Re: Seeking feedback on IAAP certification roadmap

Folks,
I agree with Lars' statement:
"Surely, we need to ensure that accessibility becomes part of the 
curriculum where it?s relevant. However, that would involve course 
development in collaboration with relevant academic institutions rather 
than a private certification programme."
Tony

Tony Jasionowski
Senior Group Manager Accessibility
Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company 
Two Riverfront Plaza, 9th Floor 
Newark, NJ 07102
Email: tony.jasionowski@us.panasonic.com
Tel/Fax: 201-348-7777






From:   Lars Ballieu Christensen <lbc@sensus.dk>
To:     <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>, 
Date:   04/09/2014 03:34 AM
Subject:        Re: Seeking feedback on IAAP certification roadmap



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
703-225-0380, ext.121