[blindlaw] Re Braille bar exams

[Elizabeth Rene]

Thanks to all of you who commented in response to my recent question about 
whether you took your bar exam in Braille.

When I put this question on the table, I felt that I would owe you all an 
explanation for asking it, sooner or later.

Here I go.

I want to write about my recent experience of taking the bar exam in 
Washington.

This was the state where I'd taken and passed the bar exam before, in 1980, 
and practiced for 16 years before leaving the law for seminary.

Back then, I answered my large-type essay questions on a portable 
typewriter, using my eight-power magnifying glass and time-and-a-half for
each three-essay session.  The resulting 10 1/2 hour writing day was 
grueling, but I had enough energy left to study at night, to get myself to 
and from the testing site, to care for my guide dog, and to walk away with a
passing score.

Maybe, if it had been tougher, I would have thought twice about doing it 
again!

This time, I focused my attention on whether I could, or should,  get 
exempted from using ExamSoft, and how I should then write the essays in the 
alternative.

I've written about that here.

  This delayed my formal ADA request somewhat, but I did get to use my own 
laptop to write my answers
using JAWS.

Meanwhile, I took the BARBRI bar review course in Braille, writing weekly 
practice essays under exam conditions for evaluation and grading.  I learned
to write to the required character count under the time constraints 
expected, and to apply the IRAC (Issue, Rule, Analysis, Conclusion) format 
that would organize my answers on exam day.

I took long walks and did whatever else I thought needful to condition 
myself physically for the
three-day endurance test to come.

Along with my classmates, during the penultimate prep week, I wrote an extra 
simulated exam, using 18-point, bold type questions provided by the BARBRI
staff.  I let attorney friends grill me, and spent the last Sunday afternoon 
preparing my laptop to meet the WSBA's security strictures.

WSBA and I had been emailing and phoning frequently during the last couple 
of weeks to nail down the ADA details for my exam.  We agreed that I would 
use 18-point type ("We don't do Braille.--We've never done it before."), 
with an audio version of each question for backup, and time-and-a-half for
each session with enough time in between for my guide dog and me to refresh 
ourselves.  Once Alvin's existence was made known, per instructions, I 
requested and was granted permission to have my guide dog with me at the
testing site as a separate ADA accommodation.  Per our agreement, I groomed 
and flea treated him just before
arriving, and laundered his bedding to minimize the discomfort of any 
proctor who might be allergic to dogs.

My testing site would be in the very comfortable and dog-friendly hotel 
where I was to stay.

I thought I was ready.

The afternoon before the exam, my laptop was inspected by an IT technician 
to make sure that it was clean of documents, and I learned that the audio 
portion of my exam would be presented in MP3 files on another computer, 
accessed by my proctor.

I arrived at the test site at 6:30 a.m. the next day, and was greeted by 
WSBA's ADA coordinator, with whom I'd been emailing and phoning since the 
end of June.  She saw Alvin and recoiled in revulsion (sharp intake of 
breath through the teeth, quick steps backward), saying "Eeu! Dogs make me 
feel creepy!"  Once I signed in, she apologized, saying she was "allergic" 
to dogs.  We kept our distance thereafter.

I set up for the exam, and the technician loaded my mp3 files for the 
session.  I could listen to each question for a global overview and the 
"call of the question", and use my large-type sheet to organize my essay. 
When I opened my packet, I found that the 18-point type was presented on a 
double-wide page with the print going straight across with no column break. 
I read with the print an inch from my face, using a 10-power magnifier. 
Just the thought of managing that document made my neck and shoulders hurt. 
I asked for standard-size paper, and was told none could be had until the 
next session.  I used my magnifier to read the regular-sized  type for the 
first 3 hours and 25 minutes.

I got 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper and large type for the next sessions, but had 
neglected to ask for bold type, so no contrast enhancements were made.

By the second session of each day, I was so exhausted I could barely 
organize a coherent thought.  The print before my eyes would shatter into 
fragments and knit itself together on and off, as I plodded through each 
essay.

At the third session of each day, I finished only two of the three essays 
required, leaving at 6:50 p.m. to walk Alvin, relax over dinner, and fall 
into bed.

I got through only half of the six professional responsibility essays on the 
last morning session.

My proctor complimented Alvin on his good behavior as I left, to a chorus of 
"See you in February!"

I told my family two weeks later.

Thank you all for reading this.  I had to get it out of my system.  My 
feelings about this experience are all over the map.

If anything, this is a cautionary tale.  If you even remotely think you 
might need Braille for your exam, don't wait to ask for it.  Ask before you 
apply for the exam, and get help to make sure there's a process in place to 
provide it, so you don't have to invent the wheel with your bar association 
while pushing to keep up with the bar review.  And make sure that you and 
your bar association are on the same page about everything else.  Don't 
assume anything.

I wish I'd had the nerve to press for Braille at the very beginning, and to 
insist on a shorter writing day once large type became necessary.

I still think that ExamSoft should bear the responsibility for making its 
software accessible so bar associations and blind examinees don't have to 
invent alternative security precautions, and am whole-heartedly convinced 
that ADA coordinators should be trained for their work.

If I'd studied harder, would I have done better?  Probably.  But I want my 
next exam in Braille.  And I want my dog treated right.

Elizabeth