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Students are failing AP tests because the College Board can’t handle HEIC images

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Re: Students are failing AP tests because the College Board can’t handle HEIC images

#81

Post by dragontamer »

oefrha wrote: post #11
crazygringo wrote: post #4

I thought iOS was supposed to convert HEIC images to JPEG automatically behind-the-scenes in any file transfer situation where HEIC isn't supported. The article itself even says: > iPhones convert HEICs to JPEGs automatically when they’re attached to emails in the Mail app I'm just curious technically why the same didn't happen with the testing portal? If you have a webpage that accepts image uploads, is iOS Safari n…

Tried a standard input tag with the proper accept attribute Selected a HEIC file from Photos in Safari, the selected image was automatically converted to JPEG. Ten bucks says College Board programmer(s) failed to do the most basic and standard filtering. Edit: Like a sibling comment said, the accept attribute actually isn't necessary; even PNG images (e.g. screenshots) from Photos are converted to JPEG automatically.…

> Ten bucks says College Board programmer(s) failed to do the most basic and standard filtering.

Why is it a failure of the college board to put "accept="image/jpeg"", instead of iOS which failed to default to the more standardized jpeg format when HEIC was not specified?

HEIC is a newer format which fewer systems support. iOS / Safari should default to JPEG in this case.

Re: Students are failing AP tests because the College Board can’t handle HEIC images

#82

Post by jp555 »

Hokusai wrote: post #77

> Basically, only Apple (and, more recently, Samsung) use the HEIC format — most other websites and platforms don’t support it. Even popular Silicon Valley-based services, such as Slack, don’t treat HEICs the same way as standard JPEGs. This is the key part. Many in the software industry still believes that the start-up mindset of break things move fast applies to us. The economy depends on software, governments depe…

You're suggesting bureaucratic "software" works better?

I don't put as much faith in that as you.

Re: Students are failing AP tests because the College Board can’t handle HEIC images

#83

Post by elliekelly »

nmstoker wrote: post #74

Clearly needs to be solved and fast, and I have huge sympathy for those affected. However to me the more interesting point is why anyone would want to submit a handwritten script when they could type it. Not to sound like an old foggey, but in my day the only people who got to type were dyslexic and it gave them a huge advantage (no doubt why so many parents were having their children tested). Even if you could write…

My first thought was students who don't have access to a computer outside of school. It seems like these students are taking the exam from their phones:

> But the testing portal doesn’t support the default format on iOS devices and some newer Android phones, HEIC files.

Re: Students are failing AP tests because the College Board can’t handle HEIC images

#85

Post by user5994461 »

polygot wrote: post #26

> Changing a file’s extension does not guarantee that it will be converted, but Spencer was still able to submit the demo test with no problem. In what situations does the file format auto convert when you change the extension?

Popular image manipulation libraries work with raw bytes and they identify the encoding from the first few bytes of headers. When a software work with common libraries, there is a good chance that it can deal indifferently with all the formats the library can understand (JPG, PNG, GIF, etc...)

A file explorer or website may filter by extensions, preventing to submit formats that are actually supported. A workaround is to rename the extension and hope it is supposed anyway.

Didn't work in this case. They tried and the picture was corrupted. It doesn't support the new apple encoding.

Re: Students are failing AP tests because the College Board can’t handle HEIC images

#86

Post by xienyc »

II2II wrote: post #52

While it sounds like the College Board may be at fault for some of the issues, like the test timing out when HEIC images were sent or the initial communication of the issue, I wouldn't be so quick to place all of the blame on them. Part of the problem is how we more-or-less glorify an ignorance of technology. This can be seen in both students trying to change the file type by changing the file extension and JPEG bein…

Ironically the person from the article who attempted converting the HEIC files to JPG by renaming them was taking a Computer Science test.

Re: Students are failing AP tests because the College Board can’t handle HEIC images

#87

Post by ReverseCold »

nmstoker wrote: post #74

Clearly needs to be solved and fast, and I have huge sympathy for those affected. However to me the more interesting point is why anyone would want to submit a handwritten script when they could type it. Not to sound like an old foggey, but in my day the only people who got to type were dyslexic and it gave them a huge advantage (no doubt why so many parents were having their children tested). Even if you could write…

Some tests require symbols (like greek letters), which aren’t easy to type by default. Also, people have been practicing all year by handwriting responses (since we didn’t know it would be online, obviously) - so a handwritten option is accommodating that.

Re: Students are failing AP tests because the College Board can’t handle HEIC images

#88

Post by somehnguy »

crazygringo wrote: post #17
somehnguy wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably not. If I Airdrop photos taken on my phone to my Macbook they arrive in HEIC format. I have to use an external tool (iMazing HEIC Converter) to manually convert them for a bunch of places.

I've experienced that with AirDrop too, but that's because the iPhone knows the Mac can view them. Also you don't need an external tool -- Preview will convert HEIC to JPEG for you relatively instantly, even in batch. (Though I really do wish the phone would ask first if you want to convert, when Airdropping.)

I'll try Preview next time instead, thanks! iMazing works fine for the actual functionality but has some sort of bug where it won't re-open if I closed it without force quitting it. Minor but annoying.

Re: Students are failing AP tests because the College Board can’t handle HEIC images

#89

Post by ver_ture »

II2II wrote: post #52

While it sounds like the College Board may be at fault for some of the issues, like the test timing out when HEIC images were sent or the initial communication of the issue, I wouldn't be so quick to place all of the blame on them. Part of the problem is how we more-or-less glorify an ignorance of technology. This can be seen in both students trying to change the file type by changing the file extension and JPEG bein…

Exactly. Simple tech literacy was missing in the 1% of students that failed this test through their HEIC submissions. Even though I acknowledge the panic of a weird circumstance during an important test, editing the extension in file explorer is just too far from logical.

Apps are becoming so streamlined and gesture intuitive that children and young adults might actually be regressing in their tech competence while increasing their reliance on it. This is akin to cars packed with electronics, easing use while decreasing DIY repairs and understanding. This decreases our right to repair as a consequence of ease.

Many children will not navigate the antiquated forums and php sites that taught me problem-solving and a degree of independence. I'm not sure what will replace this lost experience for them.

I guess I joined the tech admin / helpdesk fields as a way of putting my money where my mouth is, like buying calls on these services' growing necessity.

Re: Students are failing AP tests because the College Board can’t handle HEIC images

#90

Post by bjtitus »

dragontamer wrote: post #81
oefrha wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tried a standard input tag with the proper accept attribute Selected a HEIC file from Photos in Safari, the selected image was automatically converted to JPEG. Ten bucks says College Board programmer(s) failed to do the most basic and standard filtering. Edit: Like a sibling comment said, the accept attribute actually isn't necessary; even PNG images (e.g. screenshots) from Photos are converted to JPEG automatically.…

> Ten bucks says College Board programmer(s) failed to do the most basic and standard filtering. Why is it a failure of the college board to put "accept="image/jpeg"", instead of iOS which failed to default to the more standardized jpeg format when HEIC was not specified? HEIC is a newer format which fewer systems support. iOS / Safari should default to JPEG in this case.

The comment was edited to show that iOS does in fact do this.

But even if it did send HEIC, if you're going to fail to handle "any" format, then you better specify the one you can handle. By the same token, why shouldn't my computer convert every .docx to PDF, or some other "more universal" format?

Instead of specifying the requirement programmatically, they spent their time sending out tweets and writing help docs.

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