Introduction

Jurisdictions/testing organizations have transitioned from paper-based to digital assessments for many reasons. In my 2023 article,^[1] I provide highlevel descriptions of several benefits of digital assessments, related to authenticity, engagement, equity and inclusion, item and test development, test administration, scoring, feedback/reporting, data analytics, security, scalability, flexibility, environment/sustainability, and cost effectiveness. This article delves more deeply into two important benefits of digital assessments and their online interactive tools: accessibility and engagement.

In recent years, the majority of Canadian provincial and territorial large-scale student assessment programs, as well as the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada’s (CMEC) Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP), have transitioned/are transitioning from paper-based systems (or legacy systems) to modern, computer-based assessments.

The purpose of this article is to describe how technology can support/improve accessibility for and engagement of students in large-scale student assessment. In addition, anecdotal evidence from the jurisdictions’ experience with the digital solution (obtained through an online survey) provides an indication of the extent to which the assessment platform supports/improves student accessibility and engagement.

Accessibility

All testing organizations strive to include as many students as possible in their assessment programs. This is important, because assessments provide evidence-based information that helps students and parents / guardians understand how children are progressing with their learning and provides educators and policy-makers with data to help them determine how to improve student learning outcomes across the education system. Considering the importance of large-scale assessments, jurisdictions/testing organizations have a moral responsibility to make every reasonable effort to include as many students as possible to ensure fairness and equity for all. Beyond the moral responsibility, many jurisdictions have enacted legislation mandating equal opportunity for all individuals. For example, the Canadian Human Rights Act enshrines the principle:

“…that all individuals should have an opportunity equal with other individuals to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have and to have their needs accommodated, consistent with their duties and obligations as members of society, without being hindered in or prevented from doing so by discriminatory practices based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family status, genetic characteristics, disability….”^[2]

Since education (including assessment) is a vitally important service that affects a person’s ability to participate meaningfully in society, Canadian provinces’ and territories’ human rights commissions (e.g., British Columbia [B.C.] and Ontario) have developed policies that guarantee equal treatment in education as part of the protection for equal treatment in services.^[3] Accessibility, therefore, is an essential consideration when designing assessments to ensure all learners have an equal opportunity to show what they know and can do and perform at their best when taking assessments.

Ensuring accessibility in large-scale assessment involves designing, developing and implementing strategies to allow all students, including those with special education needs and disabilities, to participate and demonstrate their learning equitably. This includes providing accommodations, accessible formats and other supports. Most assessments allow accommodations for all students (e.g., quiet setting, supervised breaks, additional time) and a variety of presentation and response formats (e.g., Braille, e-Braille, and large-print versions; audio formats; interpreter/sign language; verbatim scribing; and assistive technology applications). In addition to these accommodations, the digital platform includes numerous, built-in interactive tools meant to improve accessibility. Following are examples of the types of online resources that are provided:

By way of illustration, the introduction to Alberta’s sample Grade 6 Provincial Assessment Test demonstrates and explains the various online, interactive tools available in the tool bar and can be accessed here: https://abed.vretta.com/#/en/testauth/shared-test-version/268/3895.

The service provider ensures that national, international and local accessibility guidelines are adhered to, including the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)^[4], Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990^[5] and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).^[6] The following four WCAG principles provide a framework for making web content accessible to a broad range of users:^[7]

• Perceivable: User interface should be logical and presentable to users in familiar ways so that they may perceive the information on the screen.

• Operable: Users must be able to operate and navigate all components of the solution they are meant to work with.

• Understandable: Users must be able to understand the information presented in the user interface and as well as operable components.

• Robust: Content should remain interpretable by a wide range of technologies, including assistive technologies, as they evolve.

To ensure adherence to these guidelines and standards, the service provider conducts regular accessibility conformance audits of the online platform’s relative success in meeting accessibility needs, and comprehensive audit reports are prepared.

Engagement

Increasingly, schools/classrooms have adopted technology-based tools for learning, and students have become increasingly tech-savvy preferring to do their work on computers as opposed to paper. Many believe that static, paper-based assessments are dull/boring; however, they tend to be more engaged and motivated with computer-based, online assessments that contain a variety of item/task types and use multimedia such as maps, diagrams, photographs, animation, video and audio. Engagement is advanced even more when technology-enhanced items (TEIs), including game-like simulations are used. Furthermore, where appropriate, there is the potential for test takers to receive real-time feedback/results. The findings of a meta-analysis (2023) showed that the use of computer-based assessments could have a positive impact on intrinsic motivation and engagement.^[8]

The digital platform includes an extensive array of interactive item/task types to enhance test taker engagement. In addition to the standard selected and constructed-response items, other innovative formats include the following:

• Multi-Select (like multiple-choice, but more than one option can be chosen)

• Selection-Table (similar to a series of multiple-choice questions but arranged in a table)

• Hot Spot (similar to multiple-choice items, but where specific sections of an image are selectable)

• Drop-Down Menu

• Drag and Drop

• Open Text Input

• Number Input (including integers, decimals, fractions and ratios)

Examples of the various assessment item/task formats are presented below.

Sample/practice tests, which demonstrate the wide variety of engaging items/tasks, can be accessed via the links below:

Alberta Tests: https://abed.vretta.com/#/en/public-practic

B.C. Foundation Skills Assessments: https://bced.vretta.com/#/en/bced-landing/fsa/sample

B.C. Graduation Assessments: https://bced.vretta.com/#/en/bced-landing/grad/sample

Ontario/EQAO Primary (Grade 3) Assessments: https://eqao.com/the-assessments/primary-division/

Ontario/EQAO Junior (Grade 6) Assessments: https://eqao.com/the-assessments/junior-division/

Ontario/EQAO Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics: https://eqao.com/the-assessments/grade-9-math/

Ontario/EQAO Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT): https://eqao.com/the-assessments/osslt/

User Experience

A brief online survey of provinces and territories currently using digital, online solutions provides an indication of the extent to which their assessment platform supports/improves student accessibility and engagement. A link to the anonymous survey was distributed via e-mail to the seven provinces and territories utilizing computer-based assessments. Six jurisdictional contacts completed the questionnaire. In response to the question “To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: The digital platform (interactive assessment tools) improves/supports accessibility for test takers,” all respondents indicated they “Agree” or “Strongly Agree.” Among these respondents, two (33%) selected “Agree” and four (67%) selected “Strongly Agree.” The following written comments were provided to explain the ratings:

• “In my experience the digital platform allows for specific supports that are always being created and improved upon, especially where capacity issues don’t allow all students with personal supports.”

• “Comments from our interactions with our student committee and our school board educators have stated that these have been supportive for students. We also have student questionnaire data that supports the decrease in anxiety for the digital format.”

• “The online tools improved accessibility by providing features such as text-to-speech and screen magnification that support students, particularly those with disabilities.”

• “Digital tools often include many inbuilt accessibility features such as font size scaling, background colour selection, line isolators, etc. These tools can be offered universally without the need for special accommodations. Sometimes the stigma associated with special accommodations discourages students from writing assessments, so having universally available tools for accommodation increases the probability that students will participate.”

In response to the question “To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: The digital platform (interactive assessment tools) improves/supports engagement of test takers,” all respondents indicated they “Agree” or “Strongly Agree.” Among these respondents, three (50%) selected each of the “Agree” and “Strongly Agree” ratings. The following written comments were provided to explain the ratings:

• “When students have been trained/practiced on a digital platform the level of familiarity improves competence and confidence.”

• “Again, all of our interactions with our stakeholders have been positive….”

• “The online interactive tools improve student engagement by offering a variety of item/task types, such as multimedia and gamification, etc., which make assessments more interesting, authentic and motivating for students.”

• “Students in the modern classroom are used to working with digital tools. I have two children in the school systems and I would estimate 90% of their regular classroom work is done digitally using apps on their school assigned Chromebooks. Students are more likely to be engaged in an assessment that uses the same method as their classroom instruction.”

Conclusion

Employing a range of beneficial/necessary assessment accommodations for students, incorporating an assortment of helpful online interactive resources/tools, and offering a variety of authentic and interesting item/task types can have a positive impact on students’ ability to participate in large-scale assessments and contribute to their active involvement and focus while taking them. Although the amount of data derived from the online survey is modest, indications are that the Canadian jurisdictions implementing digital solutions believe that the use of online, interactive tools/technology supports/improves student accessibility and engagement in large-scale assessment.

About the Author

Richard Jones has extensive experience in the fields of large-scale educational assessment and program evaluation. He has worked in the assessment and evaluation field for more than 35 years. Prior to founding RMJ Assessment, he held senior leadership positions with the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) in Ontario, as well as the Saskatchewan and British Columbia Ministries of Education. In these roles, he was responsible for initiatives related to student, program and curriculum evaluation; education quality indicators; school and school board improvement planning; school accreditation; and provincial, national and international testing.

Dr. Jones began his career as an educator at the elementary, secondary and post-secondary levels. Subsequently, he was a researcher and senior manager for a multi-national corporation delivering consulting services in the Middle East.

Feel free to reach out to Richard “Rick” at richard.jones@rmjassessment.com (or on LinkedIn) to inquire about best practices in large-scale assessment and program evaluation.

Acknowledgement

The author wishes to express his appreciation to the Canadian provincial and territorial contacts who participated in the online survey concerning the user experience with the digital assessment solution. He also thanks Vretta’s staff members who provided helpful information about their assessment platform, including associated functions and features.

References

[1] Jones, R.M. (2023, August). Value of large-scale, online student assessments. E-assessment Association. Retrieved March 25, 2025 from: https://e-assessment.com/news/value-of-large-scale-online-student-assessments/.

[2] Government of Canada. (1985). Canadian Human Rights Act. Retrieved March 29, 2025 from: https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/h-6/page-1.html.

[3] Ontario Human Rights Commission. (2018, March). Policy on Accessible Education for Students with Disabilities. Retrieved March 25, 2025 from: https://www3.ohrc.on.ca/en/policy-accessible-education-students-disabilities. BC Human Rights Commission. (2020, June). Human Rights, Accessibility, Inclusion, and Transformation. Retrieved March 25, 2025 from: https://bchrc.net/human-rights-accessibility-inclusion-and-transformation/.

[4] Government of Ontario. (2005). Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Retrieved May 6, 2025 from: https://Ontario.ca/laws/statute/05a11.

[5] U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. (1990). Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. (1990). Retrieved May 6, 2025 from: https://ada.gov/law-and-regs/ada/

[6] W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (2024, December). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. Retrieved May 6, 2025 from: https://w3.org/TR/WCAG21/.

[7] Vretta Inc. (2025). Accessibility Policy. Retrieved May 3, 2025 from: https://vretta.com/accessibility-statement

[8] Suparman, A.R., Rohaeti, E., & Wening, S. (2023). Effect of computer based test on motivation: A meta-analysis. European Journal of Educational Research. 12(4), 1583-1599. Retrieved March 30, 2025 from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374738967_Effect_of_Computer_Based_Test_on_Motivation_A_Meta-Analysis

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