The College Board’s president, Jeremy Singer, described plans for a remote proctoring system that “locks down everything else in the computer. The camera and microphone are on, you can detect any movement in the room. If the parents are in there, next to them, that would be detected.”

Experts said many families might be reluctant to give the organization such extensive access to their private devices.

“That’s a big privacy issue, both to lock down your computer and to put some kind of client on your computer to be able to do that,” said Jonathan Supovitz, a professor of leadership and policy at the Graduate School of Education for the University of Pennsylvania.

The development of an online option is an indication that the testing companies are fighting for their lives. The fairness of standardized testing was already under increasing attack before the virus, with some colleges and universities moving away from the tests as an application requirement.

In the wake of the pandemic, more colleges have at least temporarily made ACT and SAT results optional for 2021 applicants, including the vast University of California system, Tulane, Case Western Reserve and Williams College.