0 Accessible Web Site Certification

Accessible Web Site Certification

Our accessible web site certification service can help you ensure that you are meeting and will continue to meet accessibility guidelines and requirements.

What is Site Certification?

WebAIM will provide a statement declaring the level of accessibility of your web site on a specific date. Certification is really nothing more than an extension of our Site Monitoring and Reporting and Consulting services.

There are four steps to site certification:

1. WebAIM will conduct a comprehensive review of your site.
2. Based on your preference, we will either report on or repair all accessibility and compliance barriers on the site.
3. Once our strict accessibility requirements are met, we can certify the accessibility of your site to a pre-determined standard.
4. If you'd like, we can then monitor and re-certify your site to ensure accessibility over time.

How Much Does Certification Cost?

NOTHING!

That's right, certification itself is offered at no cost. However, in order to provide the certification, WebAIM must conduct an evaluation of the site and all compliance issues identified must be resolved. The cost of our evaluation and reporting or evaluation and repair services is based upon the depth, breadth, and current accessibility of your web site, but is very reasonable. We'd be happy to discuss specifics or provide you with a quote.

Why Would I Want Certification?

There are several reasons why you might want WebAIM to certify the accessibility of your site:

• You may have a received funding from the federal government that requires that your materials adhere to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act or some other accessibility guideline or law. WebAIM can verify that you have met these technical requirements.
• You may be creating a service or application that you would like to market to the federal government. If you can verify that your product conforms with Section 508, you will have an advantage over other similar products and services that do not meet this standard.
• You want to confidently proclaim that your site has an accessible web presence and has been certified by a recognized leader in web accessibility.

Is Certification a One-time or an Ongoing Process?

WebAIM can offer either, depending on the needs of your organization. If you are creating content that is unlikely to change over time, a one-time certification might be sufficient. In this case, we will usually provide you with a document stating that WebAIM certified the accessibility of your site on a specific date.

If your site is updated regularly, you may desire regular re-certification on the content of the site. The frequency and comprehensiveness of each re-certification will vary based on your needs. These follow up checks are usually less extensive than the original certification. When certification is ongoing, WebAIM will usually host a page showing the current level of accessibility of the site as well as the date of the next scheduled re-evaluation.

What Standard Do You Use When Certifying a Web Site?

The standard can vary depending on your needs. If your organization is either part of or does business with the US federal government, then you must verify that your site conforms with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Many other countries or states in the U.S. have laws regarding accessibility. If you are more concerned with the overall accessibility, then you may consider site certification based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). WebAIM can even help you devise your own accessibility standard and/or policy to which we can help you attain and certify compliance.

What if a Certified Site Starts to Have Accessibility Problems?

WebAIM site certifications are for a specific date and compliance level. It is up to you to ensure that your site maintains that level of accessibility over time. Of course, WebAIM can help you in these efforts by auditing and re-certifying your site upon request or at regular intervals.