[nfbmi-talk] gmat to become accessable

[joe harcz Comcast]

In Addition to Live Readers, Blind Test Takers Can Take GMAT With Text-to-Speech Technology

Monday, November 24th, 2014

 

JAWS Accessibility One of Several Enhancements GMAC Made With ACT, Pearson VUE

 

RESTON, VA -- (Marketwired) -- Business school applicants with visual impairments can now take the Graduate Management Admission Test® exam with text-to-speech

assistive technology that allows them to take the exam without a human reader. The GMAT exam is the first standardized test delivered worldwide with highly

visual content to be fully accessible with JAWS® (Job Access with Speech) computer technology, the Graduate Management Admission Council announced today.

 

"Test takers with visual impairments utilize assistive technology in their everyday lives, and we are pleased to now offer the same capability to test takers

of the GMAT exam," said Kendra Johnson, GMAC director of disability policy and services. "Providing and improving access to our test, and, through the

GMAT, to the benefits of management education, is critical to our mission of connecting talent and aspiration with opportunity and to helping to create

a more diverse and representative candidate pool."

 

The GMAT exam is the standardized test used in admissions by more than 6,100 graduate business and management programs worldwide and delivered exclusively

by computer in more than 110 countries worldwide. It is administered by the Graduate Management Admission Council, a worldwide association of business

schools.

 

The JAWS technology is one of several recent enhancements GMAC has made to provide better access to the exam for test takers with disabilities. In October

2013, the GMAT was enhanced with ZoomText®, a screen enlargement for use by test takers with low vision. Previous enhancements include the addition of

embedded reader guidelines for the exam's Integrated Reasoning section, and the availability of the Official Guide for GMAT® Review in a digital talking

book format.

 

The addition of a JAWS delivery enables candidates to listen to the exam content independently, thus eliminating the need for a human reader. The technology

not only reads the written text, but also provides descriptions of graphics and other visual content, including spreadsheet-like sortable tables. Raised

line drawings will accompany the images found in the Quantitative and Integrated Reasoning sections of the exam.

 

Today's announcement is the result of months of development work by both ACT, Inc. and Pearson VUE, feedback from test takers with visual impairments, Freedom

Scientific, the makers of JAWS®, and the American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.

 

About GMAC: The Graduate Management Admission Council (

gmac.com)

is a nonprofit education organization of leading graduate business schools and owner of the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT exam), used by more

than 6,100 graduate business and management programs worldwide. GMAC is based in Reston, Virginia, and has regional offices in London, New Delhi and Hong

Kong. The GMAT exam -- the only standardized test designed expressly for graduate business and management programs worldwide -- is continuously available

at 600 test centers in 113 countries. More information about the GMAT exam is available at

mba.com.

For more information about GMAC, please visit

gmac.com/newscenter.

 

Media Contact:

Rich D'Amato

703.668.9675

 

Source:

http://www.newsmaker.com.au/news/33315/in-addition-to-live-readers-blind-test-takers-can-take-gmat-with-texttospeech-technology