Teleconference 3: April 29, 2002

Issues and Opportunities for Students with Disabilities in Technology Based Assessment

Universally Designed Technology-based Assessments

Universal design was first defined by the Center for Universal Design (1997) as "the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design." The Assistive Technology Act of 1998 (PL 105-394) addresses universal design through this definition:

The term 'universal design' means a concept or philosophy for designing and delivering products and services that are usable by people with the widest possible range of functional capabilities, which include products and services that are directly usable (without requiring assistive technologies) and products and services that are made usable with assistive technologies.

A recent report on the application of universal design to large-scale assessments (Thompson, Johnstone, & Thurlow, 2002) found that good basic design, whether on paper or technology-based, increases access for everyone, and poor design can have detrimental effects for nearly everyone. Many accessibility issues relate to content and design features, with content defined as subject matter on the page while design is defined as the organization or arrangement of objects and information on the page.

Content

An important function of well-designed assessments is that they actually measure what they are intended to measure. Test developers need to carefully examine what is to be tested and design items that offer the greatest opportunity for success within those constructs. Just as universally designed architecture removes physical, sensory, and cognitive barriers to all types of people in public and private structures, universally designed assessments need to remove all non-construct-oriented cognitive, sensory, emotional, and physical barriers.

Assessment instructions need to be easy to understand, regardless of a student's experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level. Directions and questions need to be in simple, clear, and understandable language. It is important for designers of technology-based assessments to strive for content that is understandable and navigable. According to WebAIM (2001), "this includes not only making the language clear and simple, but also providing understandable mechanisms for navigating within and between pages" (p. 8). 

Design Features

Legibility is the physical appearance of text; the way shapes of letters and numbers enable people to read text "quickly, effortlessly, and with understanding" (Schriver, 1997, p. 252). Though a great deal of research has been conducted in this area, the personal opinions of editors often prevail (Bloodsworth, 1993; Tinker, 1963). Bias results from items that contain physical features that interfere with a student's focus on or understanding of the construct an item is intended to assess. Format dimensions can include contrast, type size, spacing, typeface, leading, justification, line length/width, blank space, graphs and tables, illustrations, and response formats.

It is important to maintain these aspects of universal design when developing technology-based assessments. Poor design on paper will result in poor design on a screen. In addition to the universal design elements described above, technology-based assessments can offer several additional features that can increase the accessibility of assessments for all students, including students with disabilities and English language learners. According to WebAIM (2001), "Everyone benefits from well-designed Web sites, regardless of cognitive capabilities. In this context, 'well-designed' can be defined as having a simple and intuitive interface, clearly worded text, and a consistent navigational scheme between pages" (p. 8).

These materials are excerpts from a draft NCEO report developed with support from NCS Pearson