My CPACC Study Strategy

Resources Used

Many people choose to use the CPACC Exam Prep Course from Deque. As a Disabled person, I had access to it for free. However, I eventually decided to rely entirely on the Body of Knowledge as there were numerous instances where the Deque course either paraphrased in such a manner that it robbed me the wrong way, or included details that were not within the original scope as suggested by the Body of Knowledge.

Given that the BoK was updated in October 2023, I would guess some of these inclusions are legacy material that the Deque team didn't manage to scrub out.

But it does not matter. I also prefer to engage with the various linked sources directly and interpret them on my own accord, instead of having someone else do that for me. The information sticks with me better.

Material Memorized

There are some pieces of material that I committed to rote memory. Here's a list of the data points I committed:

This Blog

I engaged with the majority of content by writing this blog, taking from the various sources that are recommended in the Body of Knowledge. There were different approaches I used in writing my posts at each stage of studying.

For Domain 1B and 1C, I synthesized using the resources given alongside outside resources to fill in the gaps that I wasn't familiar with. I found YouTube videos made by Disabled people talking about their disabilities to be extremely helpful

For Domain 1A, Domain 2, and Domain 3F, I largely analyzed each of the texts presented as sources on their own, trying to see whether the underlying arguments were cohesive or incohesive. I also prioritized memorizing standards and recommendations and models that were presented in these sections.

For the rest of Domain 3, I mostly tried to understand how the laws compared to each other. I found Domain 3 the hardest to get through because of all the legal tedium.

I would encourage anyone who wants to make their own blog to do so! Learn everything out loud!

Learning Attitude

I really really tried to internalize all the new information. Whenever I didn't understand something, or the provided materials were not enough to give me a good enough visualization of all the implications of the new information I was learning, I sought out clarification. Google searches, mostly.

There were one or two instances where I sought out the clarification from the A11Y Slack. I also felt some comaraderie there in the channels #certification-prep and #cpacc-study-group. However, these spaces were not as active as I would have liked them to have been.

Are You Ready?

Based on an exchange that I had with Samantha Evans during the one time I sought clarification on a topic, I believe the Recommended Study Tasks in the BoK is used to generate questions. If you'd like to self assess your own readiness for the test, I've copied every single recommended study task from the Body of Knowledge into this list.

To determine areas you may need to work on, imagine the potential multiple choice style questions that could be generated by these recommended study tasks and ask yourself: is my understanding of the topic deep enough to see through a trick question?

This readiness assessment tool was conceived without knowing what the exam actually was going to be. I am guessing and staking my own readiness on it. Assess for yourself whether you think my self-assessment method is supported enough.

Troublesome Readings

If you are also going to take my approach and do every single reading linked, here are the ones I will warn you about.

I did not finish this section.

Technology Resources for People with Vision Loss, listed under 'Visual Disabilities.' There's just a huge amount of content in this area. It's all worth reading, but takes a while.

What is Deaf-Blindness? by Deafblind International, listed under Deaf-Blindness, link is broken. Links to a lot of specific medical information and disease mechanisms that give me severe anxiety.

Deaf-Blind Communication Technology, listed under DeafBlindness. Article is from 2014 and discusses specific technology barriers relevant to that snapshot in time, information may be outdated.

Speech Disorder: Common Assistive Technologies, listed under Speech and Language Disorders. I would recommend they replace this source with an article on AAC by ASHA. I would also maybe not link to an article promoting Electronic Fluency Devices without any sort of additional commentary.

Muscle fatigue: general understanding and treatment, listed under Mobility Disabilities. This is a highly technical scientific article talking about the exact chemical processes that facilitate the general feeling of 'muscle fatigue' that anyone can experience after say, working out. It is not a good portrait of muslce fatigue-related disability, which is much more convincingly portrayed in the article tucked into the BoK's 'Additional Reading'.