Article

Why I think every instructional designer should consider CPACC

Martin Brown · 3 June 2026

A person holds a smartphone in a café, suggesting studying on the go.

Accessibility has been part of my practice for a long time. I thought I understood it reasonably well. Then I started studying for the Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) exam, and I realised how much I had been working from instinct rather than foundations.

This article is for instructional designers, and other content creators, who are curious about CPACC but haven't yet committed. I'm not here to sell you the credential. I want to share what it actually gave me, because it gave me more than I expected.

It started with a LinkedIn post

Partway through my study, I came across a LinkedIn post by Haben Girma that made me laugh. I followed the thread and read her book, Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law. I found myself genuinely absorbed by Deafblindness in a way I hadn't anticipated.

I know how that sounds. “Deafblindness is my favourite disability” is a ridiculous thing to say. But I say it anyway, because it gets at something true. When you sit with the question “is this content accessible to someone who is both deaf and blind?”, every assumption you've ever made about accessible design gets stress-tested at once. It's clarifying in a way that no checklist ever is.

That experience came directly from studying the CPACC Body of Knowledge (BoK). Specifically, from a section I had mentally filed as background reading.

The section I almost skimmed

The categories and models of disability sit early in the BoK. I expected it to be theoretical, interesting enough, but not the practical core of what I needed to know.

I was wrong. It turned out to be the lens through which everything else made sense.

Understanding how disability is conceptualised through models changes how you ask questions in a design brief. Oh, and I have a favourite disability model too. The biopsychosocial model, of course. I always try to talk about it at dinner parties.

In practice, knowing these theories and how professionals apply them, changes what you notice in a client's assumptions. It changes how you talk about accessibility with stakeholders who think of it as a compliance exercise.

I didn't just learn frameworks. I started seeking out more. I now take every opportunity to read and listen to people with lived experience of disability. That habit started with CPACC study and hasn't stopped.

What changed in my practice

Before CPACC, I thought about accessibility at the point where it became visible, like captions, alt text and colour contrast. After CPACC, I think about it from concept to delivery. I'm actually doing the “shift left” thing now.

The credential didn't give me a checklist. It gave me a way of thinking. And as many of my peers will tell you, accessible design is good design. It's not a constraint on the creative process, but a discipline that makes the work better for everyone.

My confidence changed too. I no longer wait to be asked about accessibility. I open the conversation. I advocate earlier and more directly. That shift is harder to measure than a credential, but it may be the most valuable thing I took from the process.

On the investment

Pursuing CPACC requires time and money. I studied for more than 2 months before sitting the exam. The exam fee is modest compared to a conference registration, or even some webinars and a fraction of a postgraduate unit. The credential is awarded and internationally recognised by the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP). You don't need to be a member of the IAAP, but I choose to maintain membership.

You need to recertify every 3 years, which keeps the learning current. There are many professional development opportunities through the IAAP and externally to keep that learning going and earn points towards recertification.

For instructional designers working in education, government or the not-for-profit sector, where accessibility obligations are real and growing, I think that investment stacks up.

Where to start

If you're considering CPACC, the IAAP Body of Knowledge is your map. It's substantial but navigable. I built the CPACC Quick Guide as a free companion resource, designed to be used in the gaps of a busy schedule, on any device, without needing to sit down with a textbook.

You can find it on the courses page.