LockDown Browser Accessibility Permission on Mac - When Required

Last updated 2026-05-01 · LDBypass Editorial

What Accessibility permission allows

Apple's Accessibility framework was originally designed for assistive technology - apps like VoiceOver that need to read screen content programmatically. The TCC permission grants the holding app:

• Read every UI element on every window in every application (not just its own).
• Send synthetic keyboard events to any application.
• Send synthetic mouse events to any application.
• Monitor every keystroke globally.
• Intercept system keyboard shortcuts (⌘+Tab, Mission Control, Spotlight).

This is significantly more invasive than Camera or Microphone - it's essentially "remote control plus keylogging" capability.

When LDB requests it

LDB asks for Accessibility only when the institution's Respondus Dashboard configuration enables "Enhanced kiosk enforcement". Most institutions do not enable this - Camera + Microphone + Screen Recording is sufficient for typical proctoring. Enhanced enforcement is more common in:

• High-stakes professional certification exams (NCLEX prep, bar review courses).
• Computer science / programming courses where students often have unusual keyboard shortcuts active.
• Institutions with documented past attempts at evasion via assistive-technology workarounds.

Granting Accessibility for LDB

1. System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
2. Click the (+) plus button.
3. Navigate to /Applications and select LockDown Browser.app.
4. Authenticate with admin password (Sonoma 14.4+).
5. Toggle LockDown Browser on.
6. Quit and relaunch LDB.

What if I'm uncomfortable with Accessibility?

You have legitimate options:

1. Email your instructor. Most accept that some students will choose alternative arrangements. Common offers: take the exam in person on a university computer, take it without Monitor, or use a different proctoring tool.
2. Document your concerns. If your concern is privacy-grounded (vs. attempting to evade legitimate enforcement), put it in writing. Many universities have a process where the dean of students or the registrar mediates between the instructor's integrity requirements and the student's privacy preferences.
3. Take the exam on a borrowed Mac. Granting Accessibility on a Mac you only use for the exam window limits the privacy surface to that session.

What LDB cannot do with Accessibility (despite the broad grant)

Accessibility is a capability, not a behavior. LDB's actual use of it during the exam is:

• Detect global keystroke shortcuts that try to switch out of kiosk mode (Cmd-Tab, Mission Control). It logs the attempt.
• Block synthetic events from automation tools (UI Browser, Karabiner, etc.).
• Verify no other Accessibility-using app is active during the exam.

LDB does not use Accessibility to: read your other applications' content, log all your keystrokes outside the exam, or send synthetic events to other apps.

Revoking Accessibility after the exam

System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → toggle LockDown Browser off. The next exam that requires it will prompt fresh; you can grant or refuse based on your assessment of that specific exam.