How Students Sign In to the Student Interface

This section describes how students sign in to the Student Interface on the day of the test when starting a new test or resuming a paused test.

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How Students Sign In and Select Tests

When testing, students must sign in to the appropriate testing site. For sessions created in the Test Administrator Interface, students sign in to the Student Interface on the secure browser application for summative tests and secure browser application or conventional browsers for other tests.

Students may also take practice tests on the Student Practice Site to familiarize themselves with the online testing process. Aside from the sign-in process, the Student Practice Site has the same appearance and functionality as the Student Interface. For information on how students sign in to the Student Practice Site, refer to Practice Tests Site Student Sign-In Process.

How to Sign In to the Student Interface

1. Launch the secure browser application on the student’s testing device. The Student Sign-In page appears. If using a conventional browser, select the session link to navigate to the Student Interface. Text-to-Speech (TTS) is available on the Student Sign-in page when students select the TTS button.

2. Next, students enter the following information:

   1. In the First Name and TSDS ID fields, students enter their first name and TSDS ID as they appear in TIDE.

   2. If using the secure browser application, students enter the session ID as it appears on the Test Administrator Site. The first section of the three-part Session ID field that indicates whether a student is on the Student Interface or the Student Practice Site will be pre-populated. The dashes after this pre-filled information help guide students to fill in all characters of their Session ID

   3. Students select Sign In. The Is This You? page appears.

How to Verify Student Information

After signing in to the Student Interface, students must verify their personal information on the Is This You? Page:

• If all the information on the Is This You? page is correct, the student selects Yes to proceed (refer to Figure 33).

• If any of the information is incorrect, the student must select No.

You must notify the appropriate campus personnel that the student’s information is incorrect. Any student demographic information that is incorrect must be updated before the student can begin testing.

How to Select a Test

Students can select their tests from the Your Tests page that appears after students verify their personal information. The Your Tests page displays all the tests that a student is eligible to take. Students can only select tests that are included in the session and still need to be completed:

1. From the Your Tests Page that lists a student’s eligible tests in color-coded categories, the student selects the name of the test.

• Students may need to select the category that a test belongs to in order to display the list of tests that belong to that category.

• If a student’s required test is inactive or not displayed, the student should log out. You should verify that the test session includes the correct tests. If necessary, create a new session with additional tests.

2. For proctored sections, the student’s request is sent to the test administrator for approval and the student is take to the Waiting for Approval page. After you approve the student for testing, the student can proceed to the next step:

• If starting a new test, the student must complete the log in process before they begin testing.

• If resuming a paused test, the student is taken directly to the test page where they stopped the test, based on the applicable pause rules.

Please note that once the test administrator approves the test, the test content is displayed to the student in the language specific for the student’s test.

How to Verify Test Setting Information

Once students have been approved for testing, they can verify their test settings from the Your Test Settings page. At this point, the student’s actual test settings override any settings selected earlier in the sign-in process:

• If the settings are correct, the student selects OK to continue.

• If the settings are not correct, the student should select Undo Changes to log out of the Student Testing Site.

After you correct the student’s last test settings, the student must sign in and request approval again.

How to Check Student Device Functionality

Depending on the test content and the specified test settings, students may need to verify that their testing device is functioning properly from the Audio/Video Checks page. If a test does not require functionality checks, this page is skipped:

• From the Audio/Video Checks page that displays each required functionality check in its own panel, the student verifies each functionality as explained below.

• Once all functionality checks have been verified, the student automatically proceeds to the Instructions and Help page.

To proceed without verifying any functionality, the student selects Skip A/V Checks at the bottom of the page, and then select Yes in the affirmation message that appears.

How to Check Text-To-Speech Functionality

The Text-to-Speech Sound Check panel appears if a student has the text-to-speech (TTS) accommodation. Students can use TTS within the secure browser application, a supported Chrome, Firefox, or Edge browser.

If TTS does not work, students should log out. You can work with students to adjust their audio or headset controls, or give the students another device:

• From the Text-to-Speech Sound Check panel, students select Audio button and listen to the audio (refer to Icons).

  • If the voice is clearly audible, students select I heard the voice. A check mark appears on the confirmation button as well as on the upper-right corner of the panel, and students can proceed to the next functionality check if available.

  • If the voice is not clearly audible, students can use the sliders to adjust the settings and then select Audio button to listen to the audio again (refer to Icons).

  • If students still cannot hear the voice clearly, they select I did not hear the voice, which will open the Audio Check panel. The students can then select Try Again to return to the Text-to-Speech Sound Check panel and retry.

• Students can skip verifying the text-to-speech functionality by selecting Continue on the Audio Check panel or by selecting Skip TTS Check from the Text-to-Speech Sound Check panel.

Note: Students that have TTS enabled will automatically have the Read Aloud tool available for each page. This tool will appear once the system know that the student has the TTS or Auto TTS accommodation turned on in TIDE.

How to Check Audio Playback Functionality

The Audio Check panel appears for test with listening questions and allows students to verify that they can hear the sample audio

If the audio does not work, students should log out. You should troubleshoot the device and headphones or move the student to another device with working audio:

• From the Audio Check panel, students select Audio button and listen to the audio (refer to Icons).

-If the sound is clearly audible, the students select I heard the sound. A green check appears at the top right corner of the panel and students can proceed to the next functionality test.

-If the sound is not clearly audible, students select I did not hear the sound to open the Sound Check: Audio Problem panel.

• Students can select Try Again to return to the Audio Check panel and retry.

How to View Instructions and Begin Testing

The Instructions and Help page is the last step of the sign-in process. Students may review this page to understand how to navigate the test and use test tools as well as review their test settings. This page may also contain additional test instructions or acknowledgements that a student needs to review in order to proceed:

1. Optional: To review their test settings, students select View Test Settings. To close the window, students select OK.

2. To review additional test information or acknowledgements, if available, students review the information on the page and proceed as instructed.

3. Optional: To view the help guide, students select View Help Guide. To close the window, students select Back.

4. To start the test, students select Begin Test Now.