Introduction
Welcome to yet another, Brailliance article! We bring you another shorter article discussing exam mode on your braille display. Exam mode can be used, for instance, if you are taking state standardized testing, where it will disable EVERYTHING, except the USB connection and the braille terminal. Essentially, this mode will turn your smart braille display into a very dumb one, only capable of use with your computer and a screen reader.
Activating Exam Mode
To begin, locate “Activate Exam Mode” in the settings/options menu of your braille display. When you prress “Enter,” you will be presented with two fields you have to fill out.
Exam Duration
In here, how long will the test take? You can enter a value from 1 minute up to 360 minutes. That is, 1 minute up to 6 hours. Make sure you input the value in minute format. For example, 120 minutes for 2 hours.
Password
In here, you can input ANYTHING your heart desires. Literally, this is not picky on how many letters, numbers, special characters, or length of the password. However, if you’re a teacher, you may not want to tell your sttudent what the password is, or do not use basic passwords that the student can recognize. Remember, on braille keyboard models, you may want to switch to computer braille if you are going to do letters, numbers, and punctuation by pressing “Backspace+G.”
Exam Mode in Action
Once you hit “OK,” after completing the fields mentioned above, your braille display will automatically go to the braille terminal, in USB connection. From here, the timer will start. No matter what you do, the device will stay in exam mode until the timer is up. You can turn off the device, reset it, put it on stand by, and the timer will keep going. If the student presses “Home,” it will take them back to the main menu, but the only options are going to be either “Terminal, Power off, or Unlock exam mode.” If you select “Unlock Exam Mode,” it will ask you for the password you set up. If you enter it wrong, it will mention the password was wrong, and will wait for you to enter it again. If for some reason, you, as a teacher, forget your password, you must wait for the timer to expire before things can be enabled again. Technical support cannot send you a special file to put on the display to reverse it, you MUST wait. Once the timer ends or you unlock it with the password, your braille display will say, “Exam Mode Finished.” Any bluetooth devices will be re-connected, and everything will return to normal.
Conclusion
Exam mode is a pretty useful tool if you just want a way to continue having braille support when taking a standard test on a computer. We really hope this article was useful, especially to those that have been trying to disable some features temporarily so the students can focus! Happy testing!