CPACC Accessible Academy
A comprehensive, screen reader-first course covering the five CPACC domains through detailed lessons, professional context, real-world examples, review, and exam-focused learning.
Open Door Accessibility Academy
Learning Accessibility by Building Accessibility
The Open Door Accessibility Academy is the learning center of Open Door Design. Its CPACC and WCAG Academies provide detailed instruction, while the companion Labs provide accessible practice, challenge systems, and hands-on application.
The CPACC Accessible Academy, CPACC Accessible Lab, WCAG Accessible Academy, and WCAG Accessible Lab are available now. They continue to grow through direct testing, expanded content, accessibility review, and user feedback.
Learn. Practice. Build. Share.
The Academy is more than a collection of courses. It is a living learning environment where education, experimentation, and collaboration come together to prepare the next generation of accessibility professionals.
Many of the learning experiences within the Academy are supported by tools and prototypes developed in the Innovation Lab, creating a continuous cycle of education, experimentation, and improvement.
Available During Development
This site and its projects remain under active development. All current content is available for people to access, test, use, and critique while the work continues.
Purpose of the Academy
The Academy exists to make accessibility education more understandable, more practical, and more connected to real user experience.
Accessibility is not only a set of standards. It is the difference between someone being able to complete a task independently or needing unnecessary help.
The Academy will focus on teaching accessibility in a way that connects guidelines, assistive technology behavior, usability, and human impact.
Screen Reader First Learning
The Academy follows the same Screen Reader First philosophy as the Open Door Design website.
Learning materials should not require sight to understand the lesson. Navigation should be clear. Headings should be meaningful. Examples should work with a keyboard. Practice activities should provide useful feedback.
If a lesson can be understood and completed efficiently by a screen reader user, it will usually be clearer for everyone else too.
Learning Programs
CPACC Accessible Lab
An accessible practice environment with Reinforce, Practice, Challenge, and Sprint modes, broad question pools, explanations, keyboard shortcuts, and progress support.
WCAG Accessible Academy
A structured WCAG 2.2 learning platform that teaches success criteria through practical instruction, real-world examples, testing techniques, remediation strategies, and professional application.
WCAG Accessible Lab
A practical environment for recognizing accessibility barriers, connecting findings to WCAG, evaluating user impact, and strengthening testing and defect-writing skills.
Screen Reader User Testing Program
A hands-on learning path focused on headings, landmarks, forms, focus management, links, dynamic content, keyboard interaction, and communicating usability findings from the perspective of assistive technology users.
Document Accessibility Program
A practical program covering document structure, tagged PDFs, alternate text, forms, tables, reading order, remediation techniques, and quality assurance using assistive technology.
Accessible Media Program
An exploration of captions, transcripts, audio description, accessible video production, narration workflows, and multimedia accessibility from a Screen Reader First perspective.
Accessibility Engineering Program
A future learning program for developers and technical professionals who want to build accessibility into products from the beginning through inclusive architecture, semantic structure, keyboard interaction, and assistive technology compatibility.
Practice, Not Just Reading
The Academy will include practice systems, quizzes, challenge workflows, examples, and review activities that help learners apply accessibility concepts instead of only memorizing them.
That includes recognizing barriers, explaining impact, choosing appropriate WCAG success criteria, testing with assistive technology, and documenting issues clearly.
Learning accessibility should feel connected to real work and real people.
Connected to the Innovation Lab
The Academy and the Innovation Lab are separate parts of Open Door Design, but they are designed to support each other.
The Academy teaches the concepts. The Innovation Lab builds tools and prototypes that demonstrate those concepts in action.
Every tool can become a lesson. Every lesson can inspire a better tool.
Who the Academy Is For
- People new to accessibility.
- CPACC candidates.
- Screen reader users interested in accessibility testing.
- Developers and designers learning inclusive design.
- Students and apprentices building accessibility skills.
- Organizations seeking clearer accessibility education.
- Anyone who believes accessibility should create independence and opportunity.
Founding Season
The Academy is now transitioning from foundational development into final refinement of its first major learning applications.
The CPACC and WCAG applications are usable today, while lesson depth, question variety, focus behavior, mobile usability, and professional learning content continue to be tested and improved.
That is part of the process.
Open Door Design is not presenting a finished school. It is inviting people to help build one that reflects real accessibility experience.
Help Shape the Academy
If you are studying accessibility, teaching accessibility, preparing for certification, using assistive technology, or working to make digital experiences more inclusive, your perspective can help shape the Academy.