[NFBCS] Pearson VUE Testing Acomodations for the ISC2 Certified Information Systems Professional (CISSP) Exam

[Harry Staley]

BLUF:
Pearson VUE IMHO does not provide equal access for people with disabilities.

SITUATION:
The CISSP exam is a professional Cybersecurity exam that costs $750.00 every time you sit for the exam regardless of your passing status. Also not that only %20 of test takers pass the exam on their first try. The exam is a 125 to 175 Computer Adaptive Exam (CAT) where the answers you give early on in the exam determine what questions you get further on in the exam and an algorithm is used to determine whether giving you more questions would help the algorithm determine your pass or failure on the exam.

ACCOMMODATION REQUEST AND SCHEDULING:
After several months of study and preparation I requested reasonable accommodations in the form of extended time and the use of large white board markers, and a reader on the exam. I was not told that I needed to provide anything for the exam in fact I was told that I should not bring anything into the testing area unless explicitly instructed to.

ISC2 and Pearson approved the accommodations.

I scheduled my exam in early November requesting a date in December and was told that I would need to wait 3-5 days for Pearson to contact me to offer me an available date that was convenient for them. I was contacted 5 days later and was offered a date that was in less than 10 days from that date. I asked for a different date possibly in January. I was contacted the following week and was given a January 8th exam date and I accepted the appointment.

This process is just quite simply a bad process and is not conducive to those who are working professionals in the cybersecurity field.

EXAM DAY:
I arrived at the testing center 45 minutes prior to my exam start time. I got checked in for my exam and was told that I was to provide the large white board markers for the exam and I would forfeit my exam time if I left the center to go purchase the item and came back due to the extended time going past the hours of operation for the center. The center attendant had numerous of these pens on her desk asking about them she reiterated that I needed to provide them for the exam.

I was able to phone my wife and she bought some pens from the store and brought them to me. I got started on the exam and the reader was reading the Non-Disclosure Agreement prior to starting the exam and the exams suddenly stopped letting us know that we did not agree to the NDA in the allotted time limit. 

The software did not show a timer nor was there a pop up notifying myself or the reader that we had a time limit to read and accept the NDA. The exam administrator escorted me and the reader out of the testing area stating that she could not reset the exam and that I would need to contact Pearson and ISC2 support.

I have contacted Pearson VUE and they have denied me the ability to reschedule the exam without providing a new voucher or paying for the exam again. I contacted ISC2 and gave them the situation and the promptly provided me with a new exam voucher so that I can take the exam.

I have rescheduled the exam and am waiting to hear back as to when it is convenient for Pearson VUE to allow me to test.

I would hope that the NFB would take up this cause because there are lots of high stakes testing situations that are minimally required for us as Blind people advance in our careers as technologists.

Harry Staley
(330) 718-1876
Hstaley at nfbtx.org