[NFBCS] Accessibility of CompTia and Cyber Security Courses and Certifications

Fri Jun 30 19:00:34 UTC 2023

Hello:

     I did a quick check on BookShare and there are a number of books on
CompTia. Caution: be careful and make sure you are getting a recent book.
Reading one or more books should give the reader a good idea of what they
are in for. Some community colleges offer CompTia courses and by law they
have to make the material and labs accessible. I suggest a student check out
accessibility issues a term or two before actually taking the course. 
Some years ago, I tried to become a Cisco Network Administrator. Some of the
course was quite accessible. One of the courses required the installation of
Windows and eventually Linux. I did need sighted help dealing with screen
prompts etc. Most of the hardware portion was accessible. 
I did run into trouble when in the network lab, when I had to make a network
cable. There is no way a totally blind person can see the colored wires.
With help, I did get the cable made successfully.
The Cisco equipment in the lab thirteen years ago did have RS232C
connectors, so A PC could be used with a braille display to access the
router.
I have no idea how accessible the Cisco web interface is. 
As noted in an earlier message, Packet Tracer was inaccessible. 
I would be very careful with any private school to check out their
accessibility and placement rate before attending. Hope this helps.

Regards,
Robert

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBCS <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Linda Coccovizzo via
NFBCS
Sent: Friday, June 30, 2023 11:56 AM
To: 'NFB in Computer Science Mailing List' <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
Cc: linda at coccovizzo.com
Subject: Re: [NFBCS] Accessibility of CompTia and Cyber Security Courses and
Certifications

That program is exactly why I posed this question to the list. Because it is
so young, not too many people are aware of it. Also, there have been some
questions about the cost, which is supposed to be $7,000. I have not had a
chance to corroborate that. I did want to however, find out about the
accessibility of the much cheaper options. If this is a program that does
what it says is supposed to do, there is placement along with accessibility
of the courses they offer. I think we are just going to have to wait and see
what happens with it.
Check it out at:
http://www.theapexprogram.com
If anyone has any more information, I welcome your input.
-----Original Message-----
From: NFBCS <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Eric Mandell via NFBCS
Sent: Friday, June 30, 2023 12:31 PM
To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Eric Mandell <emandell2 at gmail.com>; Bryan Schulz
<b.schulz at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: [NFBCS] Accessibility of CompTia and Cyber Security Courses and
Certifications

Hi All,

The Eyes On Success podcast recently interviewed Kirk Adams who talked about
something called The Apex Program. It's a 10 week long online course
designed for visually impaired people to prepare them for the CompTIA
Network+ and CompTIA Security+ certification exams. The website is
theapexprogram.com

It looks promising. It could be worth checking out. Has anyone on the list
been through the program and can talk about their experience?

Cheers,
Eric

On 6/28/23, Bryan Schulz via NFBCS <nfbcs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Linda,
>
>
>
> The only one I've tried was coursera, it was about 80% accessible at best.
>
>
>
> The way to go for A+ was buying a book with the same comptia number 
> you want to pass.
>
> Figure out who to contact as you will have no chance of passing 
> without a reader assistant from certiport.
>
>
>
> You are correct about courses from a community college not being 
> accessible.
>
> I believe the cisco networking program where you drag/drop hardware 
> devices & choose wires to connect was cisco packet tracer and was 
> completely inaccessible without a visual assistant in the class.
>
>
>
> If talking about Microsoft office certifications with prometric, those 
> also require arranging an assistant if you want to pass as the normal 
> office programs are captured in the top two thirds of an inaccessible 
> program that records your steps/answers and time used.
>
>
>
> I admit some of these facts may have changed since 2018 but there was 
> zero interest of the cs division addressing these problems before or 
> since
2018!
>
> Bryan Schulz
>
>
>
>
>
> From: NFBCS <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Linda Coccovizzo 
> via NFBCS
> Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2023 11:34 AM
> To: 'NFB in Computer Science Mailing List' <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: linda at coccovizzo.com
> Subject: [NFBCS] Accessibility of CompTia and Cyber Security Courses 
> and Certifications
>
>
>
> Hi all. Would any of you have information on whether or not courses 
> offered by places like Udemy, Coursera, or uCertify are accessible 
> with screen readers? What would any of you who have worked through 
> these networking and cyber security certifications recommend a screen 
> reader user go for the most accessible experience? I have watched many 
> people attempt to obtain certifications through their community 
> colleges, and constantly run into accessibility barriers. Some manage 
> to push through, but most get frustrated, and change employment goals.
> All three of the sites I mentioned, offering courses and test prep, 
> claim accessibility with screen readers. I have a couple of students 
> who have expressed interest, so any information from those of you who 
> have experienced any of these or others accessibly, would be greatly 
> appreciated.
>
>
>
> Thank you.
>
>
>
> Linda C.
>
>
>
> --
> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
> www.avast.com

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