Re: Seeking feedback on IAAP certification roadmap

The following is a case for why i would like accessibility certification to be multi-pronged, or at least beyond WCAG 2.0, considering what, as Sharron stated, is the main problem: is it ensuring end users' access to information/products/services, or is it ensuring someone shifts producers themselves to consider how they should best access all end users from the beginning of the planning stages, whether technical or not?) 

Below is my personal mix of interests in IAAP certification. I share all of this not necessarily to highlight my life, but to show the potential mix of people whose work centers around information/ communications accessibility internationally without necessarily being "technical" - is there a place for people like us in this certification program? 

As an International Relations graduate student who is graduating in June from UC San Diego with experience and interests in the relationship between international business, policy implementation, and international development, I come from the social side of accessibility. I want to minimize the points of disabling situations that create barriers for people in the market. This includes ICT. 

I'm not coming at IAAP from a technical background. Yet I am considering what is the problem that an international "accessibility certification" addresses, currently (information and communication technology developers?) and generally.

 My connection to this group came from attending CSUN 2013 and 2014. I want to consider certification from a semi-technical, program analyst/manager/usability standpoint. I started considering the ICT side of accessibility after interning at the State Dept in Section 508 compliance-related internship, and now am addressing CVAA in a video captioning pilot program. I don't use any particular AT but enjoy the mainstream benefits of accessibility: like accessible PDFs, text to speech, and captions.

 Last summer I interned at the UN with the CRPD, International Disability Alliance, and ITU tech-related accessibility seminars from a development/ human rights perspective in Geneva, and attended the High Level Meeting on Disability and Development in NYC last September. I am now wondering from a marketing and business-case perspective: what efforts need to be encouraged for international private sector actors like many of those here on this email chain, ensuring all processes are inherently accessible and not just for targeted markets? the international relevance is also important for accessibility-focused companies who sell assistive technology to emerging world markets.

I am excited to be an IAAP member and want to know what that means to each of you.

Jamie Rau
Masters in Pacific International Affairs
International Management; International Public Policy; International Development  
UC San Diego 



This message was sent via cell phone and may contain a spelling error or two.

On Apr 10, 2014, at 6:35 AM, Paul Bohman <paul.bohman@deque.com> wrote:

> I agree that putting accessibility into university curricula is important. But after students leave the university, then what? Or what about people who end up in careers that they never studied? To be maximally effective, we need to address accessibility before people enter their careers -- in the university -- and after they enter their careers -- which is what a professional association like IAAP is attempting to address.
> 
> 
> Paul Bohman, PhD
> Director of Training
> Deque Systems, Inc
> www.deque.com
> 703-225-0380, ext.121
> 
> 
> On Wed, Apr 9, 2014 at 9:35 PM, <Tony.Jasionowski@us.panasonic.com> wrote:
>> 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 
>> <mime-attachment.jpg>
>> 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 
>> 
>> <mime-attachment.gif> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 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
>