Accessible Information and Accessibility Through ICT: A Mega Trend Creates the Need for Quality Certificates for Web Accessibility Professionals in Europe and Beyond

This paper gives an overview of the global mega trend accessibility, and about the skills and competences needed for the new profession or job role “Web Accessibility Professional” in Europe and world-wide. The authors discuss accessibility, present good practice from Austria (Accessibility through ICT, IT4Blind, OCG cares) and from EU projects (ACT: Accessible Culture and Training), and propose a draft “skills card” for a new European certificate for Web Accessibility Professionals, based on the standardized procedures and quality standards of ECQA®, the European Certification and Qualification Association.