[nabs-l] Extended Time

Wed Feb 6 18:50:16 UTC 2013

Ashley,
I don't mean to be contrary, but I have found quite the opposite to be the case in my personal experiences with jaws.  You can press are, from the start of the page, to go directly to the first radio button on the first question… It will save you a whole bunch of arrowing down.  And, at least for me, once I figured out how Jaws Associates radio buttons with particular question answers, on whatever quiz I'm taking, it's been really easy to just apply that pattern to the rest of the quiz… Hopefully, I am making sense. For me, personally, the only online assignments that warrant extra time are the ones with lots of images that need to be described by somebody else. If an online quiz, or test, or assignment is all text, which many of them are, I usually finish well within the allotted time. In fact, I have noticed, my screen reader reads things to me faster than many sided people read. While I don't comprehend as much as I do with braille, this is definitely an advantage for me sometimes which, I daresay, most people don't have.

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 6, 2013, at 10:34 AM, "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Hi Arielle,
> Well I see your points. Extended time while we use braille could send a bad message I suppose that we're inherently slow.
> I cannot remember whether I used  extended time all the time in high school or not. I had a study hall period with my vision teacher, or TVI as they're called. Here I finished any tests or in class assignments I needed to for the day or worked on homework. This was very valuable time for me since I struggled with some spatial concepts too and my TVI sort of acted as a tutor for math as well and explained diagrams.
> 
> I think ideally that  extended time and accomodations should be given on a case by case basis. You may need some accomodations in one class and not others.
> But that isn't how college works; they have to make accomodations across the board so you have one accomodation sheet for all professors.
> 
> I feel that yes extended time is needed in college because of
> the medium its taken in. I consider equal access to be braille since sighted students read it; they do not have to hear it.
> As you know, braille is not given to us in college except for maybe math if you beg for it.
> 
> So, I think using jaws is slower than reading it in print. If its multiple choice, I find I need to hear it twice because as with any test taker, I read it once and eliminate two answers and read it again to pic the  best answer.
> A sighted user clicks the correct button where as we have to go line by line and listen to the line and arrow up til finding the right answer.
> If using a reader, I need them to repeat my answers sometimes to ensure they circled the right one.
> 
> I am trying to get extended time for practice online quizzes because I need to scroll back up to check my answers.
> I'm confused as to what radio button goes
> with what answer. I wish the Letter options of A, b, c, d were on the same line but jaws isn't reading like that.
> Not to mention that I use a minute or two to find where the darn quiz
> begins! Yes, I do use the quick navigation keys such as H for heading to help but when there are lots of headings this doesn't help too much.
> 
> I find that other forms of tests such as short answer and essay formats
> take me less time. I don't always use extended time. But its there in the many cases I do need it.
> 
> Now, I  just hope I can get
> extended time for the blackboard quiz. It has to be manually changed for me to get extended time.
> 
> Ashley
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Arielle Silverman
> Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2013 9:57 PM
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nabs-l] Extended Time
> 
> Hi all,
> The last post about using extra time on quizzes got me thinking about
> why we automatically get extra time to take tests and whether or not
> this is a good idea. I think the extra time is intended to correct for
> any issues with our accommodations or technology that make test-taking
> slower; for example, it might make sense to use extra time if we have
> to have a scribe write an essay for us or if we are using a reader and
> asking them to repeat things or read answer choices a few times. Extra
> time also seems appropriate if we have a problem with technology
> breaking, files not downloading correctly, etc. But I question whether
> extra time is really appropriate for online quizzes, for example, or
> for Braille or large print tests.
> As a Braille reader I used extended time only on a few occasions and I
> found that I only "needed" it when, deep down, I didn't fully
> understand the material I was being tested on. This happened a lot
> when I had tactile diagrams to interpret since I have always been bad
> with spatial mapping and understanding tactile images. So I would use
> the extra time to agonize over test questions I didn't understand and
> then eventually guess an answer. I really don't think the extra time
> was helpful for either my test performance or my learning and I feel
> it only acted as a Band-Aid covering up the real issue which was that
> I didn't know how to interpret tactile images. Had I not been granted
> extended time this might have become a more pressing issue for me to
> deal with back in high school. Similarly, I worry that when Braille
> readers are automatically granted double time across the board, it
> allows teachers to grow complacent with slower Braille-reading speeds
> than is desirable and almost sets up the expectation that Braille
> reading is inherently slow. It might be appropriate to *temporarily*
> grant an individual student extended time while they are still in the
> process of building Braille fluency, but granting it to everybody who
> reads Braille is something that bothers me. I also question the
> implication that blind students just do things slower and that nothing
> can or should be done about it so just let them take extra time. I
> don't need to tell you that extended time is not granted in the job
> world and this is becoming more real for me as I approach graduation
> and employment myself.
> I'm not trying to belittle anybody who uses extended time. I am just
> proposing that we reflect a little on what the extra time is
> specifically meant to accomplish, why we use it and whether or not it
> is actually helpful. I would propose that we make mindful decisions
> about when to accept extended time and that we aim to use it only when
> it is truly necessary and beneficial. In order to grow as students
> progressing toward employment, I think we should also be aware of why
> we are finding ourselves needing extra time and see if there are skill
> issues we might be able to address so that we need it less in the
> future. In my own case my weakness with tactile diagrams probably
> won't impact me much on the job, but a weakness in Braille reading
> speed or Web navigation is something that can be addressed with
> training and practice and addressing it can make a person much more
> competitive on the job, and able to get the job done as efficiently as
> sightedd colleagues.
> Best,
> Arielle
> 
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