CompuTest publishes Accessibility Conformance Reports rather than accessibility claims.
Two reports were produced in September 2026 — one for the EBB Portal and one for the Windows and macOS examination applications — assessed against WCAG 2.2 Level A and AA, using WCAG2ICT for the desktop software. They follow the VPAT 2.5Rev format, they record every criterion individually with the reasoning behind it, and they are available to any school on request.
Where we stand
Neither product conforms fully, and the reports say so criterion by criterion rather than in adjectives. They are internal assessments carried out by CompuTest, not third-party audits, and each states that on its face.
We do not claim full conformance for either product, and we would not accept a supplier’s claim of full conformance without a report behind it. Ask us for ours. They name what fails, including the measured colour-contrast ratios, and what we intend to do about it.
The limitation a school most needs to know about
An examination application in blocked mode deliberately restricts the computer: it silences audio, prevents other applications from running, and closes the routes by which a student could reach outside help. That restriction is the function the software is bought for, and it is required of examination software.
A direct consequence is that assistive technology cannot run during a blocked examination. On Windows, the screen reader and the magnifier are prevented from starting. On macOS, system audio is silenced, which takes the voice away from a screen reader.
On Windows this is a deliberate design position rather than a defect awaiting a patch. Rather than building a route through the examination lockdown that a student who did not need it could exploit, CompuTest provides the accommodation outside the locked environment.
What is changing on macOS
On macOS the cause is narrower and we are fixing it. The client mutes system audio when a blocked examination starts, and because a screen reader speaks through system audio, the speech stops. A future release will add a setting, controlled by the school, that permits audio for a student who needs it, so the decision belongs to the institution rather than being made for everyone by the software.
Until that release, a student who depends on a screen reader should not be scheduled a blocked examination on macOS. Use one of the routes below instead. We are not giving a date for the change, because a date we miss would be worse than no date at all — ask us where it stands and we will tell you honestly.
How an affected student sits an examination
Accessibility is delivered through a graduated set of routes. A student who uses assistive technology takes the second, third or fourth of these, and the work that results is indistinguishable from everyone else’s.
| Route | What the student uses |
|---|---|
| Standard examination with adjustments | Extra time, rest breaks, a different typeface including OpenDyslexic, and answer text the student can enlarge well past double size |
| Unblocked examination | The same examination without the lockdown, so the student’s own screen reader, magnifier or on-screen keyboard runs normally. Integrity comes from invigilation instead |
| The student’s own software | They write in the application they already have configured, and the school converts the file into Electronic Bluebook afterwards |
| A wholly separate arrangement | Whatever the disability services office arranges, converted in afterwards if it produces a document |
Because a converted file is identical to one written in Electronic Bluebook, the faculty member marking it cannot tell that an accommodation was used. Blind grading survives, and the student’s arrangement stays private.
These routes have to be arranged before the examination, not on the morning. A student whose screen reader falls silent as a blocked examination starts has been scheduled the wrong way, and the remedy is to stop and rearrange rather than to ask them to continue.
Telling us about a barrier
If a student or a member of staff meets an accessibility barrier in Electronic Bluebook, we want to hear about it — including when it is one of the limitations described above, because knowing how often it bites tells us where to spend effort.
- Report a barrier, or request either conformance report: support@electronicbluebook.com. There is no charge and no form.
- Arrange an accommodation for a student: your school’s disability services office, which can raise anything it needs with us.
A barrier report that names the examination, the platform and what the student was trying to do is worth ten that say the software is inaccessible. We can act on the first kind the same week.