[blindlaw] Exam$ software and law school exams

Thu Sep 23 14:14:40 UTC 2010

As I understand it, one reason law schools have so universally adopted
ExamSoft and programs like it is to foster familiarity with the procedure,
which is required if one wishes to take the bar exam using a computer (in CA
at least). There are still some that handwrite their responses, though how
they manage to keep up is beyond me. I did not press for use of an unsecured
computer for either the written or multiple choice portions of the exam, but
preferring to instead follow what seems to be the generally accepted
reader/scribe approach with double time.

One thing I learned (though I really hope I do not need to actually have to
put it into practice myself) is that you should practice responding to the
questions under the exact same conditions as you will have for the test. For
example, I practiced performance tests by typing them out and referring to
the case file and library on my computer; things obviously worked
differently on the real test and some time was expended working out just how
we could manage all the content with a separate reader and typist in the
loop. The same of course applies to exams at school.

Bar exams vary from state to state but I don't recall hearing of any lasting
more than three days, whether they be consecutive or alternating again
varying by state. I took the July bar over six days due to the double time.

On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 5:56 AM, Blaine Deutscher <b.m.deutscher at sasktel.net
> wrote:

> I'm not sure what it's like in the sattes but isn't the bar a two day
> process? do blind people get time and a half to write the exam or how does
> that work? It's something to look into now as I'm always trying to make
> lives better for future students so if I speak with the law school in
> Saskatchewan they might have some blind people before me that have gone
> through and whatever system they used worked. I know some people will say
> "blind people before you went through without technology so what did they
> do?" My response to that is yes they did but now that technology is there
> and we are using it more exams should be easier to take. I'm waiting for
> the
> day that a blind person can keep up with his classmates with the four
> courses or whatever it takes to be done the same time that they are.
>
> Blaine
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kate Carroll" <carroll.kathryn.e at gmail.com>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 6:52 AM
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Exam$ software and law school exams
>
>
> Thank you Aser. I was not aware that I might be going through the exact
> same
> thing with the Bar.
>
> Kate
>
> On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 1:28 AM, Aser Tolentino
> <agtolentino at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> > My school and the CA bar use ExamSoft. While I've heard talk of greater
> > accessibility now, at the time I started law school three years ago it
> was
> > not possible to run a screen reader alongside the software; I confirmed
> > this
> > with the sample test and by speaking to the school's IT department. My
> > advice would be to request the school forgo your use of the software as a
> > testing accommodation. The issue will come up again when you take the bar
> > and could be more contentious then.
> >
> > Best,
> > Aser
> >
> > On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 8:47 PM, Kate Carroll
> > <carroll.kathryn.e at gmail.com>wrote:
> >
> > > Good evening everyone!
> > >
> > > I am looking for some advice concerning law school exams. If anyone has
> > any
> > > thoughts on my question, i would greatly appreciate hearing them.
> > >
> > > I am in my first year of law school. I currently use a Dell Latitutde
> > with
> > > Windows 7, and ZoomText for magnification and reading. I will have to
> > > use
> > > the software Exam4 for my upcoming exams. I have heard that this
> > > software
> > > will likely prevent ZoomText (and possibly the built-in Windows
> > > magnification program) from working if I attempt to use them during an
> > > exam.
> > > I havent actually tested the problem with the tech guys at the school
> > > because I need to get a Zoomtext license and right now don't have
> > Zoomtext
> > > on my laptop.
> > >
> > > Does anyone have experience with this Exam4 software, and is a user of
> > > ZoomText? What did you do to get around this (alleged)  problem? Any
> > ideas,
> > > again, are welcome.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Kate
> > >
> > > --
> > > Kathryn CARROLL
> > > St. John's University College of Law 2013
> > > 631-521-318 C
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>
>
> --
> Kathryn CARROLL
> St. John's University College of Law 2013
> 631-521-318 C
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