[blindlaw] Bar Exam Accommodations

[Gregory I. Vendeland]

I'm sitting for the exam in February too.  Having just gone through my last 
set of exams at law school, I can confirm that Soft-Test /Exam Soft does not 
prevent Jaws from working.  I've used this system with Jaws on multiple 
occassions.

The matter of the fixed time periods can e adjusted too because the ExamSoft 
system can be configured (by the test provider) to allow you different time 
allotments.

At the end of the day, I agree with Noel in that it's okay to consider using 
other methods including a typewriter, reader or others.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <AZNOR99 at aol.com>
To: <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 27, 2006 3:48 PM
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
>
>


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