[blindlaw] Bar Exam Accommodations

[Nightingale, Noel]

Isn't your exam going to be proctored?  If it is, I would think the
proctor can monitor what you are accessing on your computer.  It
certainly seems an unreasonable request for you to unload all programs
on your computer other than Word and JAWS, if not impossible since Word
is bundled with Office, is it not?

If all else fails, why not use a reader and a typewriter?  When I took
the bar exam, I was not an expert user of readers and hadn't used a
typewriter for years, but it worked fine.  The caveat is that you must
have a good reader of your choosing.

Noel
 

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of AZNOR99 at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, December 27, 2006 3:49 PM
To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindlaw] Bar Exam Accommodations

Hi Everyone,
 
I wondered if those of you who've already taken the Bar Exam can give me
some advice.  I'm scheduled to sit for the exam this February in
Illinois.  
Until recently, all the plans for accommodations seemed to be  going
fine.  Last week, the Board of Admission to the Illinois Bar rep who
handles ADA matters contacted me to let me know that I would be allowed
to use  my Jaws-enabled laptop to write the essay portion of the exam
with the condition  that my computer be wiped of everything except one
word processing program and  Jaws.  I wrote back to ask her to be more
specific about their  requirements.  For example, who would be doing the
wiping - the Board or  myself?  Do they literally want everything wiped
and all programs  uninstalled, or do they want to just make sure I don't
have any BarBri/PMBR  documents or law school files that would be 
useful for cheating purposes?   Obviously, I am not willing to waste
valuable 
study time to wipe my computer,  and I certainly lack the expertise to
figure out what is crucial and what is not  for my laptop to operate.
Also, I don't think I want to wipe five years of  work and programs for
one day's use.  If they want to do the wiping, I'm  not sure I trust
anyone with the personal information I have on my computer, and  again,
depending on how long they need to do it, it might interfere with
valuable study time.
 
In Illinois, the Board gives students who don't need accommodations the
option to type the essay portion of the exam using software called
SofTest.  The software works as a word processing program, and it also
lockes all other applications so the user can't access anything but
SofTest.  I can't use SofTest because it would lock Jaws out and also
because there are concrete time limits on each exam, meaning I would not
have  extended time. 
 
As an alternative, I suggested the Board get a copy of Jaws and install
it on one of their own machines so they'd be able to regulate what is on
the machine themselves.  The rep said they'd consider that option, but
they  believe that it would probably be cost prohibitive.  
 
What did you all do about the essay portion?  I've never used a live
reader before on an exam, and I don't think the Bar Exam is an
appropriate time  to experiment with one.  If I had concrete examples of
how other states  deal with this issue, it might help convince Illinois
to find a sollution that  works for all of the parties involved.  
 
Thanks,
Ronza