Introduction to Kiosk{ed}

• Key Capabilities
• Platforms Supported
• User Interface

If you’d like to see Kiosk{ed} in action, check out the demo application.

PDF Version Demo

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Key Capabilities

Our aim is to take away the burden of supporting applications so that your team can focus on building great educational content and assessments and also minimize the burden of cross browser support on your development team. Kiosk{ed} provides the following and much more.

Securely deliver content using Lockdown Mode.
Leverage the latest in web technologies with our Modern Browser.
Ensure devices meet minimum requirements with our Startup Checks.
Advanced options are available through a secret Proctor Panel.
Power up your app with the integrated Javascript API.

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Platforms Supported

Supporting all the devices found in the wild can be a challenge. Kiosk{ed} aims to provide a consistent experience across all devices with the feel of a native app for each platform. We will continue to expand the platforms we support, and if you have a request for one not listed here, please let us know.

Desktops & Laptops

• Windows 7+
• macOS 10.7+
• Chrome OS 50+
• Linux Coming Soon

Tablets

• iOS 9.3.2+ (10.2 recommended)
• Android Planned

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User Interface

The interface of the Kiosk{ED} Browser is straightforward by design. It provides an intuitive and simple experience to the user and puts the focus on your content. In the diagram below, your content is represented with the blue background.

The first view that the user will see is an initialization screen that shows your branding and a progress bar. This screen is designed to give the user feedback while the server side assets are being downloaded. At the same time it performs a few system checks to ensure the device meets all minimum requirements. If all checks pass, your content will be displayed. If there are any issues, the application will give a summary of the issue and in some cases give the user an opportunity to fix the problem and then rerun the checks. More details can be found in the Startup Checks article.

After completing initial start up checks, your web application is launched in to a full-screen browser control. When the user enters a section that should be secured, you can enter lockdown mode with a JavaScript call to kiosk.lock(). Alternatively, you can also use the AutoLock configuration property to enter lockdown mode when the application is launched. More about that can be found in the Securing a Device article. When in lockdown mode, all browser and OS chrome such as toolbars and menus is hidden from the user.

Whenever a startup check fails or if network or security issues are detected during a test, we provide feedback via a full page error message. If something goes wrong while the device is in lockdown mode, we provide an option to gracefully unlock and exit. The full list of of possible errors can be found in the Error Messages article.

A special Proctor Panel is accessible to proctors and administrators that provides special functionality that would not be appropriate to display to a student. To access this screen, a special key or touch combination is required along with a passcode.

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Integration

Getting started is easy and can be done with zero intergration work required on your end. You can then take advantage of the extended functionality Kiosk{Ed} provides on your schedule. For example, using the AutoLock build option will secure your application from the moment is launched and requires no code changes on your part. But if you’d like to control when the locking and unlocking happens you can make the change and call those methods when appropriate for your application.

Once your ready to start taking advantage of the built in methods that come with Kiosk{Ed} that part is easy too. We automatically inject a JavaScript object in to your code with all the methods you’ll need. Below is an example of how you would lockdown a device before entering in to a secure section of your application.

kiosk.lock((success) => {
    
    // If successfully locked
    if (success) {
        console.log("Now in lockdown mode.")
    } else {
        console.log("Unable to lockdown device.")
    }

})

For a list of the latest methods available, refer to the Javascript API article.

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Building Apps

This process is currently managed by us. We need just a few pieces of information and we can create your custom application. In the future, we will likely automate this process and give you the option of creating builds yourself, but for now we handle everything for you.

We just need a few pieces of information to start building.

Property	Description	Required
Application Name	Short name of your application	Yes
Application ID	app.company.com format identifier	No
Icon	High resolution png for your app (1024x1024)	Yes
URL	Address of your web application	Yes
AutoLock	Set to true if you want your app to lock on start	Yes

Once these details are provide we usually turn around your custom applications in a couple of days. All applications will be native and install like typical applications. For Chromebooks and iPads we will need to publish to their respective App Stores and this process takes a little longer. For more details see the article on Deploying your App

Last updated on May 21, 2018