If you have a disability, you could qualify for ACT or SAT accommodations, including extended testing time, additional break, and assistive technology. In this article, we explain the accommodation available for each standardized test, who is eligible, and how you can request them.
What ACT Accommodations Are Available for Students with Disabilities?
The ACT offers several accommodations for test takers. Depending on the student’s needs and disability, the student can opt to take the exam in a standard room with other students or an individual room.
Here are some examples of what you may be approved for with the ACT:
- Instruction assistance: Sign language interpreters, written copy of spoken instructions, translated instructions, and a bilingual word-to-word dictionary.
- Test-taking assistance: Assistive technology, speech-to-text, quiet computer technology, screen reader, personal aide, verbal cues, or a scribe to write down answers.
- Additional allowed items: Food, drink, medication, medical devices, large-key calculators, fidget devices, ear plugs, and a service animal
- Wheelchair-accessibility and/or preferential seating
- Breaks as needed
- Setting adjustment: Background music, white noise, lighting, and air conditioning
- Alternative test locations: At home or a care facility
- Extended time: Time and one-half, double time, triple time, and standard time over multiple days or late start testing
Additional accommodations may be available upon request.
Who is Eligible?
A student’s eligibility and accommodation options depend on how the student was approved: ACT, Locally, or State. If a student is only approved locally without consulting with the ACT, available accommodations are limited.
ACT-approved accommodations require a professional diagnosis and an official accommodations plan, such as an Individualized Education Program (IEP). For students who are locally approved, their accommodations must be consistent with their school plan and not disrupt testing. State-allowed accommodations are for students who have an official plan, whose request can’t be approved by the ACT, or who need services for limited English proficiency.
A few examples of disabilities that could qualify a student for accommodations include autism, hearing impairment, epilepsy, ADHD, traumatic brain injury, Tourette’s syndrome, visual impairment, and diabetes.
How Do You Ask for Accommodations on the ACT?
Students interested in applying for ACT accommodations need to work with their school to submit their request. In most cases, the accommodations have to be approved by the ACT.
Students and their school should submit their requests and any appeals by the late registration deadline of their testing date. For example, if a student is taking the July 12, 2025, exam, the request needs to be made by June 20.
To apply, log into your MyACT account and confirm you need accommodations when registering for your exam. You’ll receive an email to forward to your school official and a Consent to Release Information to ACT form. Once the school official has submitted your accommodations, you’ll hear back in five to 10 business days.
If approved, the student’s admission ticket should list the accommodations allowed. If denied, students can file an appeal.
What SAT Accommodations Are Available for Students With Disabilities?
The SAT offers similar accommodations to the ACT, with slight differences. These are a few options students may be eligible for:
- Extended time: 50% or 100% extended time, available for entire test or specific sections
- Breaks: Extra, extended, or breaks as needed
- Test-taking assistance: Dictation, speech to text, scribe, word processing, screen reader, human reader, Braille, colored overlays, and larger-print test and/or answer sheet
- Additional allowed items: Medical devices, talking calculator, four-function calculator, food, drunk, medication, and magnifying machine
- Instruction assistance: Sign language interpreters, written copy of spoken instructions, translated instructions, and a bilingual word-to-word dictionary
- Setting options: Small group, preferential seating, wheelchair accessibility, individual setting
Who is Eligible?
Requested and approved SAT accommodations depend on the student’s disability and their current classroom plan. The College Board website provides some examples of which accommodations are appropriate. For example, if the individual’s disability causes them to work more slowly, extended time may be approved. If they work slowly because of distractions due to ADHD, however, the SAT recommends a small group setting.
The College Board uses three questions to determine eligibility:
- Can you document the disability?
- Does the disability affect exam participation?
- Is the accommodation received for school tests?
Even students with existing accommodations at their high school may not be automatically receive approval for SAT accommodations. The College Board’s Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) needs to approve each request.
Some examples of disabilities that could qualify for accommodations on the SAT include blindness, learning disorders, medical impairments, and physical impairments.
How Do You Ask for Accommodations on the SAT?
It can take up to seven weeks for SAT accommodations approval, so start early. The College Board recommends working directly with your school, but you can also submit the request yourself.
If the student is working with their school, they can request accommodations through the school’s SSD coordinator. A parent (or the student, if they’re over the age of 18) needs to sign the Parent Consent Form. The coordinator will then open a request, detailing the disability and accommodations, and may ask for further documentation.
For homeschooled students or those who don’t want to go through their school, you can submit a Student Eligibility Form and relevant documentation directly to the SSD.
If approved, you’ll need the student eligibility code for your SAT registration.
If you already receive accommodations at your high school, it’s much easier to gain approval for the same accommodations for the SAT or ACT. However, keep in mind that an IEP or similar doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be approved or that you don’t have to make a formal request. To ensure a smooth test day, submit an official request to the College Board or the ACT as soon as possible.
Once you’ve started the process, it’s time to begin studying for your SAT or ACT. Do you know what to aim for? Discover what your future school is looking for from applicants with College Match.