Assessment Technology Guide

Avant provides online language assessments. This document provides technical information relative to computers and networks to help prepare for using Avant assessments and/or instructional tools.  

Note: Ensure this information is distributed to both your network administrator, as well as the person who is responsible for preparation and setup of computers in your lab or testing area. It is recommended to also have an IT staff member on hand during testing to help with computer, audio and microphone issues, should they occur.

Technology Check

After reviewing the information in this guide visit the Technology Check to confirm that computers are configured properly and all technology preparation steps are complete before beginning testing.

Networking Requirements

The following section pertains specifically to network setup for the locations where testing will occur.

DOMAIN NAMES

Firewalls, Proxy Servers and Content Filters need to be set to NOT proxy, filter, cache or block the Avant domain names on the ports listed below. All inbound and outbound traffic for the applicable domain names shown below must be whitelisted. If your system does not allow whitelisting of domain names, please contact us at support@avantassessment.com.

Please ensure inbound and outbound HTTP/HTTPS (TCP 80, 443) * is open and whitelisted for the following domains:

• * .avantassessment.com (This is our primary application domain)

• * .twilio.com (Powers our patent pending Next Generation Platform)

  • chunderw-gll.twilio.com – Signaling – GLL (Global Low Latency)

  • chunderw-vpc-gll.twilio.com – Signaling – GLL (Global Low Latency)

  • chunderw-vpc-gll-{region}.twilio.com – Signaling – Regional

    (Regions: au1, br1, de1, ie1, jp1, sg1, us1)

  • eventgw.twilio.com – Insights

  • api.twilio.com (Listening to recordings)

Please ensure that RTP, STUN, and TURN traffic is allowed to UDP ports 3478 and 10,000 – 20,000 for the Twilio IPs for your region.

• Static IP ranges for Twilio may be found here: https://www.twilio.com/docs/voice/client/regions

• EG – Most US schools use 54.172.60.0 – 54.172.61.255 , 34.203.250.0 – 34.203.251.255†

• † Twilio will update these ranges over time, current ranges are listed at the link above.

*Additional networking requirements may apply to legacy systems. See “Deprecated Flash Support” section below.

NOTE ON FIREWALLS

Your firewall should allow outgoing UDP to the public internet from the browsers that will be using Twilio Client, and allow return traffic in response.

Twilio provides a helpful diagnostic tool for checking your connection and whitelisting here.

If you are operating a restricted network that requires whitelisting of media IPs, the region specific IP addresses may be found here https://www.twilio.com/docs/voice/client/regions.

CLIENT BANDWIDTH

200 Kbps of available bandwidth per test taker is recommended.

Testing Equipment Preparation

The following information pertains to setup of the computers that will be used for testing.

COMPUTER AND TABLET REQUIREMENTS

• PC, Mac, Chromebook, tablet

• Headset with microphone (See the Headset Guide)

• Keyboard and mouse

• Ensure that computers are not affected by power saving, screen saver, or shutdown processes that may affect test taking

• Activate the appropriate language keyboard (See the Writing Input Guide)

SUPPORTED BROWSERS AND REQUIREMENTS

• Windows: Microsoft Edge 42+, Chrome 68+

• Mac: Safari 11, Chrome 68+

• ChromeOS: Chrome 68+

• The browser must be given permission to use the microphone on the active Avant product pages

• The selected browser must be set to allow cookies AND JavaScript

SUPPORTED TABLET DEVICES

• iPad with iOS version 12+

• Android Tablets, Android OS version 6+

CHROME BROWSER USERS

Please note that there is a security feature in Chrome that may block access to the headset microphone used in the Avant Listening and Speaking sections. Please have test takers click on the “allow” button at the top of the page to activate the headset microphone, so that it will record. If the “allow” button is not clicked, the headset microphone check will fail and the listening and recording sections will not function properly. For more information, please see: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2693767?p=ib_access_cam_mic&rd=1

HEADSET GUIDELINES

For information on audio settings and troubleshooting recording issues see the Headset Guide. 

CHARACTER ACTIVATION

Most Avant tests include a writing section where a virtual keyboard may be needed for typing appropriate characters, for more information see the Writing Input Guide.

DEPRECATED FLASH SUPPORT

If you are testing in an environment where modern browsers are not available please read these steps for Flash Support.

• Flash version must be the newest version available.

• Port 1935 must be open and bypassed/whitelisted on your network to the listed domains.