The following information is about Pearson International GCSEs and IALs 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:
    • Grey on light grey
    • Black on soft yellow*
    • Purple on light green
    • Black on greyish green*
    • Black on greyish red*
    • Black on violet
    • Black on soft blue*
    • Yellow on navy
    • White on black

* (new as of September 2024)

  • Zoom in to enlarge the text and images on the screen.
  • Choose from a range of text sizes.

These options are available from the assessment’s ‘Start’ screen so they can be set by the student before the assessment time begins.
They are also the first option available in the Assessment Player toolbar menu.
Once set, options will remain in place on the candidates account for other assessments, unless changed by the user.

Students can also:

  • View the assessment content in Full Screen mode by selecting that option from the toolbar.
  • Highlight text by selecting it and then choosing a highlight colour from the menu that appears.
  • Navigate most of the platform and onscreen versions of the assessments using just a keyboard or touchscreen.

In addition:

We have worked to optimise assessment instructions so that they are appropriate to assessments onscreen. We have also worked to make sure that the structure and language is clearer to all students, but especially those who are neurodiverse.

Please note:

Images:

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.

Zoom:

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 their 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:

These have limited compatibility currently with our General Qualification onscreen assessments. We are working to improve this, including providing an inbuilt text to speech option. We have also started to improve the text hierarchy navigation experience for screen reader users. 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 Assessment Platform or parts of it’ for details.

Spell check:

Provision of a spell checker for those students who require it as an access requirement is not something we can accommodate currently however it is something we are working on.

Customer 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 aspects of 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 IAAP 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 updated on 10/12/2024 and it will be updated on an ongoing basis.