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Accommodations and secure testing in Pear Assessment each rely on a specific setup sequence. Text-to-speech (TTS) requires both a student account setting and an assignment setting. Kiosk Mode requires a managed device and a district-specific URL. When one layer is missing, the feature fails silently or shows an error that points to the wrong place. Use this article to identify which layer is missing and fix it.

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Text-to-Speech Not Working

TTS in Pear Assessment requires 3 things to work: Chrome as the browser, the accommodation enabled on the student’s account, and TTS enabled in the assignment settings. If any of these are missing, students will not hear audio. Check the browser. TTS works only in Google Chrome. Safari, Firefox, and Edge are not supported. Confirm students are using Chrome before continuing. Check the student account setting.
  1. Sign in to Pear Assessment as an administrator.
  2. Navigate to Manage Users and open the student’s account.
  3. Confirm that Text-to-Speech is enabled under the student’s accommodations.
  4. Verify the result: the Text-to-Speech toggle is on. If it was off, save the account before moving to the next check.
If TTS is not enabled in the student account, it will not appear during the assignment, even if the assignment setting is turned on. Check the assignment setting.
  1. Open the assignment from your Assignments list.
  2. Select Settings and scroll to the Accommodations section.
  3. Confirm that Text-to-Speech is enabled for the assignment.
  4. Verify the result: the student can now hear TTS when opening a question in the assignment.
Both the student account setting and the assignment setting must be active. Neither alone is sufficient. Check playback speed. If TTS plays but the speed is too fast or too slow, the student can adjust it from within the assessment. The playback speed control is available in the TTS toolbar and supports 0.5x to 2x speed.

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Accommodations Not Applying

Accommodations in Pear Assessment are configured at 2 levels: the student account level and the assignment level. Both must be set correctly for an accommodation to apply during an assessment. If an accommodation is enabled in the student account but not in the assignment, it will not appear during that assessment. If it is enabled in the assignment but not in the student account, it will not apply to that student. To check and fix a missing accommodation:
  1. Confirm the accommodation is enabled on the student’s account in Manage Users.
  2. Open the assignment and confirm the same accommodation is enabled in Settings > Accommodations.
  3. If the assignment is already in progress, pause or close it, update the accommodation settings, and then reopen it for the student.
  4. Verify the result: the student sees the accommodation option when they open the assessment.
Demographic data linked to a student account, including accommodation flags, must be saved before the student opens the assignment. Changes made after the student starts the assessment may not apply to that session.

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Kiosk Mode: Find Your District URL

Pear Assessment provides each district with a unique kiosk URL. The generic URL (https://assessment.peardeck.com) does not work for kiosk sign-in in most district environments. Students who use the generic URL land on a sign-in screen that does not match their district’s authentication method, causing a login failure or redirect loop.
Finding your district URL requires a district administrator account. If you are a teacher, ask your district administrator to locate the URL and update the kiosk app configuration.
Find your district’s kiosk URL:
  1. Sign in to Pear Assessment as a district administrator.
  2. Navigate to Manage District > Profile.
  3. Copy the URL listed under District URL.
  4. Verify the result: your district URL follows this format: https://assessment.peardeck.com/district/[district-slug]
Use this URL when configuring the kiosk app in Google Admin. Students signing in through Kiosk Mode will use this URL to reach the correct sign-in screen for your district.

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Set Up Kiosk Mode on Managed Chromebooks

Kiosk Mode requires managed Chromebooks. It will not work on personally owned or unmanaged devices. Before students can use Kiosk Mode, a district IT administrator must deploy the Pear Assessment kiosk progressive web app (PWA) through Google Admin. The steps below summarize the required configuration. For the full procedure, see Set Up Kiosk Mode on Managed Chromebooks.
  1. Sign in to the Google Admin console.
  2. Navigate to Devices > Chrome > Apps & Extensions.
  3. Select the organizational unit (OU) for the student devices.
  4. Add the Pear Assessment PWA using Add by URL, and enter your district URL from Manage District > Profile > District URL.
  5. Under Kiosk Settings > Managed Configuration, set "isKiosk": { "Value": true }.
  6. Click Save.
  7. Verify the result: the Pear Assessment kiosk app appears on student Chromebooks at the sign-in screen.
If your district previously used the legacy Kiosk Mode extension, remove it after deploying the PWA. Running both simultaneously causes sign-in conflicts. See Set Up Kiosk Mode on Managed Chromebooks for uninstall steps.

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Kiosk Mode Login Problems

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Login Loop After Entering Credentials

A login loop usually means the kiosk app is configured with the generic Pear Assessment URL rather than the district-specific URL. The student reaches the sign-in screen, authenticates, and is then redirected back to the sign-in screen because the session cannot establish against the generic domain. Fix: Update the kiosk app configuration in Google Admin to use your district URL. See Kiosk Mode: Find Your District URL above.

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Student Can’t Enter the Test in Kiosk Mode

If a student can sign in but cannot open an assigned assessment, confirm the following:
  • The assignment is open and has not been paused or closed by the teacher.
  • The student’s account matches the class roster for that assignment.
  • The assignment’s Secure Testing setting matches the deployed kiosk configuration. If the assignment requires Safe Exam Browser and the student is using Kiosk Mode (or the reverse), the student will be blocked from starting.

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Wrong Credentials or “User Not Found” Error

Students in Kiosk Mode must use credentials that match your district’s authentication method. If your district uses Google SSO, students must have a valid Google account tied to Pear Assessment. If your district uses a username and password, students must use those credentials rather than their Google login. If a student consistently receives a “user not found” error, confirm the student’s account exists in Manage Users and that the account is assigned to an active class.

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Microsoft SSO Bypass in Kiosk Mode

If students can exit Kiosk Mode by selecting the Microsoft SSO sign-in option and navigating to external sites, restrict this in your district settings:
  • Remove Office 365 (Microsoft) SSO from your Sign-On Policies in Pear Assessment district settings, or
  • Block external URLs (such as github.com and apple.com) in the Google Admin Kiosk URL blocking settings for the student OU.
For full instructions, see Troubleshooting Kiosk Mode Access Issues.

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Safe Exam Browser Issues

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SEB Not Loading or Fails to Open

Safe Exam Browser (SEB) must be installed on the student’s device before a test that requires it can be started. If SEB is not installed, the student will see a prompt to download it but will not be able to proceed.
  1. Confirm SEB is installed on the device. Download it from safeexambrowser.org for Windows or Mac.
  2. Confirm the assignment’s Require Safe Exam Browser setting is set to Yes.
  3. Have the student open the assignment from Pear Assessment in Chrome. Pear Assessment automatically launches SEB and navigates to the first question.
  4. Verify the result: SEB opens and the student sees the first question of the assessment.

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Configuration File Errors

Pear Assessment generates the SEB configuration file automatically. Teachers and administrators do not need to create or upload a configuration file. If SEB displays a configuration error, the most likely causes are:
  • The student opened SEB directly rather than clicking the assignment link in Pear Assessment. Have the student close SEB, return to Pear Assessment in Chrome, and open the assignment from there.
  • The SEB installation is incomplete or corrupted. Uninstall and reinstall SEB from safeexambrowser.org.

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Student Needs to Exit SEB Mid-Test

Students cannot exit SEB without a quit password. If a student needs to leave the assessment before submitting, the teacher must enter the quit password on the student’s device. Set the quit password in the assignment’s Secure Testing settings before the assessment begins. Do not share the quit password with students.
The quit password applies only to Safe Exam Browser. It does not apply to Kiosk Mode on Chromebooks. To exit Kiosk Mode, the student must submit the assignment, after which the app closes automatically.

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Contact Support

If the steps above did not resolve the issue, contact Pear Assessment support with the following information:
  • The student’s username or email address
  • The assignment name and assigned date
  • The browser or secure testing method in use (Chrome, SEB, or Kiosk Mode)
  • The exact error message or behavior the student saw

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Resources

Accommodations for Students

Full list of available accommodations and how they appear to students during an assessment.

Set Up Kiosk Mode on Managed Chromebooks

Complete IT administrator setup steps for deploying the Kiosk Mode PWA.

Troubleshooting Kiosk Mode Access Issues

Block Microsoft SSO bypass and configure Clever Badge sign-in in Kiosk Mode.

Test Security: Kiosk Mode and Safe Exam Browser

Overview of secure testing options in Pear Assessment.
Last modified on July 16, 2026