Hello!
First of all, thank you to our incredible partners and trainers for making the Monarch a reality for students with visual impairments.
This is the first day that I have had the opportunity to work with this remarkable piece of technology, and the possibilities seem endless! In thinking towards the future, I’d like to ask if students who read braille may be able to use this equipment for statewide testing.
Thank you!
Best,
Rosa Tu
Teacher of the Visually Impaired
This is a great question. Considering many state exams are now available online, I too wonder if this is a possibility. I wonder if it would have to be in a PDF file? That way diagrams could also come up.
I’m also curious how a text books with diagrams will work. Would the need to click on an image icon to open an image up from text?
Hi Rosa,
This is a great question! And the answer is absolutely yes - that is exactly what we want for our students and are working toward making a reality. Though it is continually being improved, the Monarch and its web browser are already accessible with many features of some testing sites; a good example is NWEA (nwea.org for the main page and Test Player for the practice tests - use “grow” for both the username and the password). There is a lot more work to be done but we are getting closer every day.
I’m so happy that you are excited about the Monarch! This is a great place for sharing your thoughts and questions and I look forward to hearing more from you.
Jenny
Hi Chelsea!
This is a great question too. Right now as you know all graphics are read using the Monarch’s Tactile Viewer, which will take PDF, JPG, and PNG files, but we are anticipating that with the new eBraille format the graphics will be embedded inside the braille documents themselves. This may take the form of a link inside the document that goes straight to the Tactile Viewer where the image is opened, or a seamless integration of the text and graphics in the same window space. It is still under development but rapidly advancing and we are excited to see its real applications with our students.
I look forward to hearing from you again!
Jenny
Thanks for your response, Jenny!
In addition to statewide testing, I’m hoping that one day the Monarch may be used for diagnostic and progress monitoring with assessments such as iReady. Currently my understanding is that an accommodation is the screen reader and possibly some refreshable braille displays.
If you have a sample assessment page that I can look at for iReady, I can give it a test to see what’s currently possible.
Hi, Jenny!
Thanks for replying. I’m not sure how I could show you the assessment page as I would have to log on as my student’s credentials.
If you do find a way, I would be very glad to test it for you. 
Thank you, Jenny! =)
I am trying out the Monarch on the NWEA practice test. which is great. Is there a way to get equations to be formatted as equations instead of brailled out? For example if supposed to be 3x+4 = 12, in braille, it says 3 x plus 4 equals 12. It does the same on the Mantis, I am just wondering if there is a way to have it look like what they would normally encounter in their math class. Thanks!
Also, when I got to a part where you have to fill in the answer, I pressed enter to go into the edit box. Then it says “Alternative filling options above the keyboard.” I could not figure out how to input an answer. I never got to see if a graphic would pull up since it won’t let me past the question without inputting an answer. There was a number line that just has a description instead of a number line too. This was in using the Accessible test. I went and tried on the regular version and it again wouldn’t let me put in an answer choice, would you have to have an actual keyboard connected in order to type in the answers? Thanks for your help!
Hi Tabitha! I’m glad that you asked about this. The NWEA does do pretty well with accessibility, but anything that is graphic-based, including the way the equations apparently were entered there, is dependent on what the site designers wrote in as alt-text. If they spelled out the operation and comparison signs, probably intending for the test to be used with a screenreader, that is what is going to appear on the Monarch.
NWEA does have a place where you can make suggestions, like using text symbols that are recognized in braille and with a screenreader individually, rather than as whole graphic insertions, for the math equations.
Information about sharing ideas:
https://connection.nwea.org/s/article/How-to-submit-feedback-to-NWEA-using-UserVoice?language=en_US
Link for sharing ideas:
https://nwea.uservoice.com/
Graphics in the test are also embedded in the site, rather than included as openable or downloadable JPG or PDF files, and they don’t have the accessibility needed to appear as graphics on the Monarch. Instead, you will get the same result as with math equations - only alt-text descriptions will appear on the Monarch.
It does look like you need an external keyboard right now to type answers in edit boxes because the site is not recognizing braille input from the Monarch. You can use either a USB cable or a wireless USB dongle to connect a keyboard to the Monarch. Press Enter with the Monarch or the keyboard on the open/close brackets that appear below the item “Response area …”. Use the number row or the Numpad on the keyboard to enter numerical answers, then press Enter to set the answer and return to the question.