Re: Seeking feedback on IAAP certification roadmap

Lars,

I understand your desire to put accessibility into the curriculum, and I
share that desire. In fact, I wrote a dissertation on the topic! (
http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2364&context=etd)
It's definitely important to me. I don't see certification in competition
with curriculum. I see it as complementary. One of the things that has to
happen when you're designing a certification assessment is define the
competencies that you want to test. These competencies are informed by
curriculum that already exists, and the competencies can also help inform
new and better curricula. With a set of core competencies defined, that
helps curriculum writers ensure they are covering all of the important
topics. And as new advances come into play, and as technology evolves, the
core competencies will also evolve, and it will be an iterative process
between curriculum and certification.

I will say that I have definitely met some accessibility "experts" who were
not as knowledgeable as they claimed to be. In fact, I've met a lot of
them. There are varying levels of expertise among us, and having a
certification may help to level that field a bit more.


Paul Bohman, PhD
Director of Training
Deque Systems, Inc
www.deque.com
703-225-0380, ext.121


On Wed, Apr 9, 2014 at 3:31 AM, Lars Ballieu Christensen <lbc@sensus.dk>wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> In my opinion ….
>
> Coming from a part of the world (Scandinavia) without a string tradition
> for such certification, I find it difficult to understand what an
> accessibility certification program would add in terms of improved
> accessibility. In other areas – coaching, for example – we have seen
> pseudo-certification programmes where the main reasons appears to be to
> attempt to keep others out of the business and to generate money from
> training and certification. Surely, this is not what we want in the
> accessibility community.
>
> In my more than 20 years in the field of digital accessibility, I have
> very rarely met people who claimed to be accessibility experts without the
> proper skills and insight. Most practitioners that I have come across have
> been extremely knowledgeable, and many of us have been extensively involved
> in policy, legislative and guideline development, formal audits and
> developer support.
>
> Surely, we need to ensure that accessibility becomes part of the
> corriculum where it’s relevant. However, that would involve course
> development in collaboration with relevant academic institutions rather
> than a private certification programme. It seems bizarre that it is
> possible to complete degree programmes in computer science, information
> science, digital design and similar without having taken a proper course on
> accessibility.
>
> Venligst/Kind regards
>
> Lars
> ----
> *Lars* *Ballieu* *Christensen*
> Rådgiver/Adviser, Ph.D., M.Sc., Sensus ApS
> Specialister i tilgængelighed/Accessibility Consultants
> Tel: +45 48 22 10 03 – Mobil: +45 40 32 68 23 - Skype: Ballieu
> Mail: lbc@sensus.dk – Web: www.sensus.dk & www.robobraille.org
>
> Vi arbejder for et tilgængeligt og rummeligt informationssamfund
> Working for an accessible and inclusive information society
>
> From: Paul Bohman <paul.bohman@deque.com>
> Date: tirsdag den 8. april 2014 19.15
> To: <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
> Subject: Seeking feedback on IAAP certification roadmap
> Resent-From: <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
> Resent-Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 17:16:20 +0000
>
> Cross posted request for feedback:
>
> The International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) needs
> your feedback on our roadmap for accessibility certification. Here is the
> roadmap as it stands now:
>
> http://www.accessibilityassociation.org/content.asp?contentid=163
>
> We are still in the early stages of designing the certification, so your
> feedback is most valuable now, before we commit to a certain path.
>
> Here are some questions to consider as you read the roadmap:
>
>    1. What do you think of the roadmap overall?
>    2. What would you do to improve our roadmap?
>    3. What do you think of the *levels* of certification outlined in the
>    roadmap?
>    4. Are there any broad *Knowledge Domains and Roles* that we have left
>    off that should be included?
>    5. Do you like our list of *Digital Accessibility* areas of
>    certification? Should we add to or subtract from this list? (For example,
>    one person commented that we should add gaming to the list.)
>    6. Do you like the idea of certifying for these areas separately, in a
>    modular approach as we have done? (See the section on *Referencing
>    IAAP Credentials* for an explanation of how this might work)
>    7. Do you like the 3 year period for certification? Would you make it
>    shorter (2 years) or longer (5 years)?
>    8. What kind of certification assessment would you create? Keep in
>    mind that it has to be a valid and meaningful test of the right kind of
>    competencies, it must be challenging enough that novices could not pass it
>    without first studying or gaining experience,  it must be scalable (not too
>    burdensome to administer or grade/score the assessment), and translatable
>    into other languages.
>    9. Once certification becomes available, do you think you would go
>    through the process to become certified? Why or why not?
>    10. What else should we consider as we move forward?
>
> To give feedback, you can reply directly to this email, or you can send an
> email to the certification committee: CC@accessibilityassociation.org
>
> Paul Bohman, PhD
> Chair, IAAP Certification Committee
> Director of Training
> Deque Systems, Inc
> www..deque.com <http://www.deque.com>
> 703-225-0380, ext.121
>