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Thread: certification question
Number of posts in this thread: 9 (In chronological order)
From: Nathan Clark
Date: Tue, Nov 08 2022 9:34AM
Subject: certification question
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Dear list,
For anyone who has the Web accessibility specialist certification from
IAAP do you find that having the WAS certification is truly all that
impactful and helps you professionally. I have the CPACC certification
and am wondering should I go after the WAS certification. I have
already failed the WAS once and am worried about failing it again? Any
thoughts would be great.
Thanks.
Sincerely,
Nathan Clark
--
Nathan Clark
QA Automation Analyst Tech team
Accessibility assistant
CPACC
cell: 410-446-7259
email: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
101 Village Blvd
Princeton, NJ 08540
SMBE & Minority Owned Business
From: Steve Green
Date: Tue, Nov 08 2022 10:11AM
Subject: Re: certification question
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It depends what you mean by "helps you professionally". WAS and/or CPACC certification would not help you get a job with a company like mine. We know how to assess people by interviewing and testing them, and we never rely on certifications. That said, some companies do, especially if the hiring manager and HR don't know how to interview and test applicants. But do you want to work for a company like that?
WAS certification isn't going to enable you to do a WCAG audit to anywhere near the level of accuracy we require. You would need many years of experience and mentoring from senior consultants. But again, there are plenty of organisations that recruit testers with very little experience.
While I strongly encourage continuous personal development, I am not convinced that WAS makes the best use of your time. Finding a company where you are supported by senior consultants would be far more beneficial, but there are not many places like that. And engagement in community discussions here and in IAAP is very valuable.
Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd
From: Nathan Clark
Date: Tue, Nov 08 2022 10:22AM
Subject: Re: certification question
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Dear Steve,
Thanks for your advice. Does your company do website auditing or
software testing? Thanks
Sincerely,
Nathan Clark
On 11/8/22, Steve Green < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> It depends what you mean by "helps you professionally". WAS and/or CPACC
> certification would not help you get a job with a company like mine. We know
> how to assess people by interviewing and testing them, and we never rely on
> certifications. That said, some companies do, especially if the hiring
> manager and HR don't know how to interview and test applicants. But do you
> want to work for a company like that?
>
> WAS certification isn't going to enable you to do a WCAG audit to anywhere
> near the level of accuracy we require. You would need many years of
> experience and mentoring from senior consultants. But again, there are
> plenty of organisations that recruit testers with very little experience.
>
> While I strongly encourage continuous personal development, I am not
> convinced that WAS makes the best use of your time. Finding a company where
> you are supported by senior consultants would be far more beneficial, but
> there are not many places like that. And engagement in community discussions
> here and in IAAP is very valuable.
>
> Steve Green
> Managing Director
> Test Partners Ltd
>
>
>
From: Steve Green
Date: Tue, Nov 08 2022 10:33AM
Subject: Re: certification question
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We started out doing mostly functionality and compatibility testing. We still do that, but accessibility testing has gone from being a niche service to being the biggest part of our business.
Steve
From: glen walker
Date: Tue, Nov 08 2022 10:32AM
Subject: Re: certification question
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I agree with Steve that many (most?) companies, even some accessibility
testing companies, don't know how to evaluate a potential candidate so they
rely on a person having a certification to help with that process. I've
known really good accessibility testers that don't have a certification and
conversely, unfortunately, I've known testers that aren't very good that
have a certification.
The process of getting certified will probably help you. That is, studying
the "body of knowledge" documents on the IAAP website can help you learn.
Frankly, the only reason I got certified was because companies that didn't
know about accessibility were making it a requirement to be certified in
order to get an interview. I got tired of explaining my real world
experience rather than the answers on an exam in order to get an
interview. I studied for the CPACC because there's a lot of good general
information there but I'm a little embarrassed to say I did not study for
the WAS. I was relying on my practical experience to pass the exam (which
worked for me).
From: Nathan Clark
Date: Tue, Nov 08 2022 11:19AM
Subject: Re: certification question
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Should I take the WAS certification or should I just study the Body of
Knowledge and Deque University related courses for the WAS?
Thanks
Sincerely,
Nathan Clark
On 11/8/22, glen walker < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> I agree with Steve that many (most?) companies, even some accessibility
> testing companies, don't know how to evaluate a potential candidate so they
> rely on a person having a certification to help with that process. I've
> known really good accessibility testers that don't have a certification and
> conversely, unfortunately, I've known testers that aren't very good that
> have a certification.
>
> The process of getting certified will probably help you. That is, studying
> the "body of knowledge" documents on the IAAP website can help you learn.
>
> Frankly, the only reason I got certified was because companies that didn't
> know about accessibility were making it a requirement to be certified in
> order to get an interview. I got tired of explaining my real world
> experience rather than the answers on an exam in order to get an
> interview. I studied for the CPACC because there's a lot of good general
> information there but I'm a little embarrassed to say I did not study for
> the WAS. I was relying on my practical experience to pass the exam (which
> worked for me).
> > > > >
--
Nathan Clark
QA Automation Analyst Tech team
Accessibility assistant
CPACC
cell: 410-446-7259
email: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
101 Village Blvd
Princeton, NJ 08540
SMBE & Minority Owned Business
From: glen walker
Date: Tue, Nov 08 2022 1:42PM
Subject: Re: certification question
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I'm not sure we can answer that for you. It's a personal choice. If you
are actively looking for an accessibility job and you keep getting turned
down because you're not certified, then perhaps you should. If you are
currently employed doing accessibility work and just want to be certified
"for fun", then maybe. If your employer pays for the exam, then why not.
https://www.accessibilityassociation.org/s/prepareforwas
Studying the body of knowledge (BOK) is certainly good but rote
memorization won't be helpful. You need to get practical experience and
practice. There are a lot of people on this list that are willing to
help. If you have questions about the BOK, feel free to post here.
If you're an IAAP member, then there are study groups for the exams in the
IAAP community forums. If you're not an IAAP member, I suspect there are
lots of people on this list that might want to get certified so you could
potentially set up your own study group.
On Tue, Nov 8, 2022 at 11:19 AM Nathan Clark < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:
> Should I take the WAS certification or should I just study the Body of
> Knowledge and Deque University related courses for the WAS?
>
> Thanks
> Sincerely,
> Nathan Clark
>
>
From: Nathan Clark
Date: Tue, Nov 08 2022 1:51PM
Subject: Re: certification question
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Glen,
chagnon, has already answered my questions. First of all I have been
in the industry for several years now working full time and I am IAAP
certified for CPACC and am serving on the CPACC BOK revision committee
so I kind of know what I am talking about. I have already fullfilled
all of my CAEC credits for cpacc so I don't appreciate your response.
On 11/8/22, glen walker < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> I'm not sure we can answer that for you. It's a personal choice. If you
> are actively looking for an accessibility job and you keep getting turned
> down because you're not certified, then perhaps you should. If you are
> currently employed doing accessibility work and just want to be certified
> "for fun", then maybe. If your employer pays for the exam, then why not.
>
> https://www.accessibilityassociation.org/s/prepareforwas
>
> Studying the body of knowledge (BOK) is certainly good but rote
> memorization won't be helpful. You need to get practical experience and
> practice. There are a lot of people on this list that are willing to
> help. If you have questions about the BOK, feel free to post here.
>
> If you're an IAAP member, then there are study groups for the exams in the
> IAAP community forums. If you're not an IAAP member, I suspect there are
> lots of people on this list that might want to get certified so you could
> potentially set up your own study group.
>
> On Tue, Nov 8, 2022 at 11:19 AM Nathan Clark < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> wrote:
>
>> Should I take the WAS certification or should I just study the Body of
>> Knowledge and Deque University related courses for the WAS?
>>
>> Thanks
>> Sincerely,
>> Nathan Clark
>>
>>
> > > > >
--
Nathan Clark
QA Automation Analyst Tech team
Accessibility assistant
CPACC
cell: 410-446-7259
email: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
101 Village Blvd
Princeton, NJ 08540
SMBE & Minority Owned Business
From: glen walker
Date: Tue, Nov 08 2022 1:55PM
Subject: Re: certification question
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Well, that was kind of weird. You asked if you should study the BOK or
take the exam and I was replying to that. I didn't see a response from
Bevi regarding certification. I'm not sure what was in my reply that
wasn't appreciated.
On Tue, Nov 8, 2022 at 1:51 PM Nathan Clark < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Glen,
> chagnon, has already answered my questions. First of all I have been
> in the industry for several years now working full time and I am IAAP
> certified for CPACC and am serving on the CPACC BOK revision committee
> so I kind of know what I am talking about. I have already fullfilled
> all of my CAEC credits for cpacc so I don't appreciate your response.
>
>
>
> On 11/8/22, glen walker < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> > I'm not sure we can answer that for you. It's a personal choice. If you
> > are actively looking for an accessibility job and you keep getting turned
> > down because you're not certified, then perhaps you should. If you are
> > currently employed doing accessibility work and just want to be certified
> > "for fun", then maybe. If your employer pays for the exam, then why not.
> >
> > https://www.accessibilityassociation.org/s/prepareforwas
> >
> > Studying the body of knowledge (BOK) is certainly good but rote
> > memorization won't be helpful. You need to get practical experience and
> > practice. There are a lot of people on this list that are willing to
> > help. If you have questions about the BOK, feel free to post here.
> >
> > If you're an IAAP member, then there are study groups for the exams in
> the
> > IAAP community forums. If you're not an IAAP member, I suspect there are
> > lots of people on this list that might want to get certified so you could
> > potentially set up your own study group.
> >
> > On Tue, Nov 8, 2022 at 11:19 AM Nathan Clark < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Should I take the WAS certification or should I just study the Body of
> >> Knowledge and Deque University related courses for the WAS?
> >>
> >> Thanks
> >> Sincerely,
> >> Nathan Clark
> >>
> >>
> > > > > > > > > >
>
>
> --
> Nathan Clark
> QA Automation Analyst Tech team
> Accessibility assistant
> CPACC
> cell: 410-446-7259
> email: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> 101 Village Blvd
> Princeton, NJ 08540
> SMBE & Minority Owned Business
> > > > >