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The GRE® General Test

One test for graduate, business and law school

 

Taking the GRE General Test or Using POWERPREP® Practice Tests with JAWS® and Refreshable Braille Accommodations


If you’re visually impaired, you may be approved to take the GRE General Test with accommodations. In addition to screen magnification and selectable colors, ETS also offers the option to test with JAWS with or without a refreshable braille device.
 

If you plan to take the test with JAWS with or without a refreshable braille device, familiarize yourself with the tools and features you’ll encounter on test day by using the free POWERPREP® Online practice tests.


As you prepare for your test, you may find the following information helpful.
 

Custom regions

The POWERPREP practice tests and the actual test use custom regions to provide a quick way for users to navigate through test content. In JAWS 2018, announcement of some regions, such as the custom regions used, are turned off by default. To force announcement of these regions, do the following:

  • Open the Settings Center by pressing Insert+6 or select "Settings Center" from the "Utilities" menu.
  • Make sure the "Applications" dropdown box is set to "Default (All Applications)."
  • At the search box, enter "configure web verbosity levels."
  • The "Web Verbosity Level" dropdown box will be set to "Medium" by default. Select one of the following two options:
    1. Change the dropdown box selection to "High."
      OR
    2. Keep the setting at "Medium" and alter the configuration as follows:
      • Select "Medium…" under "Configure Web Verbosity Levels."
      • The "Medium Virtual Cursor Verbosity Preferences" dialog box will open and "Regions" in the tree structure will be partially checked.
      • Navigate to the "Regions" check box and press the space bar until all region options have been completely selected.
      • Select the "OK" button or press Enter to close the dialog box.
  • Select the "OK" button to close the "JAWS Settings Center" dialog box.
     

Help for JAWS screen reader users

Help screens are available in the practice tests and in the actual test to assist you in navigating the test. This document will familiarize you with the different elements you’ll encounter in the test and the JAWS keystrokes you can use to interact with them.

Download Help for JAWS Screen Reader Users (PDF)
 

JAWS hot keys

Due to the secure testing environment in which the GRE General Test is administered, certain JAWS hot keys will be blocked by the test center or will cause your testing session to crash. Specifically, keys that allow you to search or find, access Windows® functions or reconfigure all JAWS settings aren’t permitted.

You’ll be able to adjust the rate of speech, change punctuation settings and adjust some braille output settings.

If your testing session does crash, it can be restarted.
 

Calculators

The GRE General Test includes an on-screen calculator that JAWS can read. If you’ll be using a handheld talking calculator instead of, or in addition to, the on-screen calculator, be aware of the following:

  • The on-screen calculator is designed to respect order of operations. For example, the result of entering "1 + 2 * 3" is 7, because it calculates multiplication before addition.
  • Handheld 4-function calculators, such as the talking calculator supplied by ETS, calculate in the order of entry, therefore producing 9 for the same calculation.
  • If you use the handheld calculator, be careful to enter operations in the order in which they are to be performed.