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Supporting Student Accommodations in Otus

Otus offers a range of accommodations to support students.

Monica Burke avatar
Written by Monica Burke
Updated over a week ago

Supporting all learners is essential, especially during assessments. Otus offers built-in tools that provide the flexibility and accessibility students need to succeed, including options tailored for individual accommodations and testing supports.


Differentiated Instruction and Resources

  • Versatile Content: Assign alternative versions of lessons and assessments tailored to individual learning styles, paces, or goals.

  • Streamline Distribution: Use Student Groups (at the class or district level) to efficiently deliver differentiated resources to the right students.

  • Personalized Learning Plans: Create student-specific, district-managed learning plans that itemize objectives and supports.


Assessment Accommodations

Otus provides a range of built-in assessment accommodations. The table below outlines which features are available for each assessment type.

  • Use Lockdown Browser to remove on-screen distractions and provide a more focused, structured testing environment for students with attention-related challenges.

  • Adjust assessment settings, like availability windows or time limits, to accommodate students who need extended time, reduced stress, or flexibility in their testing schedule.

  • Print assessments for students who thrive with paper-based tasks, have limited technology access, or require specific physical accommodations. (Note: not all Advanced question types are printable.)

  • Add audio or video instructions to assessment questions, benefiting auditory learners, emerging readers, or students who process information better through multimedia.

  • Allow students to respond with audio or video in Rubric and Advanced assessments. This supports varied expression, boosts engagement, and offers alternatives for students who find written responses challenging.

Advanced Assessment Features

Default Accessibility Features

By default, all Advanced assessments allow students to enter full-screen mode, adjust accessibility settings, and flag questions.

Full-Screen Mode

Help eliminate visual distractions by hiding the main navigation bar.

Accessibility Settings

  • Adjust the color scheme to reduce eye strain and support visual or sensory sensitivities.

  • Black on white (default)

  • Grey on light grey

  • Purple on light green

  • Black on violet

  • Yellow on navy

  • White on black

  • Change font size across the assessment to assist students with visual impairments or reading difficulties.

  • Small (75%)

  • Normal (100%)

  • Large (125%)

  • Extra large (150%)

  • Huge (175%)

  • Zoom in and out using keyboard shortcuts for greater visual comfort.

    • Zoom in: Command/Ctrl Plus (+)

    • Zoom out: Command/Ctrl Minus (-)

    • Reset zoom: Command/Ctrl 0

Flag questions

Students can mark items to revisit later, supporting executive functioning skills like planning, prioritizing, and self-monitoring.

Additional Settings (must be enabled in the assessment settings)

TextHelp Speechstream

  • When enabled, TextHelp offers a variety of accessibility tools, including:

    • Text-to-speech read aloud

    • Talking single-word translator

    • Talking dictionary

    • Picture dictionary

    • Highlighters

Student Annotations

  • When enabled, student annotations provides students with access to a:

    • Notepad

    • Sticky note

    • Drawing mode

    • Highlight tool

Item-Specific Accommodations

  • Customize a mathematical/symbolic keypad.

  • For multiple-choice questions, explicitly define the text to be read aloud by screen readers. This is considered an advanced accessibility option. Click here for more information.


FAQ and Troubleshooting

Click to see FAQ and troubleshooting details.

Can students use speech-to-text?

Otus supports students in using their familiar speech-to-text tools. Students can readily utilize the speech-to-text functionalities available on their devices or web browsers when working in Otus. It's important to be aware that when Lockdown Browser is enabled for an assessment, its function to secure the testing environment may affect access to these external speech-to-text tools.

How can I translate assessments and other content?

For the highest accuracy, we recommend translating content manually before inputting it into Otus. Alternatively, your web browser's built-in translation tool may translate text (excluding text within images) within the Otus application. The accuracy of automated translation can vary. Click here to learn more.

Is Otus compatible with assistive technology?

Otus is designed to be web-accessible and function on any touchscreen device. It generally supports standard assistive technologies like screen readers and keyboard navigation. For specific compatibility questions, please detail the technology you are using when contacting support.


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