Since starting to lose my sight I have realised the importance of accessibility and the impact it has on everyone. During this time, I have become passionate about understanding accessibility from many perspectives and the changes needed to embed accessibility into everything we do. To help improve the breadth of my knowledge and to demonstrate my commitment to accessibility, I prepared to take the CPACC exam.
What is CPACC?
The IAAP (International Association of Accessibility Professionals) is a global organisation that supports accessibility professionals through resources, networking, and certifications to advance accessibility standards and best practices.
CPACC (Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies) is a foundational certification in accessibility from IAAP, covering core disability concepts, accessibility principles, and universal design.
CPACC Exam Preparation
IAAP provide a book of knowledge that contains all the information and links to resources that are needed to revise for the exam within a PDF. While the information is there, it doesn’t fit everyones learning style.
However, there are many great resources available to help with preparing for the exam.
Deque are a leader in accessibility, providing consultancy, tools and training. They provide a scholarship with access to their courses for anyone with a disability.
The Deque CPACC preparation course is very good and available via the scholarship or for a fee. I can highly recommend the course.
The amazing Ashley Peacock created this quiz to help with preparation for the CPACC exam. The quiz is in the style of the exam and really helps to build your confidence in the topics.
There are many other resources available, from YouTube videos to online courses.
Exam Process
I took the Exam via the Pearson OnVue remote system with accommodations to allow my screen reader and magnifier. Since taking the exam, IAAP have updated the process, which I hope will have resolved some of the niggles I had in booking the exam.
The Pearson OnVue software was temperamental with a set of requirements that you need to meet. Initially I wanted to take it on my Mac or via a Windows Virtual Machine on my Mac – these are blocked, you must use a Windows machine. The other constraint is not to run it on a corporate PC due to security software like zScaler which may interfere.
Once meeting the machine criteria, I started to have issue with the download performance, this wasn’t my internet connection as I was receiving 100 times the minimum speed. It seemed to fluctuate with how much the service was being used. I had to just retry until it worked. In my case I had to wait an hour after the start time for the invigilator to check my environment and allow me into the exam.
Once in the exam, the exam software was accessible with a screen reader. The software provided the option to flag questions you are unsure of, so you can return to them later, which was extremely useful. On completing the exam, you must wait 4-6 weeks for the results.
Is it worth it?
Only you can answer that. For me, it has helped expand my knowledge and signals my commitment to accessibility. There is a fantastic growing community of accessibility professionals, learning together to make the world accessible. The Champions of Accessibility Network (CAN) is a LinkedIn group with meetups, sharing best practice and supporting each other to drive accessibility forward.
Tell me what you think in the comments below or on X @timdixon82
