Online Quizzes, Tests, and Exams Accommodations
If you are registered with SAS and have extra time or other test accommodations, here's how the process works for online assessments.
Questions or concerns? Don't hesitate to get in touch with our Accessibility Assistants for help at sas.assist@uoguelph.ca.
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How Testing Accommodations Work
For CourseLink Quizzes, some instructors use a tool that automatically applies extra time accommodations. Others may manually add the extra time or use different platforms (like Dropbox). Instructors can sign in to SAS’s instructor portal to view accommodation details. This usually happens about a week before the test or exam.
There are some quizzes, tests and exams that use Universal Extra Time, which means extra time is already built in.
How to Check Your Accommodations
Before your quiz or exam:
1. Check your course outline or announcements in CourseLink.
- Click on the Quizzes tab in the navigation bar
- Click on the name of the assessment from the quiz list
- Read the instructions. If extra time has been applied, it will be reflected in the "Time allowed" field.
2. Check the quiz instructions.
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Look at the “Time Allowed” section to see if extra time has been added. Sometimes, extra time is only added the night before the quiz.
3. Check Dropbox or other tools.
- If the assignment is timed (e.g. a 1–2 hour window), your deadline may be adjusted.
- If you have several days to complete it and need an accommodation, contact your SAS Advisor.
If you’re unsure or don’t see the extra time listed, email your instructor and copy your SAS Advisor. Be sure to follow any instructions already provided in the course outline or announcements.
Check the Status of Your Booking Request
What To Do If Extra Time Is Missing
If an approved accommodation is not available to you at the time that you go to write the test or exam, get help before you start writing.
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Do not begin the assessment.
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Reach out for help immediately.
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Contact your instructor and copy your SAS Advisor.
For other accommodation issues or if you are planning in advance, please email your instructor and copy your SAS Advisor to ask about arrangements. Make sure you have checked that the professor has not given other instructions first.
Specific Situations
Extra 15 or 30 Minutes: Occasionally, students get a specific number of additional minutes regardless of the length of the test (usually 15 or 30 minutes). This is only applied automatically to quizzes, tests and exams when the class is given 30 minutes or more. If you need these extra minutes for shorter assessments, please contact your SAS advisor.
Tests That Go Past 9:00 PM: The academic day finishes at 9 pm. If you have a test or exam where your accommodations would extend past this time, you may be able to start a little bit earlier. For CourseLink quizzes, this should be reflected in the "quiz period" when your accommodations are set up.
Respondus Monitor and LockDown Browser
Some online tests use Respondus Monitor and/or LockDown Browser to prevent cheating:
- Respondus Monitor uses your webcam to record during the exam. Respondus & Accessibility: Info for Instructors
- LockDown Browser limits what you can access on your device.
If Respondus causes a disability-related barrier, contact your SAS Advisor before the test.
Complete the sample quiz if your instructor provides one. This helps ensure your system works properly before the actual assessment.
Important: You must finish the setup and begin answering the first question before the quiz period ends, or you will be locked out.
Writing On Campus
If your class is writing a test on campus and you have approved accommodations, you can book a spot in the SAS Exam Centre.
- Book your test at least 10 business days in advance. Review Exam Booking Deadlines
- Schedule Your Exam Booking
Writing on a Different Day or Time than your Class
If you need to write your exam on a different day or time than the class, you must first make a booking for the time the class writes before the booking deadline. This ensures you have a booking that SAS will adjust after you have forwarded approval from your professor to the Exam Center (sasexams@uoguelph.ca) with the new date/time. Please send this approval no later than 7 days before the exam date.