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.
On this Page
- 1 How Students Sign In and Select Tests
- 2 How to Verify Student Information
- 3 How to Select a Test
- 4 Modify Test Settings
- 5 How to Verify Test Setting Information
- 6 How to Check Student Device Functionality
- 7 How to Check Text-To-Speech Functionality
- 8 How to Check Audio Playback Functionality
- 9 How to View Instructions and Begin Testing
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
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 for operational and practice tests. For operational tests, TTS is an embedded support that must be enabled in TIDE. For practice tests, the TTS setting is editable by the student in TDS on the Student Sign-in page when students select the TTS button on the Text-to-Speech card.
Students select Sign In. The Is This You? page appears. Students can modify some login screen settings. Those changes persist until you confirm or set the actual test settings during the TA approval process. These settings may include audio volume; Text-to-Speech volume, pitch, and speed/rate; zoom level; messages and other elements are displayed in the Student Testing Site; background and text color; and mouse pointer size and color.
To update these settings, students select in the top-right corner of the Student Sign-in page to open the Test Settings panel. Then they select their preferred options from those available and select Apply.
If the Continue as Guest button appears on the page, refer to step 2 in the Practice Test Site Student Sign-in Process section for information.
Students enter their sign-in credentials by entering them manually. Refer to the TIDE User Guide for additional information.
When students are manually entering their sign-in credentials, in the First Name and TSDS ID fields, they enter their first name and TSDS ID as they appear in TIDE. Then they select Sign In.
If there is an error, the student sign-in page will appear with an error message asking the student to try again or check with their Test Administrator.
How to Verify Student Information
The Is This You? page appears, and students check their information.
If their information is correct, students select Yes. The Login Session page appears.
If any of the information is incorrect, the student must select No. You must notify the appropriate school personnel that the student’s information is incorrect. Incorrect student demographic information must be updated in TIDE before the student begins testing.
On the Login Session page, students enter their session ID manually.
When students are manually entering their session ID, then in the Session ID field, students enter the session ID as it appears on the TA Site. Then they select Join Session, and their test begins.
The first part of the Session ID, which indicates whether a student is on the Student Testing Site or the Student Training Site, is pre-filled. The dashes after this pre-filled information help guide students to fill in all characters of their Session ID. Then their test begins.
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:
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.
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.
Modify Test Settings
Once students have been approved for testing, depending on their accommodations and test settings, they may be able to change some test settings.
To change available settings, students select the System Settings icon in the upper-right corner of the page.
In the Test Settings panel, students select their preferred settings from the available options.
If the audio volume can be changed, students can use the slider to increase or decrease the volume in the Audio section.
If Text-to-Speech is available to read the page directions aloud, students can use the sliders in the Text-to-Speech section to adjust the audio volume, pitch, and rate.
If the zoom level can be changed, students can use the slider to increase or decrease the zoom level from the Zoom section.
If the background and text color can be changed, students can select an option from the Color Choices section.
If the mouse pointer can be changed, students can select size and color options from the Mouse Pointer section.
To apply the settings, students select Apply.
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. This page automatically advances through all available functionality checks as students successfully complete each one. 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:
Optional: To review their test settings, students select View Test Settings. To close the window, students select OK.
To review additional test information or acknowledgements, if available, students review the information on the page and proceed as instructed.
Optional: To view the help guide, students select View Help Guide. To close the window, students select Go Back.
To start the test, students select Begin Test Now.
In some browsers, for tests with media that autoplays, a message may appear prompting students to click OK to continue. Students select OK.