How to Use Helperbird During Google Forms Locked Quizzes
What to do in the minutes before a locked quiz starts. Turn your Helperbird features on first, and know how to reach Helperbird once the screen is locked.
On this page
This page is for the student taking a locked quiz and the teacher sitting with them. It covers the few minutes before the quiz starts. The Google Admin side is on how to use Helperbird in locked mode on Chromebooks.
Set Up Before You Click Start
- Open the quiz page. Do not click Start yet.
- Open Helperbird. Click the Helperbird icon in the browser toolbar, or the Helperbird button on the page if your school has turned on the Floating Toolbar.
- Turn on the features you need and check each one is working on the quiz page.
- Click Start.
Helperbird saves your settings, so whatever you turn on now is still on inside the quiz. Do it in this order, because once locked mode starts there may be nothing left to click.
What to Turn On
Pick what is in your plan, not the whole list.
- Text to speech, to hear questions and answer choices read out.
- One ruler. Dyslexia ruler, Focus ruler or Reading guide. Helperbird runs one at a time, so choose the one that helps.
- Font. OpenDyslexic, Atkinson Hyperlegible and Andika are in the list, along with 29 others.
- Color overlay, to tint the page and cut glare.
- Font size, Letter spacing and Line spacing, for more comfortable reading.
- Highlight Menu, to mark key words in a question.
Leave out anything that opens a new tab. Translate page sends you to Google Translate in a new tab, which takes you out of the quiz.
Opened from the Helperbird panel, Immersive Reader reads up to 2,000 characters at a time on a free account. If your school gave you Helperbird Pro, that cap does not apply.
If You Cannot Open Helperbird During the Quiz
Locked mode hides the Chromebook shelf, and depending on how the Chromebook is set up the extension icons may not be reachable either.
If your school has turned on the Floating Toolbar, there is a Helperbird button on the page itself, in a bottom corner. Click it and a bar of tools opens on the page, so you do not need the browser toolbar. The buttons carry no printed text, so point at one to see its name. For what each button does, see how to use the floating Helperbird button.
If there is no button on the page, tell your teacher. Your IT admin can turn it on.
What Your School Sets Up First
Helperbird only runs inside a locked quiz if your school installed it for you through Google Admin. A copy you added yourself from the Chrome Web Store stops when locked mode starts.
Your school also chooses which features you get and whether the Floating Toolbar is on. If something in your plan is missing from the menu, that is set on their side. Send your teacher or IT admin how to use Helperbird in locked mode on Chromebooks and how to assign Helperbird accommodations to students.
Troubleshooting
You forgot to turn a feature on. Once the quiz is locked you may not be able to open Helperbird. Ask your teacher whether you can leave and restart, then set up first.
A button is greyed out and its name ends in "(Pro)". That button needs Helperbird Pro. Your school's subscription turns it on, so ask your teacher.
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Printed from the Helperbird Help Center · Updated August 13th, 2026
Questions? We are happy to help — helperbird.com/support