In the ocean and beyond: how OctoProctor sets the EDI standard for ethical proctoring

TL;DR

We treat diversity as a capability and design systems that adapt to real conditions – low bandwidth, screen readers, no downloads. Decisions are made by those closest to the work, backed by bias checks, audit logs, and measurable accommodations. We co-design with students, proctors, and advocates, join standards when they help, and step back when communities lead.
Eight arms, one body: fair, safe assessment for everyone, everywhere.

Introduction

One of our core memories from the recent 25th International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations is how peers, methodologists, and EDI champions gave us a sometimes wild look when we approached them with our vision of ethical proctoring. As our founder and CTO, Anton Skshidlevsky, recently shared in his blog:

“Online proctoring provides at least two socially significant benefits: ensuring accessibility (people from low-income families or remote regions should have equal access to opportunities) and equal conditions (those who are more assertive, more reserved, or have disabilities should all have the same chances).”
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While the world sits at the crossroads of ethical standards and social shifts, OctoProctor’s stance on diversity, equity, and inclusion remains unwavering. EDI has never been a trend or political agenda for us — our name and mascot speak for themselves.

The World Ocean, the birthplace of life, is the epitome of raw diversity that sustains not only itself but the rest of the Earth. Among its “super-brain” lineages, the octopus is delightfully “alien.” Today, Octo will guide you through our EDI initiatives and commitments.
P.S.: Be prepared! Our team strives on humor ;)

1. Diversity is a capability

Octopi: Roughly 300 octopus species are on record, spanning a full range of sizes, behaviors, and homes from reef shallows to the deep trenches of the world’s oceans. They’re all highly adaptable and notably smart, with diversity that shows up in their bodies, camouflage toolkits, and even how they interact.
OctoProctor: Different “habitats” such as our backgrounds, geographies, and access levels produce different problem-solving styles. Like 300 species tuned to different waters, our teams thrive when perspectives aren’t forced into one mold. Taking after octopuses, we are colorblind. We never discriminate against candidates based on race, religion, gender, political views, or health status. Our hiring is solely merit-based. You can be anyone you want to be, and no questions will be asked because that is your business. The colorblindness helps us avoid tokenism, which has been eroding real allyship for a while now (ifykyk).

2. Decentralize decisions

Octopi: Among invertebrates, octopuses have the standout brain-to-body ratio. A common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) carries about 500 million neurons, similar to a dog. About two-thirds sit in the arms; the rest form a ring-shaped brain that wraps the esophagus inside the head. On top of that, octopuses have three hearts with distinct functions. Talk about decentralization!
OctoProctor: We empower people closest to the work: frontline staff, ERGs, contractors, and partners to make calls on process, language, and access. We want and encourage teams and individuals to make decisions. Given our cross-continent setup, we fast-track approvals for accommodations, language support, and schedule flexibility rather than sending each step to the executive table.

3. Remove barriers

Octopi: Have a massive influence on the ocean ecosystem. Besides skilfully surviving in the wild, they keep vital habitats like seagrass beds and coral reefs thriving by hunting invertebrates and removing algae. Octopuses also show flexible intelligence in lab settings: they learn mazes, tackle multi-step tasks for food, and are escape masters. Their intelligence is highly plastic, resulting in equally impressive problem-solving.
OctoProctor: While marine octopi are natural puzzle solvers, our employees and test takers should not ruminate about our practices. If a step doesn’t test skill or protect privacy, we take it out. Our team is currently located across nine countries, and we view this as a strength that helps us overcome cultural barriers. We proudly embody it all: Portuguese sesta, Cypriot hospitality, and Brazilian passion for football.

4. Systems adapt to people, not the other way around

Octopi: Under the skin are thousands of chromatophores that let an octopus shift color almost instantly. They also control tiny skin structures that raise or flatten, called papillae, so texture changes as fast as color to match the surroundings.
OctoProctor: All our teammates are excellent communicators and human orchestras, fitting into diverse communities. Nevertheless, we’re not asking our test-takers to camouflage and ignore their discomfort. We’re making our environment responsive by introducing low-bandwidth mode, device-agnostic delivery, screen-reader support, and quiet flags with human review. Technically, proctoring should be as invisible as an octopus masking among the reefs, which we achieve through seamless integrations with LMSs.

5. Access across conditions

Octopi: Casually strolling on the land, inhabiting reef Octlantises, dwelling in the abyss and still actively evolving! Additionally, octopuses and squid have a remarkable ability to edit their RNA, allowing them to adapt to their environment without relying solely on DNA mutations.
OctoProctor: One of our primary missions is accessibility for our test takers. From high-resource campuses to low-connectivity regions, access to Octo-powered exams should hold, improving quality of life and access to opportunities.

6. Evidence over ego

Octopi: Smarts are practical.
OctoProctor: Evidence-led policy based on audit logs, bias checks, published retention schedules, and measurable accommodation turnaround. We employ social listening and campaign for the test-taker agency. We make timely updates and are transparent on what changed, why it changed, and what it affects. The company has zero tolerance for ego-based abuse – all opinions are valid.

7. Curiosity over demonization

Octopi: Naturally curious. Octopuses love to investigate new objects, even adapting them to their habitat. As opposed to myths, octopi do not eat ships, attack humans or… ya’know.
OctoProctor: Curiosity is what binds us together. We always promote education across the company, share interesting findings and discuss the latest developments. Although it may sound fishy, we are all dreamers. We are not interested in your personal data or failing you, just like our marine colleagues! If anything, we are interested in fruitful co-existence in the education ecosystem based on trust and respect ;)

8. A part of a greater ecosystem

Octopi: Eight arms, one body built for coordination. They remodel their dens, stash shells and coconuts, and shape the space around them instead of just fitting in.
OctoProctor: Our EDI involvement is hands-on. We co-design features with students, disability advocates, and proctors. We are always “on it” with our partners and keep a small external advisory circle. We join standards efforts when that moves the field, and step back when community partners should lead.

Final thoughts

We are sure you now know how much we like symbolism! Even our company values go as OCEAN. We’ve explored only ~5% of the ocean, which means most of what matters is still ahead—same for building fair systems. Will we ever meet heptapods from Villeneuve’s Arrival in real life? Who knows. What we are sure of is that our Earth's diversity is amazing, and we are here to support and protect it by reducing our ecological footprint too. Hold us to these eight EDI commitments :)