculator for those functions not being assessed
  • Reduced-distraction testing environment (RDE)
    • RDE is a quiet and controlled setting for taking exams that limits external stimuli and interruptions, with the goal of supporting concentration by reducing barriers for students with disabilities
    • Reduced-distraction testing environments may include
      • a student utilizing a separate room
      • fewer test-takers in the separate testing space with at least a few seats between test-takers
      • noise-reduction measures, and/or specific seating arrangements
      • Etc. (this is not an exhaustive list)
    • Students with a computer accommodation should generally be provided a separate room to reduce distraction to peers writing by hand

Need assistance? Consider the A11y Testing Center:

If you are uncertain that you will be able to provide a reduced-distraction environment or other specified testing accommodations, please contact and work with the A11y Testing Center to fulfill these accommodations. 

Below is a step-by-step overview of the process for using the A11y Testing Center to administer your accommodated exams throughout the term. Simply click on each step for details.