Reimagining the Microsoft Certification exam UI experience

At Microsoft, we continue to pursue our goal of creating a completely accessible certification exam. To that end, we’re pleased to announce the first of several significant updates to the exam user interface (UI), launching on March 9, 2024, at 11 PM Pacific Time, for all Pearson VUE–delivered exams. Fundamentals exams delivered through Certiport will be updated to the new UI in the next few months. The newly designed UI is the result of a close collaboration between industry experts in exam design, delivery, and accessibility, and it was built with responsive design in mind. The reimagined UI provides a more streamlined look and feel—from the introduction to the score report. It’s aligned to that of Microsoft Learn, so it will likely seem familiar. We’ve even included a celebration screen when you pass the exam that is like the certification renewal success screen. Plus, many of the design choices were made to address candidates’ key pain points during an exam, including those related to misunderstanding where they were on the exam.

Highlights of the new and improved UI include:

• The ability to turn the exam clock on and off.
• An expandable exam menu toolbar on the side of the screen, providing more space for the question and minimizing scrolling.
• A new flyout tools menu, including:
• Exam Question Details, providing a quick count of items answered, unanswered, marked for review, and marked for comment.
• Exam Progress, offering a visual indicator of how much of the exam you’ve completed and how much remains.
• A design that minimizes vertical and horizontal scrolling.
• A more logical placement of the Review later and Leave feedback boxes.
• A subway map that shows where you are in the exam.
• An exam progress bar with each question so you know exactly how many sections and questions remain.
• An improved review screen, with a filtered view that displays questions that are answered, unanswered, marked for review, or marked for comment. Review mode includes labels throughout, reminding you which items you’re reviewing. 
• Modernized color scheme options, including Dark mode.
• Added calculation history to the calculator.

Following are some examples of the new look and feel:

Figure 1. “Dark” mode, a newly available modernized color scheme option for Microsoft Certification exam screens.

Figure 2. Microsoft Certification “Exam Agreement” screen.

Figure 3. Microsoft Certification “Exam Summary” screen.

Figure 4. Microsoft Certification “Exam Overview and Instructions” screen.

Figure 5. Microsoft Certification exam start screen.

Figure 6. Microsoft Certification exam screen, including the expanded Exam Toolbar, the Exam Question Progress bar, and the exam clock toggle.

Figure 7. Microsoft Certification exam question review screen, with the Exam Toolbar collapsed, highlighting the hover feature.

Figure 8. Microsoft Certification exam “Exam Progress” subway map, showing the completed, current, and remaining sections of the exam.

Figure 9. Microsoft Certification exam “Review Your Answers” screen, displaying additional sections on the exam and the “Finish Section” button.

Figure 10. Microsoft Certification exam “Review Your Answers” screen, with questions filtered by “Unanswered.”

Figure 11. Microsoft Certification exam “Question” screen, showing a question filtered by “Unanswered.”

I’m very happy to bring this new exam look and feel to you in early March 2024, in addition to all the accessibility features that come with it. This is yet another set of improvements to the Microsoft Certification exam experience that we’ve made over the last few years, including:

• The ability to take unscheduled breaks during an exam.
• The opportunity to access Microsoft Learn resources during an exam.
• Updates to the online proctoring rules to allow children in the room.
• Additional updates to the online proctoring rules to permit behaviors that are more likely to reflect anxiety than bad intent.
• Simplifying the accommodation request process, expanding the options for documenting those requests, and reducing the number of requests that require documentation.

And we’re just getting started. There’s so much more to come, as part of our quest to make Microsoft Certification exams fully accessible.

If you’d like a sneak peek at the latest updates, check out the new certification exam sandbox!