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Thread: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
Number of posts in this thread: 22 (In chronological order)
From: Robert Fentress
Date: Fri, Jul 14 2017 10:54AM
Subject: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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Is it possible for people not associated with Homeland Security to become
certified as a "Trusted Testers" based on the Department of Homeland
Security's (DHS) Office of Accessible Systems & Technology's (OAST) Trusted
Tester Certification? I need to submit a budget request today and would
like to include this in that, but I can't seem to find anyone who offers
the training.
--
Rob Fentress
Senior Accessibility Solutions Designer
Assistive Technologies at Virginia Tech
Electronic Business Card (vCard)
<http://search.vt.edu/search/person.vcf?person54847>
LinkedIn Profile
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-fentress-aa0b609?trk=profile-badge>
From: Shiva Pourgholaminejad
Date: Fri, Jul 14 2017 11:31AM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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Yes, you need to email OAST = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = and inquire about the Trusted tester certification training program. The program will take about three months.
Shiva Pourgholaminejad
Graduate Research Assistant
Disability Resources Center
University of Nevada, Reno
From: Angela French
Date: Fri, Jul 14 2017 11:38AM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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How about people who work for state governments?
Angela French
WA State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
From: Robert Fentress
Date: Fri, Jul 14 2017 11:59AM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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Yes. I work for a university in Virginia, so I could get certified? Also,
any idea on costs? I'm submitting a budget, so I need to give an estimate
of costs for training and taking the exam. I tried calling the folks from
DHS's Office of Accessible Systems & Technology, which is supposed to be
responsible for the certification, but could only leave a message and
nobody has gotten back with me yet. Called SSB Bart and Deque and they
didn't seem to know how I could get trained and certified.
On Fri, Jul 14, 2017 at 1:38 PM, Angela French < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> How about people who work for state governments?
>
> Angela French
> WA State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
>
>
From: Shiva Pourgholaminejad
Date: Fri, Jul 14 2017 12:30PM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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As long As you enroll the program and pass the certification exam with 90% score you'll get certified from DHS. I'm working at University of Nevada Reno, and It was free.
Shiva
From: Robert Fentress
Date: Fri, Jul 14 2017 12:45PM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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So, Shiva, does DHS OAST provide training for that, or is it just
professional experience and self-study, using the materials on their site,
that is supposed to prepare you for taking the exam?
On Fri, Jul 14, 2017 at 2:30 PM, Shiva Pourgholaminejad <
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> As long As you enroll the program and pass the certification exam with 90%
> score you'll get certified from DHS. I'm working at University of Nevada
> Reno, and It was free.
>
> Shiva
>
>
From: Shiva Pourgholaminejad
Date: Fri, Jul 14 2017 12:54PM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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DHS will provide online training for that . Three required courses and 3 advanced trusted tester training courses (Self-paced). For each course you need to pass the exam. After you finish all the courses, there is a another final certification exam too which you need to pass it with 90% score to get the certification from DHS.
You need to call or email OAST to register for the upcoming training programs.
From: Ryan E. Benson
Date: Fri, Jul 14 2017 3:42PM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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It started as a DHS only certification, meaning you needed to get the Cert to officially test DHS systems for namely 508 compliance, and did some WCAG 2.0. There was some activities to get it used across all of the federal government, but I am not 100% sure what the status is right now, I think there was work generalizing it - taking out the DHS specifics and update the content to WCAG 2.0.
I'll try to ask my POC on Monday.
--
Ryan E. Benson
From: Angela French
Sent: Friday, July 14, 2017 13:38
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
How about people who work for state governments?
Angela French
WA State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
From: Peter Shikli
Date: Sun, Jul 16 2017 12:38AM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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As a Trusted Tester (certificate# 301024), I can tell you that the
training program is intense. Completing it in 3 months is ambitious.
OAST suggests 6 months.
It is much less narrative than other classes focused on gaining broad
understanding of accessibility, which is quite worthwhile, particularly
in addition to the Trusted Tester training. The Trusted Tester Program
fields a test procedure, a detailed collection of steps involving
analyzing 81 specific failure conditions with the intent that any
Trusted Tester should come up with the same analysis, conclusions and
report. This objective metric contrasts with the sometimes subjective
opinions of accessibility consultants whose analysis reflects their
priorities, experience, and workflow.
By no means am I suggesting that a Trusted Tester is superior to an
experienced accessibility consultant, but rather that government
agencies sometimes prefer reliability to unpredictable expertise, even
when it is outstanding.
There is talk of WCAG melding into the Trusted Tester process, mainly
because WCAG is more rational on several points, but the Trusted Tester
Program is in response to a law, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act,
so modifying it for logical reasons is not the only driver.
As far as states go, I'm unaware of any having programs like Trusted
Tester, but many have passed accessibility laws that adopt Section 508
verbatim, thus making federal Trusted Testers relevant to states as
well. DoJ is also known for pointing out to agencies down to the local
level that federal funding is jeopardized by non-compliance to Section
508, so we're seeing even cities looking to Trusted Testers on
occasion. Enforcement is still the Wild West.
Cheers,
Peter
From: Robert Fentress
Date: Mon, Jul 17 2017 9:01PM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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Thanks, Ryan. I heard back from DHS OAST and they sent me an application.
Looks like it is available beyond DHS and even the federal government. I'm
exploring whether it might be a useful framework for ensuring the
reliability of evaluations of products that are used by peer universities
in Virginia. It would be nice if we could eliminate some of the
duplication in our testing. I do wonder, though, how useful it will be
with the move towards software as a service with rapid release cycles.
On Jul 14, 2017 5:42 PM, "Ryan E. Benson" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> It started as a DHS only certification, meaning you needed to get the Cert
> to officially test DHS systems for namely 508 compliance, and did some WCAG
> 2.0. There was some activities to get it used across all of the federal
> government, but I am not 100% sure what the status is right now, I think
> there was work generalizing it - taking out the DHS specifics and update
> the content to WCAG 2.0.
>
> I'll try to ask my POC on Monday.
>
> --
> Ryan E. Benson
>
> From: Angela French
> Sent: Friday, July 14, 2017 13:38
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
>
> How about people who work for state governments?
>
> Angela French
> WA State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
>
>
From: Katie Haritos-Shea
Date: Tue, Jul 18 2017 8:36AM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
← Previous message | Next message →
The Trusted Tester program is looking to update using WCAG 2 (currently it
validates the old Section 508 standards), you might want to wait until that
is ready.
Katie Haritos-Shea
703-371-5545
On Jul 17, 2017 11:01 PM, "Robert Fentress" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
Thanks, Ryan. I heard back from DHS OAST and they sent me an application.
Looks like it is available beyond DHS and even the federal government. I'm
exploring whether it might be a useful framework for ensuring the
reliability of evaluations of products that are used by peer universities
in Virginia. It would be nice if we could eliminate some of the
duplication in our testing. I do wonder, though, how useful it will be
with the move towards software as a service with rapid release cycles.
On Jul 14, 2017 5:42 PM, "Ryan E. Benson" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> It started as a DHS only certification, meaning you needed to get the Cert
> to officially test DHS systems for namely 508 compliance, and did some
WCAG
> 2.0. There was some activities to get it used across all of the federal
> government, but I am not 100% sure what the status is right now, I think
> there was work generalizing it - taking out the DHS specifics and update
> the content to WCAG 2.0.
>
> I'll try to ask my POC on Monday.
>
> --
> Ryan E. Benson
>
> From: Angela French
> Sent: Friday, July 14, 2017 13:38
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
>
> How about people who work for state governments?
>
> Angela French
> WA State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
>
>
From: Dona Patrick
Date: Tue, Jul 18 2017 11:21AM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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I'm working the Trusted Tester Program now and here's a word of warning:
keep an eye on the calendar. You get 60 calendar days from the day you get
the welcome email to complete the coursework that you take before you can
take the certification exam. You can ask for extensions, but you need to do
that before your time is up. I learned that the hard way and am waiting for
a call back to see if I need to start all over.
That said, even though I have been testing Websites and writing Web
accessibility/Section 508 audits for 15 years, I am learning things I
didn't know before and I feel the course is worth it. Much more
rigorous than anything else I have done in this field. One of the points of
the course is to have folks all doing the same thing when testing.
Dona
On Tue, Jul 18, 2017 at 10:36 AM, Katie Haritos-Shea < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:
> The Trusted Tester program is looking to update using WCAG 2 (currently it
> validates the old Section 508 standards), you might want to wait until that
> is ready.
>
> Katie Haritos-Shea
> 703-371-5545
>
> On Jul 17, 2017 11:01 PM, "Robert Fentress" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> Thanks, Ryan. I heard back from DHS OAST and they sent me an application.
> Looks like it is available beyond DHS and even the federal government. I'm
> exploring whether it might be a useful framework for ensuring the
> reliability of evaluations of products that are used by peer universities
> in Virginia. It would be nice if we could eliminate some of the
> duplication in our testing. I do wonder, though, how useful it will be
> with the move towards software as a service with rapid release cycles.
>
> On Jul 14, 2017 5:42 PM, "Ryan E. Benson" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> > It started as a DHS only certification, meaning you needed to get the
> Cert
> > to officially test DHS systems for namely 508 compliance, and did some
> WCAG
> > 2.0. There was some activities to get it used across all of the federal
> > government, but I am not 100% sure what the status is right now, I think
> > there was work generalizing it - taking out the DHS specifics and update
> > the content to WCAG 2.0.
> >
> > I'll try to ask my POC on Monday.
> >
> > --
> > Ryan E. Benson
> >
> > From: Angela French
> > Sent: Friday, July 14, 2017 13:38
> > To: WebAIM Discussion List
> > Subject: Re: [WebAIM] How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
> >
> > How about people who work for state governments?
> >
> > Angela French
> > WA State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
> >
> >
From: Angela French
Date: Tue, Jul 18 2017 11:31AM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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How many hours would you say it requires to take the course and do any required coursework?
Angela French
From: Shiva Pourgholaminejad
Date: Tue, Jul 18 2017 11:43AM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
← Previous message | Next message →
It is very relative. Every course has its own exam, you don't get to the next course until you get 100% score from the exam. So, it depends how fast you can finish testing.
Shiva Pourgholaminejad
Graduate Research Assistant
Disability Resources Center
University of Nevada, Reno
From: Jeremy Echols
Date: Tue, Jul 18 2017 12:13PM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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Is there any kind of ballpark guess you could offer? Even if it's "between 10 and 60 hours", that would be useful just to have some idea what to expect (in order to sell this to administration, I have to come up with some kind of time estimate).
From: Dona Patrick
Date: Tue, Jul 18 2017 12:57PM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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I have spent more than 80 hours on just the 250 section. I have another 20
- 30 to go in this section, so more than 100? They do have an estimate of
their own for each of the sections, but I don't know where that is.
On Tue, Jul 18, 2017 at 2:13 PM, Jeremy Echols < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Is there any kind of ballpark guess you could offer? Even if it's
> "between 10 and 60 hours", that would be useful just to have some idea what
> to expect (in order to sell this to administration, I have to come up with
> some kind of time estimate).
>
>
From: Jeremy Echols
Date: Tue, Jul 18 2017 1:07PM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
← Previous message | Next message →
Thanks for that! That'll be a tough sell, but this does seem like the sort of thing we need at least one or two people to know.
From: Peter Shikli
Date: Tue, Jul 18 2017 1:47PM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
← Previous message | Next message →
Angela,
To answer your question about how many hours the Trusted Tester Program
takes to complete, I kept track. From start to finish, that is, to the day
I had my certification in hand, I had logged 273 hours.
Cheers,
Peter Shikli
Access2online.com
From: Angela French
Date: Tue, Jul 18 2017 2:13PM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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You are to be commended for your commitment!
From: Jeremy Echols
Date: Tue, Jul 18 2017 2:15PM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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273 hours of hands-on time? As in, "drop everything for the next 7 weeks"? That may be more than a tough sell here. And I definitely can't find that kind of time outside work hours :-/
Dang.
From: Angela French
Date: Tue, Jul 18 2017 2:17PM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
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I wonder how they came up with the 90 day period within which to complete the course?
From: Peter Shikli
Date: Tue, Jul 18 2017 4:18PM
Subject: Re: How to become a DHS "Trusted Tester"?
← Previous message | No next message
Angela & Jeremy,
Yes, it took a big chunk out of my social life, as well as my day job.
You may pull it together in less than 273 hours, but I needed to understand
the curriculum very well since I'll be teaching it to the prison inmates
who are our accessibility analysts. Keep in mind that those hours included
going through the material, Q&A with their support folks who are very good,
their mandatory practical exercises, and then their final exam, which takes
10 hours for each attempt with post review. Since you need to score at
least 90%, plan on more than one attempt.
They tell you to budget 6 months to complete, but if you don't crowd it
into half that, you'll start to forget stuff. Don't worry about the 60-day
limit to each class in the curriculum. The clock doesn't start on the next
one until you finish the previous one.
Cheers,
Peter Shikli
Access2online.com