Why Perceivio

The first has a short answer. Our testers hold Trusted Tester certification, the US federal testing credential for Section 508 work, and they train continuously as tools and frameworks change. Digital accessibility certification of this kind is a statement about a person's method: that they test in a documented order and record what they find. It is worth asking any supplier which certification their testers hold, and what the last thing they learned was.

The second answer is no, and nobody can give you a different one. There is no certification scheme that makes a product accessible, because accessibility is a claim about behaviour under real assistive technology rather than a badge. What exists is an audit against a named standard and level, with a date, and a statement you publish and stand behind. If a supplier offers to certify your website as accessible, ask which published scheme they are certifying it under, and read the scope of what was tested.

What we will put in writing instead

• The standard and the level every finding was tested against, by version, so a 2.1 claim and a 2.2 claim never blur.
• The scope, naming the pages, flows, apps and documents covered, and the ones left out.
• The method, including the assistive technology and device combinations each finding was confirmed on.
• The date, because an audit is a picture of a product on a day, not a permanent property of it.

Teams looking for a UX accessibility certification usually want proof that their designers can work to the standard. That is training rather than certification, and it sits inside consulting and support. Teams looking for someone to certify a product usually need an accessibility audit and testing and a website accessibility statement they can publish.