Why accommodations and proctoring often clash
Most proctoring rules assume one kind of candidate: someone who sits still, looks at the screen, stays silent and finishes in the set time. A candidate who needs an accommodation will often break those assumptions.
- A candidate who reads questions aloud can trigger audio flags.
- A candidate with a movement disorder can trigger movement flags.
- A candidate using screen-reading or dictation software can look like they are running a forbidden app.
- A candidate who needs breaks can look like they left the exam.
- A candidate whose face is hard for a camera to match can fail an identity check.
If the system treats those signals as misconduct, accommodations turn into accusations. Accessible online proctoring starts with refusing to treat them that way.
What works today
Behavior that is never misconduct
In Proctorly, unusual audio and movement are raised as signals for a person to review in context, never as findings. Reading aloud, assistive tools, household noise and disability-related movement are not misconduct. A trained reviewer looks at each flag and records a decision with a reason, and only your institution decides an outcome. No automated flag fails a candidate. Our human review proctoring page explains more.
Before anything is flagged, on-screen nudges remind a candidate of the rules, such as staying in view. Every nudge is logged.
If an identity check fails, it goes to a person and never to an automatic fail.
Devices, browsers and connection
Candidates can take the exam on a laptop, desktop, tablet or mobile phone with a camera and microphone, in Chrome, Safari, Edge or Ulaa. They need a connection of at least 512 Kbps download and 128 Kbps upload. Some exams also ask candidates to install a small desktop app on a Windows computer, and the exam link says so.
Exam settings and support
- Sections and rules: section timers, locked or free navigation and instructions for each section.
- Record-only sittings: for practice or low-stakes tests, the session is recorded without raising flags.
- Self-booking: candidates book their own slot from the available times.
- Support: candidates can reach support from the help link on the exam screen, 24×7 during exams.
- Choosing the level: you set the assurance level for each exam, so you can pick a lighter level where the stakes allow.
Agree with our team, when you set up the exam, how individual accommodations such as extra time will apply to a specific candidate.
Accommodations and candidate support
- Accommodations recorded per candidate. We plan to let you record extra time, breaks, permitted assistive software and reading aloud as accommodations that travel with the candidate and stop the flags they would otherwise cause.
- Candidates who cannot use face verification. If some of your candidates can’t use face verification, talk to us and we will plan the exam with you.
- Resume after a dropped connection. Resuming the exam after a dropped connection with answers kept, along with written timer rules for disconnections and extra time, is planned.
- A public system check. Before the real exam, candidates can run the system check, webcam test and microphone test in the browser without logging in. Nothing is stored.
- Evidence labels that keep a technical failure in its own category, out of the integrity score, are planned.
Our accessibility testing
We have carried out accessibility testing on the candidate experience, and we keep testing as the product changes.
This page does not claim conformance with any accessibility standard. If your procurement process needs a specific accessibility document, tell us which one, and we will be honest about what we can provide.
How to set up accommodations for a proctored exam
This process works on any platform:
- Collect requests early. Ask candidates to request accommodations when they register, well before exam day.
- Decide each request under your policy. The decision belongs to your disability or student support office. The proctoring tool has no say in it.
- Tell the exam team before the sitting. Share the agreed accommodations with whoever sets up the exam and whoever reviews flags.
- Choose the right level. For some candidates, a lighter assurance level or a different identity route may be fairer.
- Brief reviewers. Make sure reviewers know that agreed accommodations are not misconduct, and that they read every flag with that in mind.
- Check outcomes. After the exam, see whether candidates with accommodations were flagged more often, and fix the cause if they were.
Our proctoring bias page explains how we monitor fairness across devices, networks, lighting and accommodations.
For candidates who need an accommodation
If you need extra time, breaks, assistive software, reading aloud or another accommodation, ask your institution as early as you can before the exam. Your institution decides on accommodations and can tell us how to set up your exam.
On exam day, if something doesn’t work the way you agreed, contact support straight away through the help link on your exam screen. Support is available 24×7 during exams. After the exam, the AI may raise flags, but a person reviews every one, and only your institution decides the outcome. If you disagree with a decision, ask your institution about its appeal process.
Frequently asked questions
What are proctoring accommodations?
They are changes to the way a proctored exam runs, so that a candidate with a disability or another need can take it fairly. Common examples are extra time, breaks, permitted assistive software, reading questions aloud and a different way to confirm identity. Your institution decides each accommodation under its policy, and the proctoring platform should apply it without flagging the candidate for it.
Will I be flagged for reading aloud or using assistive software?
In Proctorly, reading aloud, assistive tools, household noise and disability-related movement are not misconduct. Unusual audio and movement are raised only as signals for a person to review in context. A trained reviewer looks at each flag, and only your institution decides an outcome. Accommodations that stop these flags automatically are planned.
Can I take a proctored exam without facial recognition?
Ask your institution what options it offers. Institutions can talk to us about candidates who cannot use face verification, and we will plan the exam with them. A failed face check in Proctorly never leads to an automatic fail. It goes to a person, who looks at what happened and records a decision with a reason.
Is Proctorly accessible?
We have carried out accessibility testing on the candidate experience, and testing is ongoing. We do not claim conformance with any accessibility standard here. Candidates can use a laptop, desktop, tablet or phone, in Chrome, Safari, Edge or Ulaa.
How do online exam accommodations like extra time work?
Your institution approves the accommodation, and the exam is then set up to apply it. Written timer rules for extra time and disconnections are planned, as are accommodations that travel with the candidate from exam to exam. For now, agree each candidate’s accommodation with our team when the exam is set up, so reviewers know what to expect.