Studying for the IAAP Web Accessibility Specialist Certification exam

Posted 3 Comments by Andrea Fowler

I must humbly say that I do not think that I passed the certification exam that I took on Monday and now I’m “Schrödinger’s test taker” in that I have both passed and failed – until I get my results. Here’s the advice that I’d give to myself about how to study:

  1. Yes, you really do need to memorize each principal, guideline, and success criteria. I talked myself out of needing to do this granular level of study…I should trust my instincts.
  2. The pre-requisites for the exam state that you don’t have to be a programmer to pass the exam, but you need to know how to identify very specific WCAG issues in very specific code examples. I’ve asked a developer on my team to mentor me and now I’m part of the accessibility bug triage process – which I should’ve been a year ago!
  3. The IAAP Web Accessibility Web Accessibility Specialist Body of Knowledge should’ve been my study guide — not the prep course that I took. The course is great for beginners and intermediate, but the test is for experts. Take a prep course — and then get at least 1 year experience doing the job.
  4. I am a member of the IAAP and yet I didn’t use any of their WAS preparation webinar bundles. Again, I relied too much on the 3rd party course and thought that I was prepared.

So, now I’m restudying for the WAS exam – in case I need to retake it in the November/December testing window. And to my husband, sorry the crazy isn’t over yet!

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Andrea Fowler View All →

I’m a user experience writer (more than a UI copy writer) and content strategist in the Seattle area. I design help, training and support features for an IT admin tool. I also consider myself something of an accessibility expert – especially in writing screen reader text.

In my free time I love painting and hiding rocks around Whidbey Island, embroidery, cross stitch, Zen Tangling, and tie-dying. My other hobby is robotics and I’ve got a really cool Pi car. I’m a total geek: I collect Funkos and Playmobil, read hard science fiction and graphic novels. And I don’t ever want to hear you talk smack about Sam and Dean Winchester (Supernatural 4-ever!).

3 Comments Leave a comment ›

  1. Hi Andrea, I am really curious if you passed this exam attempt or not. I’m currently taking Dequeue’s course and trying to determine how much I really need to study. I have a lot of web dev experience so I’m not worried about that, but I was really hoping I wouldn’t need to memorize WCAG SC and Screen Reader shortcut keys. Thanks for the tips you’ve left here!

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    • Hi, Thomas! I have not retaken the WAS test, but I did get my CPACC certification!!!! My thoughts on the WAS certification: The deque course is amazing and you get so much important info, but then you need to go do the job for a few years to get experience. I know that HTML and CSS were my weakest areas, so I’m focusing on those areas. I plan to retake the test, but am so intimidated by it that I’m working on my Accessible Documentation Specialist certification. I’ll do WAS last!

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      • Congratulations on CPACC! I took WAS Friday and your tips helped me study. I found a pretty good deck of flashcards that included all the SC: https://www.brainscape.com/packs/iaap-was-exam-prep-13696686
        For the coding portion I think working on remediation steps for accessibility defects will help a lot. I was worried that there would be a ton of questions that test my memory. But the majority of the questions presented a common and realistic scenario. Good luck on your next test!

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