Making e-exams accessible

At the beginning of 2022, a survey on digital accessibility was conducted at the four project universities as part of SHUFFLE. Students, teaching staff, instructors, lectures and managers were surveyed in an online survey and in interviews.

In the online survey, students were asked about barriers in digital examinations, among other things. 60% of respondents who have already taken part in digital examinations have encountered the following barriers:

• Processing time
• Sensory overload
• Stress and mental strain (due to insecurities about handling digital content and technology, fear of being observed, difficulty concentrating)
• Problems with a stable internet connection
• Inadequate hardware and software

The results of the survey indicate that fundamental problems may exist in digital examinations.

One student commented on the processing time as follows:

"Unfortunately, the given time for most online exams were extremely short. Professors should understand that we are humans too and we need time to read, think and answer the questions given. I think they are doing this to prevent us from "cheating", but we are human, it is not possible to respond in a second like robots. How can I focus on questions if I'm looking at the remaining time every ten seconds and my heart beats twice as fast as it should?"

The question "To what extent do you cope with the following aspect: e-exams on the learning platform?" revealed that only around a third cope (very) well with e-exams on learning platforms. Just under a third cope partially with e-exams and a third (not at all).

Figure: Diagram for the question "How do you cope with e-exams?", own illustration.