I’ve just completed the CPACC exam (Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies) – online via Pearson Vue Proctoring!
Overall, the learning process and the exam were a valuable experience. I gained a broad understanding of accessibility, and many concepts I learned will be useful.
How I Prepared for the Exam
I studied and took my notes, over two months, mainly on week-end, using the following resources:
- IAAP – CPACC Preparation course
- Deque – CPACC Preparation course
- IAAP – Book of Knowledge
I also tried reading flashcards, but this method didn’t work for me.
The topics are very broad, covering 3 main domains:
- Disability models, categories and assistive technologies;
- Accessibility principles, Universal Design, WCAG;
- Disability rights and accessibility laws, standards and strategies for implementing accessibility in organizations.
Two days before the exam, I focused on the most challenging topics: Laws, Disabilities, Universal Design for Learning and Maturity Models. These were new for me, very abstract, and difficult to memorize.
I used ChatGPT to generate CPACC-style questions based on my notes – going through each chapter one by one. This method helped me engage with the material better than flashcards and reading the notes. However, the questions were too easy compared to the actual test.
I used the tests available for IAPP and Deque preparation courses, but they were much easier than the real exam. This gave me a false sense of confidence and didn’t prepare me for the subtleties of the actual test.
The CPACC Exam
I scheduled the exam for the last day of the January-February session – online via Pearson Vue. The scheduling was smooth, with clear steps.
Before starting the exam, I had 30 minutes to complete a system and room check with the proctor to ensure everything met the exam requirements. I had to take photos of the room, and the proctor asked me to show it with the camera to verify that my desk was empty and the desk was empty and no materials around me. I had with me were something sweet for energy and a bottle of water. No pen, no paper allowed. Reading out loud was not allowed.
The exam lasted 2hrs + 1 extra hour available for non-native English speakers. It included 100 multiple-choice questions, each with 4 answer options: one correct, one tricky (almost correct) and 2 wrong.
I completed all 100 questions in 1.5 hours and flagged 30 questions to review. I spent one hour finishing those and used the last 30 minutes to verify all 100 questions again. My biggest struggle was with the details in the Laws and Disabilities sections.
In the end, I was exhausted, but I enjoyed it!
I’m not sure if I passed or not. The result will be available over 4+ weeks. If I don’t pass, I’ll need to find a better strategy to memorize and retain so much information, as my brain refuses to store all these details.
No matter the result, I’m glad I went through this process. Accessibility is a vast and complex field, and preparing for CPACC helped me deepen my knowledge.
