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Thread: certification
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From: Glenda
Date: Tue, Jan 04 2005 2:25PM
Subject: certification
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Is it fair to say that there is not yet any widely accepted certification in
web accessibility? That a manager assessing a job candidate's
expertise/skill level in web accessibility would need to consider
experience, any relevant courses taken and perhaps references, rather than
simply the presence or absence of certification?
Cheers,
Glenda
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From: Andrew Arch
Date: Tue, Jan 04 2005 4:07PM
Subject: Re: certification
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Yes Glenda, I would certainly be looking at experience, sites
built/maintained, and references in addition to any formal training.
The only certification I am currently aware of is that being developed by
the UAWG/BWMDA in the UK - http://www.ua-wg.org/aas/. This is initially
intended to certify the development firm rather than the individual. There
has also been some discussion within GAWDS (http://www.gawds.org/).
I would also be interested to hear about any other schemes being hatched
around the world.
Cheers, Andrew
From: David R. Stong
Date: Wed, Jan 05 2005 3:53AM
Subject: Re: certification
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Glenda asked:
>Is it fair to say that there is not yet any widely accepted certification in
>web accessibility? That a manager assessing a job candidate's
>expertise/skill level in web accessibility would need to consider
>experience, any relevant courses taken and perhaps references, rather than
>simply the presence or absence of certification?
From my point of view, I would say that's a fair assessment. Who
would certify the certifiers?
I think it's detrimental to the education of effective Web designers
to teach "Accessibility" as a component separate from Web design.
It's not. The term gives higher visibility to a number of specific
aspects of Web design, but keeping it separate- in effect "pigeon
holed"- can't be good. Being able to create pages that are compliant
with all standards should be a quality of any entry level Web
designer.
For managers seeking to assess a job candidate's expertise, I would
suggest running some of the Web sites in the candidate's portfolio
through the W3C code validator and the "Accessibility Checker" of
your choice. Do it during the interview, and use it to stimulate
discussion.
Let the great Oz hand out the certificates.
--
David R. Stong
Multimedia Specialist 3
Education Technology Services, a small unit within
Information Technology Services, at
The Pennsylvania State University
212 Rider Building II
State College, PA 16801-4819