The coronavirus pandemic has moved all teaching, learning, and test taking online. However, there have been some hiccups with the Advanced Placement (AP) exams for US high school students. Those with iPhones have been failing the test because the College Board’s portal doesn’t support HEIC image format.
The schools across the US began closing in March due to the current pandemic. Therefore, the students were instructed to take their AP exams online. They need to provide long-form answers and there are two options to submit them: either in typing or handwriting. If they choose to handwrite their answers, the students need to take a photo of their response and submit it – and here’s where the problem appears.
According to a report from The Verge, the problem lies in HEIC format supported by iPhones (and a few models of Samsung phones). When students complete the test and submit a photo of a handwritten response, the website gets stuck on the loading screen until their time runs out. This makes them fail the test and they need to retake it.
Alternatively, you can convert a HEIC image into JPG, but I think it’s safer to just set your phone so it captures JPG in the first place. Students who had trouble submitting their responses will, fortunately, be able to retake the exams in the following weeks. [via DPReview]
