Why do online exams care which keyboard and mouse you use?
Online exam systems restrict input devices because the exam must be answered by one person's own hands on one verified machine - and every published input rule exists to keep that true. ETS states it most directly: multiple keyboards are not permitted, and a laptop must use its built-in keyboard. The Duolingo English Test requires one keyboard, mouse, and phone only, asks for a standard input method, and bans software with predictive-text, proofreading, or typing-suggestion functions. Pearson VUE's OnVUE bans styluses and touchscreen displays on its prohibited-technology list.
The reason is structural. An online exam is proctored on a verified machine: one screen you have shown, one program you have opened, one set of hands the camera or proctor can see. A second keyboard, a stylus, or typing-assistance software introduces an input path nobody has verified - so the vendors either ban the device outright or require the input path to stay inside the monitored setup, with the keyboard visible in a camera view.
This page covers the published picture in general terms: the exact rule each vendor publishes, which input categories the rules name, why the rules exist, where the checks happen, what happens if an input rule is broken, and the edge cases candidates actually ask about. Every claim comes from official vendor pages - nothing here describes how any system detects anything, because no vendor publishes that, and this page does not speculate.
The input rule each vendor publishes
ETS writes the bluntest version. Its at-home equipment requirements state that multiple keyboards are not permitted, and that if your device has a built-in keyboard, like a laptop, you must use its built-in keyboard - the identical rule it publishes for screens, where dual screens or multiple monitors are not allowed and the built-in monitor is mandatory. The same list restricts the computer itself: a desktop or laptop only, no tablet, Chromebook, or mobile device, and Microsoft Surface Pro devices are not permitted.
The Duolingo English Test publishes the most complete input rule set of any system in this series. Its test policies require a standard input method, limit you to one keyboard, mouse, and phone, and instruct candidates to disable software with predictive text, proofreading, typing suggestions, or reference functions before the test. The same section requires closing every other program across the browser, telecommunication, streaming, and remote-desktop categories - the typing rules sit inside the same close-everything instruction this series has covered before.
Pearson VUE's OnVUE handles input through its prohibited-technology list. Mobile phones, tablets, headphones, earbuds, styluses, and watches are named in one line, and secondary or touchscreen displays carry their own entry with the instruction to disconnect and cover them if they cannot be removed. The desk rules complete the picture: all items on, under, or within arm's reach must be removed, including electronics, books, notes, paper, pens, and writing tools, and whiteboards must be cleared before the exam.
ProctorU's published equipment requirements restrict the machine rather than the keyboard itself: remote-control software may not be running, only a single monitor is permitted, mobile devices are not supported, and headphones are generally not allowed. The input rules arrive indirectly - the webcam, microphone, and speaker requirements mean audio and video flow through the monitored machine, and the Guardian Browser carries the session. PSI publishes the check rather than the device list: its check-in tests the microphone and webcam, and the exam countdown does not start until the security checks are passed.
What a lockdown browser does to the keyboard
A second family of systems enforces input rules at the keyboard during the session itself. Respondus publishes the fullest list: right-click menu options, function keys, keyboard shortcuts, and task switching are disabled, copying and pasting anything to or from an assessment is prevented, and printing and screen capture functions are turned off. An assessment cannot be exited until it is submitted, and it cannot be opened in another browser at all.
Honorlock's BrowserGuard covers the same ground from the browser side: it blocks and flags unauthorized keyboard shortcuts while recording the test taker's desktop during the exam, disables keyboard shortcuts and functions, and removes toolbar and menu options. Safe Exam Browser, the open-source kiosk used by universities, blocks system commands like keyboard shortcuts and right mouse button clicks while it runs, and its published blocked list includes the Print Screen key alongside display sleep.
Read together, these are input rules with a different enforcement point. The rules-based systems ask you to arrive with one verified keyboard and mouse; the lockdown systems take control of what the keyboard can do while the exam is live. Neither publishes anything about how inputs are analyzed - the published feature is always blocking, flagging, and recording, never measurement.
The other half of the published picture is visibility. The Duolingo English Test requires the phone camera to capture your head, shoulders, screen, and keyboard during the session, alongside the rule to stay in frame with ears, eyes, and mouth visible - the keyboard is part of the monitored view, not an assumption. The same policies carry the companion rule candidates ask about most: don't look away from the screen except when typing.
ETS publishes a second-camera version of the same idea for the GRE at home. A smartphone or tablet placed about an arm's length to your side must show a view that includes the computer, keyboard, mouse, hands, and side profile, with the proctor guiding the ideal setup on test day. If the second camera disconnects mid-test, the published instruction is calm and specific: the proctor temporarily stops the exam and walks you through reconnecting.
The desk rules belong to the same model. ETS requires the computer and keyboard to sit on a desk or tabletop with the surface clear of unapproved items, and allows notes only on one small desktop whiteboard or one sheet in a transparent protector with an erasable marker - then requires you to show the proctor all notes erased at the end. OnVUE's desk list reaches the same inputs from the other side: no pens, no writing tools, no paper within arm's reach. The pattern across vendors is one visible surface, one visible pair of hands, one input path.
Which input categories the rules name
Read across the published lists and the same categories keep appearing. A second or external keyboard where the rule says built-in only. A stylus or touchscreen where the rule names standard input. Software that types with you - predictive text, proofreading, typing suggestions, reference functions - where the rule says standard input method. And the peripherals that arrive attached to other problems: headphones and earbuds, which the audio rules ban separately, and phones and tablets, which the one-keyboard-one-mouse-one-phone rules fold into the device count.
The lists also reach past the desk. Remote-control software is named by ProctorU and by ETS's disable-before-the-test instruction - software that controls your machine from elsewhere is an input path by definition. Virtual machines, covered earlier in this series, are banned for the same structural reason: the exam cannot verify where the inputs into a virtual machine come from.
What the rules never name is how any of this is identified on exam day. No vendor in this source set publishes what its checks look at inside the machine, and none describes keystroke timing, input-source analysis, or any similar technique as candidate-facing documentation. The published picture is the rule, the check, and the camera view - nothing more, and this page does not fill the gap with speculation.
Why the rules exist: one pair of hands, one input path
Every rule above defends the same model: the verified environment. The delivery system certifies that the machine in front of the camera is the machine answering the question, that the hands in frame are operating it, and that nothing else feeds the exam. Input rules are that model's most literal expression - they define which physical path an answer may travel.
Each named category threatens the model the same way. A second keyboard or a stylus means the answer may be arriving through a path the camera cannot see. Typing-assistance software means the words on screen may not be the candidate's own in real time. Remote-control software and virtual machines move the input path off the verified machine entirely. This is why vendors treat a stylus the same as a second screen: both are unpublished input or display channels attached to the exam.
The two enforcement families split the work. Rules-based systems - ETS at home, the Duolingo English Test, OnVUE, ProctorU, PSI - publish the device rules and verify at check-in, with the camera view carrying the session. Lockdown systems - Respondus, Honorlock, Safe Exam Browser - take the keyboard's more dangerous functions away during the session itself. Both publish their rules openly; neither publishes its detection methods, and the honest answer to how any of it is caught is that the vendors do not say.
Where the input checks happen
The first checkpoint is before exam day, and it is free. OnVUE requires candidates to run and pass its System Test on the same device and network they will use on exam day. ETS gates check-in on the Equipment Check inside the ETS Secure Browser, with failed parts marked by a red triangle and resolution tips. PSI's System Compatibility Check is publicly available to anyone. ProctorU offers a test-it-out feature that checks the exam-day computer in advance. These checks verify the machine and its camera, microphone, and connection - the device rules are yours to satisfy before the check looks at anything.
The second checkpoint is check-in itself. OnVUE's check-in opens 30 minutes before the appointment with required technology checks and a 360-degree room scan that shows the desk and everything on it. ETS asks for the same room view plus the phone-or-mirror show of your screen, and the second camera is positioned with the proctor's guidance so the keyboard, mouse, and hands are in view. PSI's admissions process tests the microphone and webcam before the countdown starts. The Duolingo English Test folds the check into the setup itself: the phone camera position is part of the test's standard configuration, capturing head, shoulders, screen, and keyboard.
The third layer is the session. On a lockdown-browser exam the keyboard restrictions apply continuously. On a rules-based exam the camera view and the recording carry the duty: the Duolingo English Test says don't interfere with the phone camera recording, and ETS's proctor watches both you and your screen for the entire session. Session recording, covered earlier in this series, is what makes a later review possible at all.
If an input rule is broken
A failure at the pre-exam stage is the cheap version of the problem. ETS's Equipment Check shows you which parts failed and links troubleshooting tips, and every red issue must be resolved before check-in can proceed. An external keyboard flagged against the built-in-keyboard rule is a fix you make in your own room, on your own time - unplug it, rerun the check, and the problem is gone.
A failure on exam day is the expensive version, and the consequences are published. ETS states that equipment out of compliance on test day means you cannot test, with no refund and no free reschedule. OnVUE warns before booking that failure to meet the minimum requirements can mean immediate cancellation and forfeiture of the exam fee, and that an unmet requirement at check-in means you cannot test and the fee will be forfeited.
A violation found during the session is the most expensive version. ETS publishes that failure to follow the proctor's instructions and testing rules can end in dismissal from the test and cancellation of scores, with no refund. The same ladder applies to input rules as to every environmental rule: the earlier the problem surfaces, the cheaper it is - which is the entire argument for the pre-exam checks.
The situations candidates ask about
The laptop-and-dock crowd hits the input rules hardest. If you use a closed laptop with an external monitor and keyboard, you are running two keyboards by ETS's rule - its built-in-keyboard requirement answers the question before it is asked, and OnVUE's disconnect-and-cover instruction for secondary displays covers the screen half. The published answer everywhere is the same shape: the built-in devices on one open laptop, or a desktop with exactly one keyboard and mouse.
Typing assistance is the second edge case, and the published answer is broader than people expect. The Duolingo English Test's rule covers predictive text, proofreading, typing suggestions, and reference functions - which reaches autocorrect, text prediction, grammar tools, and note apps that suggest words. If a tool finishes or corrects what you type, the rule names its category; disable it before the test and use a standard input method.
Looking away while typing is the third. The Duolingo English Test explicitly allows looking at the keyboard while typing - don't look away from the screen except when typing - because two-finger typists look down. The rule exists so the camera keeps the face-and-screen relationship visible, not to mandate touch typing. ETS's second-camera view, which includes hands and keyboard, is the same accommodation expressed as a camera angle: the keyboard is allowed to be in use, it just has to be in frame.
The published preparation checklist
The vendors' instructions converge on one routine. Use the built-in keyboard and trackpad on a laptop, or exactly one external keyboard and one mouse on a desktop - ETS's rule is the strictest published version and the safest default. Put the computer and keyboard on a clear tabletop with nothing else within arm's reach, following OnVUE's desk list and ETS's tabletop rules.
Then remove or disable what the rules name. Styluses and tablets off the desk per OnVUE's prohibited list. Predictive-text, proofreading, and typing-suggestion software disabled per the Duolingo English Test's setup rules, with a standard input method selected. Every other program closed - the rule this series covered in the background-programs explainer. If your exam uses a second camera or phone camera, set it where the published view requires: computer, keyboard, mouse, hands, and side profile for ETS; head, shoulders, screen, and keyboard for the Duolingo English Test.
Finally, prove it with the official check. Run OnVUE's System Test, ETS's Equipment Check, PSI's System Compatibility Check, or ProctorU's test-it-out on the same device you will use on exam day. If a check flags your setup, treat it as a pre-exam fix, not a test-day negotiation: the published consequences for arriving out of compliance are forfeiture and no refund, and none of that is necessary when the checks are free, public, and days in advance.
If the Sitting Itself Is the Problem
Input rules are a solvable problem: the vendors publish which devices may feed the exam, the camera views that must contain them, and the checks that catch problems early. Nothing in the published rules is hidden, and nothing in this page needed to go beyond them.
That is the problem Exam Assist works on. If you have a proctored exam coming up and the sitting itself is the risk, send the details through the booking page: you get an honest feasibility answer, and the service fee is due only after your result posts.
For more of this series in the same general-terms format, see our guides to why online exams block background programs, why online exams block virtual machines, why online exams block extra monitors, and what to expect at a remote exam check-in.