Disability, impairment or functional limitation is experienced by a much higher percentage of the population than is commonly known. Australia’s only university-accredited online access course aims to train more web accessibility experts to make websites, online communications, and digital media more inclusive and accessible to more people in Australia and round the world.
The Professional Certificate in Web Accessibility (PCWA) is studied online part-time for six weeks and covers the globally accepted Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 as well as other international accessibility standards such as Section-508 in the USA.
The PCWA course teaches best practice web and digital accessibility with practical tuition, hands-on scenarios, compliance guidelines, assignments based on real-life interactions, and access to deeply informative student and tutor forums as well. It’s also a course that keeps on giving after you have graduated – with regular digital access updates and relevant news continuing to be shared with alumni on an ongoing basis.
This series of distance learning modules was developed by Media Access Australia in conjunction with the University of South Australia, and upon completion graduates receive an internationally-recognised qualification in web accessibility.
“The course was created to support individuals and industry in learning about web accessibility in a straightforward, practical and fully-accredited way,” says PCWA Senior Lecturer Dr Scott Hollier. “The Professional Certificate in Web Accessibility not only ensures that compliance rules are not being broken, but it will impart the knowledge and provide the skills to help graduates make web and digital communications more accessible for all.”
It’s an ideal way for the key players within an organisation or department to be upskilled in accessibility compliance. It’s also perfect for solo specialists seeking a deeper understanding of the issues and the practical fixes concerning web and digital accessibility.
Another driver for obtaining the latest knowledge and skills around web and digital accessibility compliance is the dramatic rise in litigation in the US, Europe and now Australia, with actions brought by people with a disability against websites that are found to be inaccessible to them.
Dozens of web designers, developers, content writers, project managers, communications staff, instructional designers, software programmers, IT engineers, UX designers and more have already completed the course, and testimonials from recent graduates can be found on the PCWA web page. You can also watch a short PCWA highlights video outlining the benefits of taking the course.
The next intake of the PCWA runs from Monday 27 February to Friday 1 April 2017 with registrations closing on Tuesday 21 February. The cost is $2,400 AU (excluding GST) which in most cases is fully tax deductible if undertaken for work purposes.
You can enrol in the Professional Certificate in Web Accessibility online in just a few minutes. Contact Media Access Australia directly for a group booking.