[acb-hsp] Clinical testing problem

Sat May 21 21:50:44 GMT 2011

Hi Jess,

Thank you.  I have been dealing with Tanya Carpenter.  My first experience was that, although my state board sent her the accommodations approval, she said she didn’t have it or couldn’t find it.  We did get that straightened out.  As far as arranging for and approving my accommodations for the actual exam, Ms. Carpenter has been very accommodating.

It is the practice exam they cannot guarantee will be accessible.  I’m following up on all of the wonderful suggestions I am getting.  This is truly one of the wonderful reasons for belonging to a professional organizations of people who are blind professionals.  I really appreciate all of the wonderful support I am getting and will keep you posted.

Darian

From: Jess K 
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 12:56 PM
To: acb-hsp at acb.org 
Subject: Re: [acb-hsp] Clinical testing problem

Hi Darian,
  As I discovered a year and a half ago, dealing with ASWB and your state board of social work ed can be a bit of a nightmare.  I dealt with a lot of run around, forms held on desks awaiting paperwork that I was not required to be sent, and at the end of it all, a request to find and provide my own reader.  FWIW, here are some things that worked for me.
  When you call ASWB, the best person to speak with is Tanya Carpenter.  She is the exam services coordinator and signs off on the accommodations form allowing your state to, in theory, find and provide accommodations.  I was also told that the test cannot be taken with a screenreader, though I suspect this has not been thoroughly investigated.  Because they allow a reader with instant scoring or a brailled exam with a 6 week waiting time for results, that may fall under the category of reasonable, if not extensive, accommodations.  You can reach Ms. Carpenter at 800-225-6880 Ext. 3003.  I learned that she is not full time, and other staff at ASWB will default to her regarding anything involving disabilities.  A link listing all ASWB staff is: 
http://www.aswb.org/Main/contactus.asp

  In terms of study materials, I didn't even try with ASWB's practice exams.  The 2 leaders in licensing prep seem to be Jewell Golden and License Exam Prep/LEAP.  Many grad students were trading pdf's of Golden's exam questions, and I was able to convert these using the OpenBook demo.  Unfortunately, they were for the entry level, masters, generalist exam, so that won't help you.  I contacted Ms. Golden to ask if she could provide an alternate format for her study texts, and she stated that these are not available.  I'm glad someone took the time to scan them and hope to find unofficial copies of the LC level book as well.  I found LEAP to be great.  Their practice exams are limited in the number of times that you can take them, but they are fully accessible.  They also provide audio prep courses, and I found the LG level course to be very helpful in filling in what I didn't get during school.  If you want to work toward screenreader availability, I'm willing to throw my name in, too.  I can also think of a couple Masters students who still need to sit for their LG level exams and would benefit from screenreader use.
  In general, the trick is to stay on top of your state board.  Ms. Carpenter is friendly and helpful, and with the Law exams becoming accessible recently, we need to find out how they made that shift happen.  I had a 3 months holdup between the initial application and test date for my exam, and it was largely due to inadequacy with BSWE in Baltimore rather than the national center in VA.  Best of luck, and let me know how else I can help!
Jess

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: darehart56 at hotmail.com
To: acb-hsp at acb.org
Date: Wed, 18 May 2011 11:37:25 -0700
Subject: [acb-hsp] Clinical testing problem

Hi List,

I am preparing to take the clinical exam to obtain my license as a clinical social worker (LCSW).

I was approved to take the exam, and when I attempted to order the practice exam, which is administered on line at the Associated Social Work Boards’ web site (aswb.com), they told me the practice exam is not accessible with screen readers.  It costs $75 to purchase; then you get a user name and password, take the exam and it is scored on line.

They have told me it is not accessible with screen readers.  They say they don’t have the means on site to test the exam with screen readers.  When I explained that I thought their IT people needed to resolve this issue, they told me there were other testing products on the market that I could purchase, I asked them to recommend one or two.  I was told that they could not endorse products that were not their own.  I suggested that I thought it was a reasonable accommodation that they should be able to recommend other products to me if they could not accommodate me with their products.  They also informed me that they do offer accommodations such as providing readers and extra time at their testing sites.  I believe they also have to make their practice exam accessible.  If they claim undue hardship, it seems to me they should have to recommend other products that are accessible.

They then instructed me to send them an email stating these points.

Through my investigation I have learnd that this is a Title III issue and that the ASWB must comply with web site accessibility.  Even though parts of the web site are accessible, so should be the practice exam process on their web site.

I am wondering, has anyone on this list or someone you know run into this issue?  If yes, how did, or did you resolve the issue?  Were you able to take a practice exam as part of your study process?

Did you file a complaint with the DOJ?  If so, what is the status of your complaint?

Do you know of any other practiceexam products that are accessible?

I am copying my message ehre to my clinical supervisor.  I am also sending a summary of this message to the person at the ASWB who asked for it.  Thanks for any information you might share with me.

Darian Slayton Fleming
ACB-HSP President
darehart56 at hotmail.com

_______________________________________________ acb-hsp mailing list acb-hsp at acb.org http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-hsp 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
acb-hsp mailing list
acb-hsp at acb.org
http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-hsp
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.acb.org/pipermail/acb-hsp/attachments/20110521/575c5294/attachment.htm>