The following information is about Pearson International GCSEs and AS/A Levels onscreen assessments and assessment platform. We want as many people as possible to be able to use the platform and the onscreen version of the assessments within it. We are working hard to continually improve the platform to achieve this goal and the compliance section will tell you more about how we are working towards it. 

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Currently

The current inbuilt accessibility functionality has been designed to allow students to:

  • Choose from a range of different colour options for the text and background.
  • Zoom in to enlarge the text and images on the screen.
  • Choose from a range of text sizes.
  • Navigate most of the platform and onscreen versions of the assessments using just a keyboard or touchscreen.

Please note:

We work to try and ensure that the images in our assessments are visually accessible for
everyone, including students who are colour blind. Choosing to use different colour filters or
options to view them with may affect this. We are working towards making our own inbuilt
colour filters compatible with our images.

If students zoom in or are using a small laptop or screen, they may notice that the layout changes
to try and better fit the size of your screen.
If students zoom in significantly (300-400%), they will still be able to access everything, but not as
easily, and we would not recommend it.

Text to speech apps and Screen readers have limited compatibility currently with our General
Qualification onscreen assessments. We are working to improve this, including providing an
inbuilt text to speech option. For now, we recommend that students use either a human reader,
or that a modified format is requested. Please see the section on ‘What to do if you cannot
access the onscreen platform or parts of it’ for details.

Customer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

More detailed general guidance and FAQs on our onscreen assessments are available on our onscreen assessment webpage.

What to do if you cannot access the onscreen Assessment platform or parts of it

We know some things within the onscreen assessment platform won’t meet the needs of all students and we are continually working to improve this.

Alternative formats, and modified versions are also available. Visit the modified formats page on our Pearson Qualifications website to find out more about them and how to apply for them.

Learn more about modified papers

Feedback

Ask us a question or give us your feedback about the accessibility of the onscreen assessments and platform.

We would love to hear your feedback when something is working well for you, or when something is not working so well. This is really important to help us continue to improve the experience for you and your students.

To give us your feedback, or to ask a question about the accessibility of our onscreen assessments or our assessment platform, please email us at internationalonscreen@pearson.com.

Feedback will be reviewed regularly.

How we are working to improve things

We are continually working to improve the platform and the onscreen versions of our assessments within it so that they are as accessible to as many learners as possible.

To do this:

  • The assessment platform and our onscreen assessments are being developed in line with the current Ofqual guidance on creating accessible assessments.
  • This means we are also taking into consideration the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA. As we continue to work towards this there will be some exceptions and limitations due to the nature of the current specifications, and necessary alignment with our other formats. Learn more about Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA.
  • To help inform our policy and continuous review we work and consult with internal and external accessibility experts and organisations representing our users’ needs, to help inform our progress.
  • Accessibility testing of our onscreen platform and onscreen assessments carried out by experienced external Quality Assurance teams who are both differently abled and IAAP CPACC and IAAP WAS certified. Informal internal testing and reviews by IAAP CPACC qualified colleagues are also carried out. Learn more about CPACC 
  • We try and ensure that user accessibility testing with people with a range of needs and requirements is carried out as part of our research and development process.

This Accessibility Statement was prepared on 6/12/2023 and it will be updated on an ongoing basis.