Testing with Screen Magnifier Technology

Screen magnifier assistive technology enlarges the content displayed on the computer screen in order to assist students with visual impairments. Although TDS supports some non-embedded screen magnifier tools from third parties, it is recommended that students use the embedded zoom tools in TDS. These embedded tools were designed to magnify assessment content in the most intuitive and user-friendly manner for students. The Texas Assessment Program can track and gather data about students’ embedded tool use.

The embedded zoom tools in the secure browser application allow students to magnify assessment content to the following levels:

1X (default)
1.5X
1.75X
2.5X
3X

The following additional zoom levels are available in online refreshable braille assessments:

5X
10X
15X
20X

The table below provides a list of third-party screen magnifier tools that can be used in TDS. The non-embedded screen magnifier tools listed in the following table come with an increased risk of interoperability issues, require students to manually pan the magnification tool across the screen, and can include unwanted features that should not be used while testing. The Texas Assessment Program can track and gather data about students’ non-embedded tool use.

Third-Party Screen Magnifier Applications
Product	System Requirements	Additional Details
ZoomText Magnifier Supported Versions: 2022, 2023, 2024	Operating Systems: Windows 10, 11, 12 Server 2016 R2 Minimum System Requirements: 2.0 GHz i5 dual core Processor, 8 GB RAM	ZoomText includes a SpeakIt text-to-speech tool that can be used to read aloud passages, which is not permitted on RLA tests. Students testing with ZoomText should use the magnification features only. It is recommended that students requiring text-to-speech support use the secure browser application’s embedded TTS tools, and that students requiring screen readers use Job Access With Speech (JAWS) or Fusion.
Fusion Professional (combines JAWS screen reader with ZoomText) Supported Versions: 2019, 2020, 2021	Operating Systems: Windows 10, 11, 12 Server 2016 R2 Minimum System Requirements: 2.0 GHz i7 dual core Processor, 16 GB RAM	Requires additional setup before use with TDS (see Configuration Instructions for JAWS).
Magic Magnifier (with optional text-to-speech) Supported Versions: 14.0.1512, 15.0.2014 (both versions are now discontinued)	Windows 10, 2016 R2	Magic 15 was discontinued on December 31, 2020. However, you can continue to use it if it is already installed on student devices. Use this application at your discretion. TDS cannot confirm that appropriate configurations are in use during a test, so students may have access to prohibited features.