Testing Security: Non-Kiosk vs. Kiosk PWA

Non-kiosk mode combines browser-level controls with monitoring and enforcement when a student leaves the test.

Kiosk mode provides a single-app environment with OS-level restrictions.

Non-Kiosk PWA

The non-kiosk PWA provides the following testing security controls:

• Blocks new tabs, new browser windows, and tab switching.

• Enforces fullscreen mode and blocks back/forward gestures.

• Disables the right-click context menu.

• Blocks browser shortcuts and function keys, including top-row keys. This helps prevent screenshots, printing, saving pages, viewing source, accessing browser controls, and switching desktops.

• Prevents navigation to unapproved websites through allowlists and blocklists.

• Restricts the use of multiple displays.

• Disables user-installed Chrome extensions. Admin-installed extensions are permitted only when their extension IDs are explicitly approved.

Limits of Non-Kiosk Security

Non-kiosk mode cannot fully prevent OS-level app switching or launching other applications, including Android apps. Instead, it detects when the testing app loses focus, displays warnings, and forces an exit for repeated or extended violations.

Additional limitations include system UI and notifications, network stack and proxy monitoring, and external peripheral access controls.

Kiosk PWA

Kiosk mode confines Chrome to a single testing window. New-tab creation is blocked at the OS level, providing a more restrictive single-app environment rather than relying solely on the testing app’s browser-level controls.

Key Difference

Both modes block opening new browser tabs and windows. The primary distinction is how they handle access outside the testing environment:

• Non-kiosk: browser-level restrictions, plus detection, warnings, and forced exit when students leave the testing app.

• Kiosk: OS-enforced single-app confinement.

This summary is not an exhaustive feature-by-feature checklist for kiosk mode.