- The Blueprint at a Glance
- Reading the Weights: Where the 150 Questions Go
- Domains 1 and 2: Professional Practice, Teaching, and Medical Knowledge
- Domains 3 and 4: Assessment, Program Design, and O&M Concepts
- Domains 5, 6, and 7: The Instructional Core
- Domains 8, 9, and 10: Diverse Clients, Psychosocial Aspects, and Ethics
- Format, Timing, and What Is Not Confirmed
- Sequencing Your Prep by Domain
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The ACVREP COMS exam has 10 content domains and 150 multiple-choice/multiple-select items.
- Mobility Skills and Strategies (Domain 6) is the heaviest area at 17%, or 26 questions.
- Domains 3 and 6 together account for 49 of the 150 questions.
- Domain 9 (Psychosocial Aspects) is the lightest at 5%, but it shapes how many scenario questions are framed.
The Blueprint at a Glance
The Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) credential is issued by the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals (ACVREP). Its examination is built around ten content domains, each with a published weight and a published question count. This guide walks through all ten, explains what each one asks of a candidate, and points out where the blueprint rewards deeper preparation.
Two framing points matter before the details. First, the exam tests entry-level principles and application with preschool, school-aged, and adult individuals who are blind or visually impaired. It is not a test of advanced specialization; it is a test of whether you can apply core O&M knowledge safely and competently across the lifespan. Second, the handbook combines several body-of-knowledge areas into the ten examination groups. If you have seen a longer list of body-of-knowledge headings elsewhere, do not confuse it with the ten exam domains. The exam domains are the ones that determine how your 150 questions are distributed.
The ACVREP handbook linked from the official COMS certification page shows a visible revision date of March 14, 2024, with an examination section noted as updated in January 2023 and implemented February 1, 2023. Nothing in the reviewed sources indicates a newly revised blueprint for 2026, so the weights below are the ones currently published. For eligibility, see our COMS requirements guide, and for the big-picture definition of the credential, see What Is COMS Certification?
Reading the Weights: Where the 150 Questions Go
The table below lists every domain with its published percentage and question count. The percentages are published rounded figures, so do not expect each percentage to multiply out to a perfectly clean integer; the question counts are what the handbook lists.
| Domain | Title | Weight | Questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Professional Information and Resources and Teaching and Learning in O&M | 11% | 16 |
| 2 | Relevant Medical Information | 8% | 12 |
| 3 | O&M Assessment, Program Design and Delivery and Environmental Assessment and Modification | 15% | 23 |
| 4 | O&M-related Concepts | 8% | 12 |
| 5 | Orientation Skills and Strategies | 12% | 18 |
| 6 | Mobility Skills and Strategies | 17% | 26 |
| 7 | Use of Senses | 8% | 12 |
| 8 | Clients with Additional Disabilities and Diverse Clients | 9% | 13 |
| 9 | Psychosocial Aspects of Blindness and Low Vision | 5% | 8 |
| 10 | Code of Ethics | 7% | 10 |
The weights total 100% and the question counts total 150. Three observations follow directly from the numbers:
- Domains 3, 5, and 6 (assessment/program design, orientation, and mobility) together account for 67 of 150 questions. That is the instructional core of the profession and the largest block of the exam.
- Domains 2, 4, and 7 are each 8%, or 12 questions. Individually small, but together they are 36 questions, more than Domain 6 and Domain 9 combined.
- Domain 9 is the smallest at 8 questions, yet the other domains regularly ask you to apply psychosocial understanding inside instructional scenarios.
Domains 1 and 2: Professional Practice, Teaching, and Medical Knowledge
Domain 1: Professional Information and Resources and Teaching and Learning in O&M (11%, 16 questions)
This domain pairs two ideas that might seem separate: knowing the professional landscape, and knowing how to teach. On the professional side, expect questions about the field's resources, professional literature, and the context in which O&M services are delivered. On the teaching side, the exam asks whether you can structure instruction, sequence skills, and match teaching approaches to the learner.
Domain 1: What candidates must understand
The emphasis is on application of teaching principles, not memorizing names. Scenario items typically present a learner and ask which instructional choice is most appropriate.
- Instructional sequencing: progressing from simpler to more complex skills and environments
- Adapting teaching strategies for different ages and learning needs
- Using professional resources and references appropriately
- Using lesson structure, feedback, and practice to build independence
Domain 2: Relevant Medical Information (8%, 12 questions)
O&M specialists are not clinicians, but they must understand visual conditions well enough to plan instruction safely. This domain tests the medical knowledge that bears on instruction: how eye conditions affect functional vision, what that means for travel, and how to interpret information from eye reports.
Domain 2: High-value points
- Relating a diagnosis to likely functional effects, such as field loss, acuity, contrast, and light sensitivity
- Understanding how conditions may be stable or progressive and how that influences planning
- Interpreting visual information in an eye report in order to inform instruction
- Recognizing when a concern falls outside O&M scope and needs referral
The recurring theme is the link between condition and function. A question rarely asks you to define a condition in isolation; it asks what the condition means for the lesson in front of you.
Domains 3 and 4: Assessment, Program Design, and O&M Concepts
Domain 3: O&M Assessment, Program Design and Delivery and Environmental Assessment and Modification (15%, 23 questions)
At 23 questions, this is the second-largest domain, and it covers the full cycle of service: assess the learner, design a program, deliver it, and assess and modify the environment. Candidates who treat it as "paperwork" tend to underprepare. The exam uses it to test professional judgment.
Domain 3: What candidates must understand
- Selecting and interpreting assessment information to identify needs and strengths
- Translating assessment results into goals and a coherent program
- Choosing delivery approaches suited to the learner and setting
- Evaluating an environment for travel demands, hazards, and available cues
- Recommending modifications that support access and safety
Because the exam spans preschool, school-aged, and adult learners, expect the same domain concept to appear in very different contexts. An assessment decision for a young child and one for an older adult will not look alike, and the exam will test whether you notice that.
Domain 4: O&M-related Concepts (8%, 12 questions)
This domain covers the conceptual foundations that underlie travel: how people develop and use concepts such as body awareness, spatial relationships, and environmental organization. For many candidates these ideas feel familiar from coursework, but the exam asks you to apply them, such as identifying which concept a learner is lacking from an observed behavior.
Domains 5, 6, and 7: The Instructional Core
Domain 5: Orientation Skills and Strategies (12%, 18 questions)
Orientation is knowing where you are and where you are going. This domain tests the strategies a traveler uses to establish and maintain position and to plan and follow routes. Expect scenarios where a learner is disoriented, and you must choose the strategy that best restores orientation or builds independent problem-solving.
Domain 5: High-value points
- Using landmarks, clues, and environmental information to establish position
- Route planning and maintaining a mental map
- Reorientation strategies when a traveler becomes lost or disoriented
- Using maps, directional information, and technology appropriately as supports
Domain 6: Mobility Skills and Strategies (17%, 26 questions)
The single largest domain is about moving safely and efficiently. It covers the techniques and strategies that make up the practical heart of O&M instruction, and the question count reflects that. At 26 questions, a weak showing here is difficult to offset elsewhere.
Domain 6: What candidates must understand
- Core travel techniques and when each is appropriate
- Safe instruction of mobility skills, including how to teach, supervise, and progress them
- Travel in varied environments, from familiar indoor settings to more complex outdoor settings
- Selecting among mobility tools and approaches based on the learner's needs
- Judging readiness and risk when moving a learner to a more demanding environment
Questions here are often about safety judgment. The best answer is frequently the one that protects the learner while still advancing independence, so read answer choices for both.
Domain 7: Use of Senses (8%, 12 questions)
This domain tests how travelers use residual vision and the other senses, such as hearing, touch, and kinesthetic awareness, to gather information. Questions ask you to match a sensory strategy to a situation or to recognize how a learner's sensory profile affects travel.
Domain 7: High-value points
- Using auditory information for localization and for interpreting traffic and environmental cues
- Using tactile and kinesthetic information through the cane, underfoot, and the environment
- Making efficient use of residual vision, including training for visual efficiency
- Recognizing how lighting, glare, and contrast affect what a learner can use
If you want to work through these three domains with scenario practice, the COMS practice test site is built around the same domain structure.
Domains 8, 9, and 10: Diverse Clients, Psychosocial Aspects, and Ethics
Domain 8: Clients with Additional Disabilities and Diverse Clients (9%, 13 questions)
Not every learner presents with vision loss alone. This domain tests whether you can adapt O&M instruction for clients with additional disabilities and for clients from diverse backgrounds. The principle running through it is individualization: the same goal may require a different approach, pace, or set of supports.
Domain 8: High-value points
- Adapting techniques, pacing, and environments for learners with additional disabilities
- Considering communication needs and preferences in instruction
- Respecting cultural, linguistic, and personal differences in planning services
- Collaborating with families and other professionals on the learner's team
Domain 9: Psychosocial Aspects of Blindness and Low Vision (5%, 8 questions)
The smallest domain addresses the emotional and social dimensions of vision loss: adjustment, attitudes, confidence, and how these affect a person's willingness and ability to travel independently. Though it carries only 8 questions, the content tends to surface as the "reason" behind scenario questions in other domains.
Domain 10: Code of Ethics (7%, 10 questions)
The ethics domain asks how a professional behaves when responsibilities compete or when a situation is ambiguous. Questions are typically situational: what is the most appropriate action? The answers hinge on professional responsibility, learner welfare, scope of practice, and honest representation of one's qualifications.
Domain 10: High-value points
- Putting the learner's welfare and dignity first
- Practicing within your professional competence and referring when appropriate
- Maintaining confidentiality and appropriate professional boundaries
- Representing credentials and qualifications accurately
The exam also stays within the bounds of professional competence, safe mobility instruction, and applicable current requirements. A preparation bank does not replace required education, supervised clinical preparation, eligibility review, or the formal examination itself.
Format, Timing, and What Is Not Confirmed
The handbook specifies 150 multiple-choice and multiple-select items testing entry-level principles and application. The multiple-select items are worth rehearsing in particular: they ask you to identify every correct option, which punishes partial knowledge more than a single-answer item does.
Some details are not resolved by the reviewed sources, and it is better to say so than to guess:
- Exam time. The handbook prints "Up to three (3.5) hours is allowed." That wording is internally inconsistent, and the reviewed sources do not settle whether the allowance is three hours or three and a half. Confirm the exact timer directly with ACVREP before you plan your pacing.
- Passing threshold, pass rate, and scored/unscored split. These were not verified in the source review, so do not rely on figures you see quoted elsewhere without a primary source. Our pages on the COMS passing score and the COMS pass rate cover what is and is not established.
- A 2026 blueprint revision. Nothing in the reviewed material shows one. File metadata is not evidence of a revised blueprint.
For scheduling and deadlines, see COMS exam dates, and for fees, see the COMS certification cost breakdown. Treat the ACVREP certification page and handbook as the authority for anything involving dates, fees, or eligibility.
Sequencing Your Prep by Domain
Rather than studying domains in numerical order, sequence them by how they build on each other. Foundations first, then the instructional core, then the judgment-heavy domains that tie everything together.
Foundations: Domains 2, 4, and 7
- Link visual conditions to functional effects (Domain 2)
- Review spatial and environmental concept development (Domain 4)
- Map sensory strategies to travel situations (Domain 7)
Instructional core: Domains 5 and 6
- Drill orientation strategies and reorientation scenarios (Domain 5)
- Spend the most time here on mobility techniques and safety judgment (Domain 6, 26 questions)
Planning and teaching: Domains 1 and 3
- Practice turning assessment findings into goals and programs (Domain 3)
- Review teaching and learning principles and professional resources (Domain 1)
Integration: Domains 8, 9, and 10
- Adapt scenarios for additional disabilities and diverse clients (Domain 8)
- Reread scenarios through a psychosocial lens (Domain 9)
- Work ethics situations until you can justify the best action (Domain 10)
This order puts Domain 6 in the middle of your preparation, after you have the concept and sensory foundations that make its questions easier to reason through, and before the integration work that reuses it. For a broader plan, our COMS study guide and COMS cheat sheet pair well with this domain breakdown.
Key Takeaway
Allocate time in proportion to the weights, then add a margin for the domains you find least familiar. Domains 3 and 6 deserve the most hours, but a candidate who neglects Domains 2, 4, 7, 9, and 10 gives up a large block of questions that are very winnable with focused review.
Frequently Asked Questions
The ACVREP COMS examination is organized into ten content domains. The handbook combines some body-of-knowledge areas into these ten groups, so the exam domain count is ten even if you have seen a longer list of body-of-knowledge headings elsewhere.
Domain 6, Mobility Skills and Strategies, is the largest at 17% of the exam, or 26 of the 150 questions. Domain 3, covering assessment, program design and delivery, and environmental assessment and modification, is next at 15%, or 23 questions.
The handbook prints "Up to three (3.5) hours is allowed," which is internally inconsistent, and the reviewed sources do not resolve whether it means three or three and a half hours. Confirm the exact time with ACVREP before test day rather than relying on either figure.
No revised 2026 blueprint was found in the reviewed sources. The current handbook shows a March 14, 2024 revision, with the examination section noted as updated in January 2023 and implemented February 1, 2023. Check the ACVREP certification page for the latest handbook.
It tests entry-level principles and application, so it is aimed at candidates who meet ACVREP's eligibility requirements, not only at experienced practitioners. See our COMS requirements guide for how to qualify, and consider the ROI analysis and salary guide if you are weighing the credential.