[Athen] Microsoft Will Help Launch a New Association for Accessibility Professionals

[Prof Norm Coombs]

I just picked this announcement up and feel it is relevant to ATHEN members....
Norm




Microsoft Will Help Launch a New Association for Accessibility Professionals

<http://blogs.msdn.com/3857/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashx>Daniel Hubbell - MSFT
17 Dec 2013 7:11 AM
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<http://blogs.msdn.com/b/accessibility/archive/2013/12/17/microsoft-will-help-launch-a-new-association-for-accessibility-professionals.aspx#comments>2 


<http://blogs.msdn.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-98-83/1881.RobSinclair1_5F00_2013.jpg>
Picture of Rob Sinclair


This blog post was written by Rob Sinclair, Microsoft's Chief 
Accessibility Officer. Rob is responsible for the company's worldwide 
strategy to develop software and services that make it easier for 
people of all ages and abilities to see, hear, and use their computers.

-----

Last month, I joined the founding members of the International 
Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) in a meeting where 
we discussed the next steps to create an association and transform 
accessibility into a globally recognized and respected profession.

In March, we will take one of our biggest steps by formally launching 
the Association. So far, accessibility has developed at a grassroots 
level, hindered by an inconsistent approach to training as well as 
the absence of certifications and an established career path for 
engineers to follow from higher education into the workplace.

This new association will begin solving these challenges by creating 
a global community for people and organizations working in 
accessibility to share expertise and resources, support one another's 
work, and follow developments in this fast-changing field. As part of 
this effort, the group will develop training materials, webinars and 
other educational resources and point people to the wealth of 
existing industry resources. All of this will lead to IAAP developing 
professional certifications to help individuals demonstrate their 
level of expertise in one or more aspects of accessibility and help 
them keep that expertise current. Overall, the association's goal is 
to help elevate the level of expertise held by the growing number of 
people, around the world, who are designing or authoring content, 
media, software, devices, and more.

Perhaps most importantly, the association is an effort to create a 
stronger sense of profession in a field of frequently self-taught 
practitioners. It will help those working full-time in accessibility 
as well as those that only include it as part of their jobs. It will 
support companies and organizations by helping their leaders 
understand how to build a successful accessibility program and 
develop the organizational capacity needed to deliver accessibility solutions.

We have a lot to do in the next three months including the creation 
of an accessible infrastructure, including a website, to serve the 
association and its members. It also includes beginning work to 
develop content, like webinars, and a platform to share insights and 
experience from experts in the field. All of this is being achieved 
through the contributions of the 23 founding member organizations, 
representing five countries, that have committed money, personnel and 
materials to help prepare for the IAAP launch.

The window of opportunity to become a Founding Member organization is 
quickly closing. If you are interested in contributing to the IAAP in 
this leadership capacity, or if you simply have a question or 
suggestion, please send us mail at 
<mailto:info at accessibilityassociation.org>info at accessibilityassociation.org.


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