Before school administrators and teachers can start administering assessments, they must complete a Technical Readiness Checklist. This checklist ensures that all schools meet the technical requirements to administer the assessments.
School administrators should consult their designated school IT professionals to confirm details relating to the technical requirements. Below is the Technical Readiness Checklist that administrators will need to complete:
| Safe Sender List: The school has added “no-reply@eqao.vretta.com” to its safe sender e-mail settings list (this may be required for the creation of teacher accounts). | |
| Domain Exclusion: The following domains must not be blocked. Add to “allowed” domains on URL filter or firewall allowed list: • eqao.vretta.com • eqao-api.vretta.com • eqao-api2.vretta.com • eqao-api3.vretta.com • eqao-api4.vretta.com • eqao-api5.vretta.com | |
| Groupings: All groupings used for the assessment are reflected in the data. | Review Groupings |
| Teachers: All teachers have been invited and have access to their accounts. | Review Teacher/Invigilator Accounts |
| Students: All participating students are listed, with correct information. | Review Student Information |
| Accommodations: The accommodation needs of each student are reflected. | Review Student Accommodations |
| Device Configuration: All devices have been configured to run the assessment with the Safe Exam Browser (SEB). To be completed with the support of IT staff. • The SEB software has been installed or imaged on these devices. Note: Version 2.4.1 of the SEB must be installed on Windows devices and version 2.2.2 must be installed on Apple devices. • The SEB-configuration file and the SEB password have been made available to the technical specialist for the school to be downloaded or pushed onto these devices. The installation and validation of the SEB software on the testing devices should be the responsibility of your school’s IT representative. | Open Technical Readiness Process Download SEB for Windows Download SEB for Apple Download SEB Configuration File Access SEB Password |
| Bandwidth: Ensure sufficient Internet bandwidth is available at the end point, i.e., students’ test system (PC or tablet). The assessment requires a connection that does not go below 80 kbps per device. For optimal functioning, an average of 2 Mbps or greater is recommended. | |
| School Network monitoring: It is recommended that you monitor the following: • Volumetric traffic across the network edge • Individual users’ traffic • Individual application traffic • Data traffic to specific domains or URLs | |
| School Network Monitoring: Enable network traffic data logging and keep data for at least 30 days (longer is preferred). | |
| School Network Monitoring: Ensure all malware scanners are up to date and active, with update frequencies of 24 hours or less. | |
| School Network Monitoring: Enable anomaly detection technology, i.e., indicators of compromise (IOC) and indicator of attack (IOA). | |
| School Network Monitoring: Scan all desktops and laptops for malware and known exploits (malware and VA scanning). Ensure you create a report and have it available upon request from EQAO. | |
| Bandwidth Control: Identify locations where bandwidth throttling/control can occur (network core, school edge, AP, MDM): • Per network segment • Per group • Per user • Per application (May require configuration) | |
| Internal school network readiness: Ensure the networks that will be used for the assessments are free from capacity restrictions. The following is recommended: • Review all wired networks and wireless networks. • Ensure wireless network access point (AP) has sufficient capacity. • Consider adding access points in test rooms if needed, or freeing adjacent classroom APs where possible and/or necessary. | |
| Egress (Outgoing Traffic): Identify all static egress IP addresses to the EQAO team by clicking the button to the right. | Input Egress IP Addresses |
| Egress (Outgoing Traffic): Enable the following where possible: • DDOS protection • Dual path and WAN network service | |
| Incident and Situation Management: Identify the IT contacts for all escalation (e-mail and phone number). These contacts must – be familiar with the EQAO testing details (schools, network, etc.). – have visibility into the schools or network core traffic. – be able to enable configuration changes. If you require a contact added, please e-mail info@eqao.com. | Add IT Contacts |