Advancing Universal Design in Standardized Admissions Tests

By: Hilary Hennessey

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) require states to have accessible features to ensure students with disabilities are able to participate in the assessments meaningfully. However, no such requirements exist for Standardized Admission Tests (SATs) through the College Board. SATs are digital tests that are taken widely by high school students to determine admission into colleges and universities across the U.S. Despite efforts to enhance participation by providing universal tools and designated supports, barriers preventing meaningful access still exist. These barriers reinforce the marginalization of neurodiverse groups, including people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities (LDs).

Issues Identified
The College Board emphasizes that the SATs are intended to measure literacy, numeracy, and writing skills needed for academic success in college. However, students who do not excel in these areas can still be successful in academic environments. The SATs are not administered in a way that is equitable or fair for students with ADHD or LDs. At the core, SATs do not recognize different learning needs. The accommodation process students need to go through to receive additional support or alternative formats is onerous and has a high burden of proof associated. As outlined in the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) accessibility manual, accommodations are alterations to procedures or materials that promote equitable access to assessment content. It is clear that accommodations are only accessible to students who have a documented disability through the College Board. For instance, Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), 504 plans, and doctor’s notes are usually not sufficient by themselves. Each accommodation request must be supported by documentation, including appropriate academic and diagnostic test scores. Beyond students with disabilities, the lack of universally offered accessibility support is preventing students with undiagnosed and unrecognizable diversities from being able to participate meaningfully. This emphasizes the need for universal design.

Considerations
With the most recent shift to online delivery, advancements in this area have been made. However, the universal tools and designated supports offered are not as extensive or flexible as possible. It has been identified that the following universal tools have been implemented to enhance accessibility. Those tools include: 

• Zoom features
• Contrast adjustment
• Alternative text for graphics
• Straightforward response entry
• Clear instructions and procedures

They also offer official SAT practice and other test familiarization opportunities. These advancements are notable, but further development to promote universal access is possible. Furthermore, breaking barriers to available support for people who may have undiagnosed and unrecognized learning needs is essential. We know that too many people go through life unidentified—based on research conducted by the National Center for Learning Disabilities, approximately 11.75%.

Advancing Universal Supports in SATs
The following recommendations outlined below provide guidance on how to further advance universal design principles in the development and delivery of SATS. 

Clear Print Accessibility Standards
Readability shouldn’t be an afterthought in the development of SATs. It should be the first step in making documents accessible to all students regardless of reading ability. The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) has developed a Clear Print Accessibility Guideline that provides insight on ways to enhance the readability of text. Although this guide was developed for the Canadian context, these recommendations are widely recognized and have influenced accessibility standards globally. According to CNIB, best practices to enhance the readability of documents include:

• Ensuing font sizes are between 12 and 18 points
• Ensuring adequate space between lines
• Ensuring the use of standard fonts with easily recognizable upper and lower case characters, such as Arial and/or Verdana
• Ensuring the use of a bold or heavy font when emphasizing a word or passage. Italics, underlining, or upper case letters are not recommended
• Ensuring that text is separated into columns, as this requires less eye movement and enhances focus

From these best practices, it is evident that students should be able to change font type and size. They should also be able to bold and highlight aspects of text as needed. These tools should not only be offered to students who have identified and documented needs but should be available universally to enhance equitable participation for those who may have learning needs that go unrecognized and undiagnosed. 

Accommodations
The duty to accommodate people who have disability-related needs is enshrined in civil rights legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). To break barriers to accessing support, educational institutions such as the College Board should take requests for accommodations from students in good faith without the need of medical documentation, IEP, or 504 plans. Best practices for facilitating accommodations in SATS, with an emphasis on universal access, include:

• Providing various methods of engagement that suit different learning needs, such as printed and audio formats of assessments. This is also referred to as alternative options
• Enabling students to demonstrate their abilities in flexible ways 
• Allowing students to have extra time (such as 24 hours) to submit assessments

Although moving to digital administration of these assessments has been a significant step in streamlining services and enhancing access, allowing the option for students to choose the most suitable format for themselves is a crucial element of equitable design. Online delivery should not be the only option available. To reiterate, students should have the opportunity to write the test online or on paper. 

Similar Implementation of Universal Design in Assessments
Smarter Balanced state assessments have implemented accommodations that are available to all students. They have collaborated with member states to create an accessibility framework that works to provide every student with a positive and productive assessment experience. For example, breaks, calculators, digital notepads, and spell check are tools that are universally offered to everyone during assessments. They also offer designated supports, which are non-system embedded tools offered universally to students with learning needs that have been identified by an educator, parent, or the student themselves. These supports include text-to-speech, magnification, noise buffers, test directions, read-aloud, and alternative settings to name a few. These tools are offered to enhance participation for people who require support but may not have medical documentation to verify their needs. When students utilize these supports, they have an opportunity to perform at levels similar to their peers, as they are able to access the content in ways that suit their individual needs.

Conclusion
When students are given the proper tools to overcome barriers to learning and assessment, they are better able to demonstrate their true academic potential. All of the recommendations made above seek to advance accessibility and inclusion in SATs through the implementation of universal design and supportive tools. By adopting these recommendations, the College Board can foster greater access to post-secondary education for all students, including those with disabilities and students whose learning needs may go unrecognized or undiagnosed. It is now time for the College Board to take meaningful action and prioritize these changes, ensuring that every student, regardless of their challenges, has an equitable opportunity to succeed.

* The National Center for Learning Disabilities provides a platform for its Young Adult Leadership Council members and alumni to share their experiences and perspectives. The views expressed in these pieces are their own and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of NCLD. These writings are intended to share personal insights and should not be cited as official positions or credible sources for policy or research purposes.

References

Cassada, K. (2023, October 21). K-12 students face an alphabet soup of standardized tests: What purpose do they serve? Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/katecassada-1/2023/10/21/k-12-students-face-an-alphabet-soup-of-standardized-tests-what-purpose-do-they-serve/

CNIB. (n.d.). Clear print guide. CNIB Foundation. Retrieved from https://cnib.ca/sites/default/files/2018-07/CNIB%20Clear%20Print%20Guide.pdf

College Board. (2023). The SAT suite of assessments: Digital delivery and accessibility [Press release]. Retrieved from https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/digital-sat-access-accessibility.pdf

College Board. (2025, January 9). Other accommodations. Retrieved from https://accommodations.collegeboard.org/how-accommodations-work/about-accommodations/other

Shyyan, V., Thurlow, M., Christensen, L., Lazarus, S., Paul, J., & Touchette, B. (2016). CCSSO accessibility manual: How to select, administer, and evaluate use of accessibility supports for instruction and assessment of all students. Council of Chief State School Officers.

Learning Disabilities Association of America. (n.d.). The state of learning disabilities today. Retrieved from https://ldaamerica.org/lda_today/the-state-of-learning-disabilities-today/

College Board. (n.d.). Using accommodations – SAT suite. Retrieved from https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat/accommodations/using-accommodations