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Thread: WCAG certifications, are there any official requirements to certify a website?
Number of posts in this thread: 7 (In chronological order)
From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Wed, Nov 09 2011 3:18PM
Subject: WCAG certifications, are there any official requirements to certify a website?
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Hi everyone
I know this has been brought up before, but I am wondering if there
have been changes.
In Iceland we have one company that has issued accessibility
certifications for websites.
Their certification scheme and requirements have not been updated
since 2006 or so, and are still based on WCAG 1.0, with a few
additional requirements that I don't necessarily agree with (websites
need to offer users 3 font size configurations, and at the top of
every page there has to be a link to the page's search field, if there
is one).
I've been asked to provide certification info for a company that
intends on providing web services across Europe, and are wondering if
there are international certification standards that it can use to
show accessibility (they're willing to do what needs to be done to be
compliant).
In the U.S. I'd point to Section 508 requirements, but in Europe the
Mandate 376 is still under development, and most countries have a
variation on the WCAG 2.0 level A or AA compliance, sometimes with
additions.
I can run an accessibility check for WCAG AA, there are a few out
there, but could a page be certified with any errors under that check?
I know most very navigable websites have may be up to 10 WCAG 2.0
errors from an automatic checker, and there are very workable and
accessible solutions that do not necessarily pass automatic WCAG 2.0
checks (many examples of the creative use of WAI ARIA lately, that I
feel do more for making a site accessible, than checking of WCAG
requirements).
So, this being said, are there any international certification
criteria for, say, WCAG 2.0 compliance, and is there any mechanism
around that?
I would assume that, no, a company would have to be certified under
the accessibility regulation of each country it provides sservices in.
Similarly, are there any programs to qualify someone as an
accessibility/WCAG tester?
I've never heard of one, so I assume no, but any certification in the
area might be a very useful thing.
Thanks
-B
From: Lucy Greco
Date: Wed, Nov 09 2011 4:06PM
Subject: Re: WCAG certifications, are there any official requirements to certify a website?
← Previous message | Next message →
As a screen reader user I don't thing surts are worth the bits they are written with. Because as we all know web sites are not static and a surt is. And what is a surt any way but a pat on the back of a person wanting a surt.
Lucy Greco
Assistive Technology Specialist
Disabled Student's Program UC Berkeley
(510) 643-7591
http://attlc.berkeley.edu
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 2:17 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: [WebAIM] WCAG certifications, are there any official requirements to certify a website?
Hi everyone
I know this has been brought up before, but I am wondering if there
have been changes.
In Iceland we have one company that has issued accessibility
certifications for websites.
Their certification scheme and requirements have not been updated
since 2006 or so, and are still based on WCAG 1.0, with a few
additional requirements that I don't necessarily agree with (websites
need to offer users 3 font size configurations, and at the top of
every page there has to be a link to the page's search field, if there
is one).
I've been asked to provide certification info for a company that
intends on providing web services across Europe, and are wondering if
there are international certification standards that it can use to
show accessibility (they're willing to do what needs to be done to be
compliant).
In the U.S. I'd point to Section 508 requirements, but in Europe the
Mandate 376 is still under development, and most countries have a
variation on the WCAG 2.0 level A or AA compliance, sometimes with
additions.
I can run an accessibility check for WCAG AA, there are a few out
there, but could a page be certified with any errors under that check?
I know most very navigable websites have may be up to 10 WCAG 2.0
errors from an automatic checker, and there are very workable and
accessible solutions that do not necessarily pass automatic WCAG 2.0
checks (many examples of the creative use of WAI ARIA lately, that I
feel do more for making a site accessible, than checking of WCAG
requirements).
So, this being said, are there any international certification
criteria for, say, WCAG 2.0 compliance, and is there any mechanism
around that?
I would assume that, no, a company would have to be certified under
the accessibility regulation of each country it provides sservices in.
Similarly, are there any programs to qualify someone as an
accessibility/WCAG tester?
I've never heard of one, so I assume no, but any certification in the
area might be a very useful thing.
Thanks
-B
From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Thu, Nov 10 2011 8:21AM
Subject: Re: WCAG certifications, are there any official requirements to certify a website?
← Previous message | Next message →
Hi
I totally agree with that, another problem of said company (and I am
sure most companies), is that a certificate is provided at a certain
date, and when it's expired, no one bothers to remove it from their
website.
However, there are regulations in some countries now that require some
sort of web certification, however silly that is really.
I much more respect a company that puts a disclaimer saying it is
aware of accessibility issues, and has a dedicated accessibility
contact email, one which is actually monitorred. ;)
Cheers
-B
On 11/9/11, Lucy Greco < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> As a screen reader user I don't thing surts are worth the bits they are
> written with. Because as we all know web sites are not static and a surt
> is. And what is a surt any way but a pat on the back of a person wanting a
> surt.
>
> Lucy Greco
> Assistive Technology Specialist
> Disabled Student's Program UC Berkeley
> (510) 643-7591
> http://attlc.berkeley.edu
> http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Birkir R.
> Gunnarsson
> Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 2:17 PM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: [WebAIM] WCAG certifications, are there any official requirements
> to certify a website?
>
> Hi everyone
>
> I know this has been brought up before, but I am wondering if there
> have been changes.
> In Iceland we have one company that has issued accessibility
> certifications for websites.
> Their certification scheme and requirements have not been updated
> since 2006 or so, and are still based on WCAG 1.0, with a few
> additional requirements that I don't necessarily agree with (websites
> need to offer users 3 font size configurations, and at the top of
> every page there has to be a link to the page's search field, if there
> is one).
> I've been asked to provide certification info for a company that
> intends on providing web services across Europe, and are wondering if
> there are international certification standards that it can use to
> show accessibility (they're willing to do what needs to be done to be
> compliant).
> In the U.S. I'd point to Section 508 requirements, but in Europe the
> Mandate 376 is still under development, and most countries have a
> variation on the WCAG 2.0 level A or AA compliance, sometimes with
> additions.
> I can run an accessibility check for WCAG AA, there are a few out
> there, but could a page be certified with any errors under that check?
> I know most very navigable websites have may be up to 10 WCAG 2.0
> errors from an automatic checker, and there are very workable and
> accessible solutions that do not necessarily pass automatic WCAG 2.0
> checks (many examples of the creative use of WAI ARIA lately, that I
> feel do more for making a site accessible, than checking of WCAG
> requirements).
> So, this being said, are there any international certification
> criteria for, say, WCAG 2.0 compliance, and is there any mechanism
> around that?
> I would assume that, no, a company would have to be certified under
> the accessibility regulation of each country it provides sservices in.
>
> Similarly, are there any programs to qualify someone as an
> accessibility/WCAG tester?
> I've never heard of one, so I assume no, but any certification in the
> area might be a very useful thing.
> Thanks
> -B
>
From: Bevi Chagnon
Date: Thu, Nov 10 2011 8:33AM
Subject: Re: WCAG certifications, are there any official requirements to certify a website?
← Previous message | Next message →
Lucy, I understand your frustration with certifications, but following your
logic gives us these situations:
Medical diseases and their treatments are not static, yet certification as a
doctor by a medical board is.
Laws are not static, yet certification as a lawyer by a legal bar
association is.
Continue with this logic for many more professions, including Adobe's ACE
certifications for its products.
What's needed is a certification process that allows people interested in
the field to acquire the subject knowledge and be tested. This helps
prospective employers (or clients) evaluate whether the person has at least
been exposed to the concepts. No certification program can guarantee that
the person will perform perfectly for an indefinite time. Medical, legal,
and other professions require recertification after x period of years.
It's not a perfect system, but it does work for so many other professions.
Our problem is that we don't have a certification system in place that's
similar to those used by accountants, lawyers, doctors, engineers, financial
experts, etc. Those professions have a nonprofit organization that creates
and oversees a curriculum used by educational institutions. Ideally, the
nonprofit should adjust the required curriculum as technology changes, and
provide guidelines on additional learning to keep current with changing
requirements.
And certification renewal should be required every 2-3 years after attending
additional courses to keep skills current.
The original poster was asking if there was such a certification program
available. To the best of my knowledge, no, there isn't. Maybe it's time for
a nonprofit to step up and put an international certification program in
place. My hope is that it would focus on accessibility not just for
websites, but also for Office documents and Acrobat PDFs as well.
--
Bevi Chagnon | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
PubCom - Trainers, consultants, designers, and developers
Print, Web, Acrobat, XML, eBooks, and Federal Section 508
--
* It's our 30th Year! *
-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Lucy Greco
Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 6:06 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] WCAG certifications, are there any official
requirements to certify a website?
As a screen reader user I don't thing surts are worth the bits they are
written with. Because as we all know web sites are not static and a surt
is. And what is a surt any way but a pat on the back of a person wanting a
surt.
Lucy Greco
Assistive Technology Specialist
Disabled Student's Program UC Berkeley
(510) 643-7591
http://attlc.berkeley.edu
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Thu, Nov 10 2011 8:45AM
Subject: Re: WCAG certifications, are there any official requirements to certify a website?
← Previous message | Next message →
Bevi
I totally agree with that, my point, and Lucy's too, as I interpreted
it anyway, was that there is no qulaity and reliable certification for
this "industry", for a lack of a better word, not one that requires
significant technical skills and retraining.
I should mention the good work that EASI (Equal Access to Software and
Information) have done with their courses and certification, which is
along the lines you suggested, web and document accessibility.
It's good for what it is, great introduction, and definitely certifies
that you understand the issues involved and you know most of the
standard techniques to deal with them. It also gives you course credit
at the Univrsity of Southern Maine, so it has an academic affiliation.
Good certification to have, but not as technical or specific as I had
in mind, hence my question.
Thanks
-B
On 11/10/11, Bevi Chagnon < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Lucy, I understand your frustration with certifications, but following your
> logic gives us these situations:
>
> Medical diseases and their treatments are not static, yet certification as a
> doctor by a medical board is.
> Laws are not static, yet certification as a lawyer by a legal bar
> association is.
> Continue with this logic for many more professions, including Adobe's ACE
> certifications for its products.
>
> What's needed is a certification process that allows people interested in
> the field to acquire the subject knowledge and be tested. This helps
> prospective employers (or clients) evaluate whether the person has at least
> been exposed to the concepts. No certification program can guarantee that
> the person will perform perfectly for an indefinite time. Medical, legal,
> and other professions require recertification after x period of years.
>
> It's not a perfect system, but it does work for so many other professions.
> Our problem is that we don't have a certification system in place that's
> similar to those used by accountants, lawyers, doctors, engineers, financial
> experts, etc. Those professions have a nonprofit organization that creates
> and oversees a curriculum used by educational institutions. Ideally, the
> nonprofit should adjust the required curriculum as technology changes, and
> provide guidelines on additional learning to keep current with changing
> requirements.
>
> And certification renewal should be required every 2-3 years after attending
> additional courses to keep skills current.
>
> The original poster was asking if there was such a certification program
> available. To the best of my knowledge, no, there isn't. Maybe it's time for
> a nonprofit to step up and put an international certification program in
> place. My hope is that it would focus on accessibility not just for
> websites, but also for Office documents and Acrobat PDFs as well.
>
> --
> Bevi Chagnon | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> PubCom - Trainers, consultants, designers, and developers
> Print, Web, Acrobat, XML, eBooks, and Federal Section 508
> --
> * It's our 30th Year! *
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Lucy Greco
> Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 6:06 PM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] WCAG certifications, are there any official
> requirements to certify a website?
>
> As a screen reader user I don't thing surts are worth the bits they are
> written with. Because as we all know web sites are not static and a surt
> is. And what is a surt any way but a pat on the back of a person wanting a
> surt.
>
> Lucy Greco
> Assistive Technology Specialist
> Disabled Student's Program UC Berkeley
> (510) 643-7591
> http://attlc.berkeley.edu
> http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
>
>
>
>
From: Lucy Greco
Date: Thu, Nov 10 2011 2:12PM
Subject: Re: WCAG certifications, are there any official requirements to certify a website?
← Previous message | Next message →
Sorry I miss understood the question. I thought you wanted a web seal type of certification . I do think people should have some way of showing there ability to. if it's the people you want certified that is a good idea sorry for the miss understanding
Lucy Greco
Assistive Technology Specialist
Disabled Student's Program UC Berkeley
(510) 643-7591
http://attlc.berkeley.edu
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Bevi Chagnon
Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 6:35 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] WCAG certifications, are there any official requirements to certify a website?
Lucy, I understand your frustration with certifications, but following your logic gives us these situations:
Medical diseases and their treatments are not static, yet certification as a doctor by a medical board is.
Laws are not static, yet certification as a lawyer by a legal bar association is.
Continue with this logic for many more professions, including Adobe's ACE certifications for its products.
What's needed is a certification process that allows people interested in the field to acquire the subject knowledge and be tested. This helps prospective employers (or clients) evaluate whether the person has at least been exposed to the concepts. No certification program can guarantee that the person will perform perfectly for an indefinite time. Medical, legal, and other professions require recertification after x period of years.
It's not a perfect system, but it does work for so many other professions.
Our problem is that we don't have a certification system in place that's similar to those used by accountants, lawyers, doctors, engineers, financial experts, etc. Those professions have a nonprofit organization that creates and oversees a curriculum used by educational institutions. Ideally, the nonprofit should adjust the required curriculum as technology changes, and provide guidelines on additional learning to keep current with changing requirements.
And certification renewal should be required every 2-3 years after attending additional courses to keep skills current.
The original poster was asking if there was such a certification program available. To the best of my knowledge, no, there isn't. Maybe it's time for a nonprofit to step up and put an international certification program in place. My hope is that it would focus on accessibility not just for websites, but also for Office documents and Acrobat PDFs as well.
--
Bevi Chagnon | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
PubCom - Trainers, consultants, designers, and developers Print, Web, Acrobat, XML, eBooks, and Federal Section 508
--
* It's our 30th Year! *
-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Lucy Greco
Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 6:06 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] WCAG certifications, are there any official
requirements to certify a website?
As a screen reader user I don't thing surts are worth the bits they are
written with. Because as we all know web sites are not static and a surt
is. And what is a surt any way but a pat on the back of a person wanting a
surt.
Lucy Greco
Assistive Technology Specialist
Disabled Student's Program UC Berkeley
(510) 643-7591
http://attlc.berkeley.edu
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Thu, Nov 10 2011 2:21PM
Subject: Re: WCAG certifications, are there any official requirements to certify a website?
← Previous message | No next message
Lucy
No, I bundled two questions together (which is a bad habit of mine
honestly), so I was asking both.
a. If there was a reliable international certification of
accessibility for websites and
b. if there were accessibility certification programs for individuals.
So, you were right. *smiles*
On 11/10/11, Lucy Greco < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Sorry I miss understood the question. I thought you wanted a web seal type
> of certification . I do think people should have some way of showing there
> ability to. if it's the people you want certified that is a good idea sorry
> for the miss understanding
>
> Lucy Greco
> Assistive Technology Specialist
> Disabled Student's Program UC Berkeley
> (510) 643-7591
> http://attlc.berkeley.edu
> http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Bevi Chagnon
> Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 6:35 PM
> To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] WCAG certifications, are there any official
> requirements to certify a website?
>
> Lucy, I understand your frustration with certifications, but following your
> logic gives us these situations:
>
> Medical diseases and their treatments are not static, yet certification as a
> doctor by a medical board is.
> Laws are not static, yet certification as a lawyer by a legal bar
> association is.
> Continue with this logic for many more professions, including Adobe's ACE
> certifications for its products.
>
> What's needed is a certification process that allows people interested in
> the field to acquire the subject knowledge and be tested. This helps
> prospective employers (or clients) evaluate whether the person has at least
> been exposed to the concepts. No certification program can guarantee that
> the person will perform perfectly for an indefinite time. Medical, legal,
> and other professions require recertification after x period of years.
>
> It's not a perfect system, but it does work for so many other professions.
> Our problem is that we don't have a certification system in place that's
> similar to those used by accountants, lawyers, doctors, engineers, financial
> experts, etc. Those professions have a nonprofit organization that creates
> and oversees a curriculum used by educational institutions. Ideally, the
> nonprofit should adjust the required curriculum as technology changes, and
> provide guidelines on additional learning to keep current with changing
> requirements.
>
> And certification renewal should be required every 2-3 years after attending
> additional courses to keep skills current.
>
> The original poster was asking if there was such a certification program
> available. To the best of my knowledge, no, there isn't. Maybe it's time for
> a nonprofit to step up and put an international certification program in
> place. My hope is that it would focus on accessibility not just for
> websites, but also for Office documents and Acrobat PDFs as well.
>
> --
> Bevi Chagnon | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> PubCom - Trainers, consultants, designers, and developers Print, Web,
> Acrobat, XML, eBooks, and Federal Section 508
> --
> * It's our 30th Year! *
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Lucy Greco
> Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 6:06 PM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] WCAG certifications, are there any official
> requirements to certify a website?
>
> As a screen reader user I don't thing surts are worth the bits they are
> written with. Because as we all know web sites are not static and a surt
> is. And what is a surt any way but a pat on the back of a person wanting a
> surt.
>
> Lucy Greco
> Assistive Technology Specialist
> Disabled Student's Program UC Berkeley
> (510) 643-7591
> http://attlc.berkeley.edu
> http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
>
>
>
>