Testing Accommodations for Canvas

Extended test time is based on the amount of time students without accommodations will have for the exam.  For instance, if students in class have 20 minutes for a quiz, students with time-and-a-half will have 30 minutes, and students with double-time will have 40 minutes. 

Students who receive testing accommodations must also receive those accommodations while taking exams through Canvas. New Quizzes allow faculty to set extended time for individual students within a course. You can find instructions on how to do this in the sections below.

If you are using a testing platform other than Canvas, please contact the SAS Testing Center at tests@ithaca.edu if you have questions.

New Quizzes offer different methods for adding extended time. There are actually two options for doing this:

1. Set extended time limits for a student that will apply to ALL New Quizzes within the course.
2. Add time to a single quiz attempt. This CANNOT be done while the student is actively taking the quiz. If time limits for a student are changed while a student is actively taking the assessment, the student will NOT receive extended time.

Note: Make sure that the Available Until date provides enough time for students receiving extended time. All quizzes will be automatically submitted when the Available Until date is reached.

To extend time limits for ALL New Quizzes for a given student

1. Create and PUBLISH your quiz.
2. Click the “Build” button at the bottom of the page.
3. At the top of the Build module, click “Settings” to establish a time limit for the quiz that will apply to the entire class.
4. Click “Moderate” to view information about individual students.
5. Click the pencil icon (Edit) under the “Accommodations” heading.
6. Modify the time adjustments for the student by selecting “Give Additional Time” or “Time Limit Multiplier”. For SAS accommodations, it is easiest to use “Time Limit Multiplier” to add extra time based on the accommodations listed in the students’ Accommodation Letter (the most common are one and a half times (1.5x) and double time (2x) for exams).
7. Click the “Save” button.
8. You will now see the extended time granted to that student. This extended time will be applied to ALL New Quiz attempts for the course.

New Quizzes offer different methods for adding extended time. There are actually two options for doing this:

1. Set extended time limits for a student that will apply to ALL New Quizzes within the course.
2. Add time to a single quiz attempt. This CANNOT be done while the student is actively taking the quiz. If time limits for a student are changed while a student is actively taking the assessment, the student will NOT receive extended time.

Note: Make sure that the Available Until date provides enough time for students receiving extended time. All quizzes will be automatically submitted when the Available Until date is reached.

To extend the time limit for a SINGLE New Quiz for a given student

1. Create and PUBLISH your quiz.
2. Click the “Build” button at the bottom of the page.
3. At the top of the Build module, click “Settings” to establish a time limit for the quiz that will apply to the entire class.
4. Click “Moderate” to view information about individual students.
5. The pop-out panel shows how many attempts have already been made for the assessment, how much time the student is granted (including time set using the accommodation method).
6. Use the “Time adjustments” drop-down and the “Hours” and “Minutes” fields to give additional time or remove all time limits for this quiz.
7. Any additional time given for the quiz will now show under the “Accommodations” heading.

Note: It is not possible to use the Moderation settings to REMOVE time from a quiz attempt.

Note: Moderating a single quiz will apply any moderation settings on top of any accommodations that have already been set.

Students who require an auditory presentation of a test, or who need the services of a scribe, for on-campus exams may also require them for online exams.  Students must request online exams through the SAS Alternative Testing Request Form using the same method as on-campus exam requests. 

To accommodate online students, a copy of the exam is needed so SAS staff can record or read the exam to the student.  Faculty may accomplish this by uploading the exam to the Alternative Testing Request Form with detailed instructions.

Students must communicate when this accommodation is needed so that faculty, the student, and SAS can work together on an alternate time that does not detract from the course objective and fits SAS scheduling requirements. Tests must be taken within a reasonable timeframe or the alternate time accommodation may be nullified.  

If a student is taking an online exam at an alternate time, faculty must ensure that the "Available From" and "Available To" dates and times in Canvas allow the student to test at that alternate time. If the alternate time is outside the times set within Canvas, the student will not be able to take the exam. It is possible to set alternate exam times for individual students within Canvas.

Based on a student’s disability some may require short, stop-the-clock breaks during exams.  This will apply only to students who have Breaks During Exams as an accommodation.  SAS will monitor break times for students in the testing center and add the time to the end of the exam.  For online exams, faculty can discuss the accommodation with the student to determine the length of the break and how it will be implemented.  One suggestion is to add an additional amount of time to the end of the exam that is equal to the length of the break (typically 10-15 minutes).