Configuring a Brightspace quiz to use Respondus LockDown Browser

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About this article

This article provides instructions for teachers on how to configure Brightspace quizzes to use Respondus LockDown Browser (LDB).

What's LDB?

LDB is a special web browser that can only be used to navigate to Brightspace for the purpose of taking a test or quiz. Within the Brightspace Quiz Tool, you can configure a quiz to require that students use LDB. When your students start an LDB-enabled quiz, LDB launches automatically and they will have limited access to their computer until they submit the quiz. LDB is designed for use in a proctored, classroom environment primarily, although it can be enabled for any quiz in any context.

What's New?

LDB was updated on June 1, 2017. The biggest change for instructors is that you no longer enable LDB from the Restrictions tab of the quiz settings screen. Instead, you use the LockDown Browser Dashboard on the main Quiz Tool screen. This dashboard lists all of your quizzes and allows you to configure LDB on any of them. The new version also includes several new settings that allow you to customize the student experience, including:

  • Early exit: Allow students to exit LDB before submitting the quiz and return to it later
  • iPad access: Allow students to take a quiz on an iPad using the LockDown Browser app
  • Screen reader access: Allow certain students to take a quiz using a screen reader (e.g., JAWS, Window-Eyes)
  • Calculator: Allow students to access a calculator application during a quiz
  • Printing: Allow students to access print services during a quiz

IMPORTANT: When copying old quizzes from previous courses

If you want to continue to use LDB on a quiz copied from a previous course that you had already configured to use LDB, open up that quiz and select the LockDown Browser tab (FIg 1). Select the Fix It button if it appears next to the name of the quiz. The quiz will then be renamed, with the Requires Lockdown Browser added to the original name of the quiz.

Note: In some cases, a subset of the quizzes will not be listed on the LockDown Browser tab. If one or more of your quizzes do not appear in the LDB tab, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Assessments > Quizzes.
  2. Click the little arrow after the name of the missing quiz and select Edit from the fly-out menu.
  3. Go to the Submission Views tab.
  4. Click the name of the current Submission View. (If there are Additional Views in the window, the current view is the top one in the list. If there are no Additional Views, click on the name Default View.)
  5. Ensure there is some sort of message in the Message field. If the field is null, the quiz will not be listed in the LDB tab.

Configuring a Brightspace quiz to use LDB

To set up a quiz in Brightspace that requires students to use LockDown Browser, follow these steps:

  1. Using a supported web browser, log into Brightspace as an instructor and open your course.
  2. Select Quizzes from the Assessments menu and select the Lockdown Browser tab (Fig 1) to go to the LDB Dashboard. If you see a page titled "About Lockdown Browser," just select the Continue to Lockdown Browser button. It may take a minute for your list of quizzes to load. Quizzes labeled with Required are already configured to require LDB. Quizzes labeled with Not Required don’t require LDB.
  3. To modify the settings, select the down arrow to the left of the quiz title and select Settings (Fig 2).
  4. You may additionally require that LockDown Browser be used to view quiz feedback and results.
  5. Optionally, you may create a password that students must enter to start the quiz. LockDown Browser will prompt students to enter the instructor-provided password before proceeding with the quiz.
  6. Click Save and Close to apply settings.


  • Fig 1. Open LDB Dashboard

  • Fig 2. Select Settings

  • Fig 3. Configure Settings and Save

Advanced Settings

Several advanced settings are available:

  1. The first setting will prevent students from exiting the browser until the exam is completed. This is unselected by default. If you want LDB to function as it did before the upgrade, select this option.
  2. The second setting will allow students to take the exam with an iPad, using the free LockDown Browser app.
  3. The third setting will allow specific students to access the exam with screen reader accessibility programs. See respondus.com/accessibility for an additional step that's required by the student.
  4. The fourth and fifth settings allow instructors to provide students with a calculator or print function in the LockDown Browser toolbar.
  5. For additional information, select the [explain] link that follows each setting.
  6. Click Save and Close to apply settings.

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