# DHS Trusted Tester Certification Recommended for Accessibility Professionals Auditing, Remediating

- Channel: [The ADA Book](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnBOveah3DC9YmK4A_-J0BQ)
- Published: 2026-01-08
- Source video: [Watch on YouTube](https://youtube.com/watch?v=rSygGGMwI0k)
- Read on ReadTube: https://www.read.tube/p/videos/rSygGGMwI0k
- Language: Original (source language)

## Summary

**Trusted Tester Boosts Accessibility Auditors**

The speaker strongly recommends DHS Trusted Tester certification for anyone working on the technical side of accessibility, especially auditors and remediators. He says it is a practical, difficult, and free credential that helps newer professionals prove seriousness and separate themselves from unqualified entrants in a growing market.

The speaker argues that DHS Trusted Tester is the best baseline certification for technical accessibility work, especially for people who want to audit or do remediation. He says the field is expanding quickly, which is attracting many newcomers who may overstate their skills, so professionals need tangible proof that they understand auditing and can deliver on what they claim.

He describes the Trusted Tester program as a manual testing process aligned with the ICT testing baseline and notes that agencies often accept only results from certified testers. In his view, that makes the credential valuable even though it does not by itself make someone an expert. Its main value is that it shows investment, discipline, and at least a minimum level of proficiency.

He emphasizes several practical advantages:
- It is free, unlike costly IAAP exams.
- It requires courses, a practice test, and a final exam, so it takes real effort.
- It can take weeks or even months, with a six-month limit to complete.
- It has no renewal or continuing education burden, which he prefers.
- It is more useful than WAS for demonstrating applied auditing skill.

He frames the certification as especially important for newer professionals who want credibility in a crowded market. For experienced practitioners with strong portfolios, it is less essential, but for anyone seeking to present themselves as an auditor or remediator, he считает it the strongest first credential to pursue. He closes by saying that expertise still comes from repetition and practice, not from a course alone, and that this certification should be paired with real experience and a clear understanding of one’s actual abilities.

## Article

### Why the DHS Trusted Tester certification is worth recommending

I highly recommend the DHS Trusted Tester certification if you are going to be involved with the technical side of accessibility. I have several bullet points to go through on why this is the best certification to have.

Before I get to the bullet points, in recent videos where I am talking about the upcoming YouTube membership for this channel, I have emphasized that if you are going to be an auditor, and remediation goes right along with this, then you need to have expertise in auditing. What is happening, and this has been happening but is accelerating now, is that more and more people are recognizing the immense demand for accessibility and compliance. More and more people are attracted to this. They recognize how lucrative this space can be. So they are looking to enter accessibility and compliance, which I am encouraging with this membership.

There are many ways to make money in accessibility and compliance, but what is so important is that you fit in the role that you fit into and that you are not exaggerating what you can do. So if you are holding yourself out as an auditor, then you need to have technical accessibility expertise, and this goes along with anything else. Part of what I am going to talk about in the membership is how it will not take you that long to develop the expertise for different subjects.

For auditing, I actually recommend that you do not become an auditor if you are not already. If you really want to be, go for it. But just recognize that it takes a while to build up the requisite skills, knowledge, expertise, and experience. So it is very important that you not misstate what you can do. You do not lie about what you can do.

One of the reasons why I think the DHS Trusted Tester certification is such a good idea is because you can immediately separate yourself from all of those other people who are claiming that they have expertise when they really do not. Let us read what this is. This is a snippet from 508.gov. Here we have DHS Trusted Tester Process and Certification Program.

> The DHS Trusted Tester Process is a manual test approach that aligns with the ICT testing baseline and provides repeatable and reliable conformance test results. DHS offers training and formal accessibility testing certification for the DHS Trusted Tester Process. Agencies that adopt the Trusted Tester process only accept test results from individuals who have been certified as trusted testers.

That is about the program, that is about the process. Going back to what I was saying earlier, this is really going to become more of a necessary baseline unless you just have credentials otherwise. But so many people are going to enter this space, they are not going to be qualified, and the market is going to recognize this and they are going to look out for a safe haven of sorts. I think this is an excellent baseline to have because, one, you cannot get it easily. That is actually one of the bullet points that I have on the document here.

### Why the certification has real value

I put that the certification is difficult, which makes it valuable. It is going to take you multiple weeks to get this certification. You are going to have to put in dozens of hours. And even though it is free, it is not easy. This requires commitment just to get the certification alone.

The certification itself does not mean you are an expert, but it does mean that you are invested and they are not giving away this certification. So it is really good, and it helps separate you from the rest of the crowd.

I have here one to 1.5 months timeline is quite possible. I think three months is probably par, and then there is actually a six month limit on the ability to get certification. So you can only take up to six months. But most people will get through this sooner. It is self-paced, it is all online, and depending on where you are at, it might take you from 40 hours to 80 hours to complete everything involved.

What you need to do is go through these courses, then take a practice test, and then actually take the exam. So it is rigorous. This is going to be something where you have to put in real effort. It is a great way to immediately put yourself into consideration as to, like, I am on another level and I have this certification.

What is going to happen in the marketplace is those that do not are going to be separated out and they will not be considered the same. Of course there are other factors in place. If you have 10 years experience but you do not have the DHS Trusted Tester certification, then your credentials, your portfolio is going to speak for itself. But for people who are newer in accessibility and people who really want to be auditors or they want to be involved in the remediation side, then this is the certification that I highly recommend.

Reading through the bullet points I have here, it is not just the exam, but the courses you must go through. So there are courses as a part of this and there is also that practice exam that I mentioned.

What I really like about this is it is free. This is available to anybody. When you look at the IAAP exams, I think it is $555 to take the exam if you are not a member and then $455 or something along those lines if you are a member. So really expensive. And this is the better exam, this is the more practical exam. This is an exam where if someone was coming to me and they said, hey, I want to audit for you, this is the exam I am going to look for over the IAAP certification.

Now if you have that certification, it does not work against you and it looks good. It looks like you are willing to put in the time and the effort. So that is great. It just shows that you are invested. This is not something that you decided to do over the weekend and then next weekend you will have a new project. It looks like you are serious about this.

It does not mean that you are technically capable, but the more certification you stack, the better it looks for when you are offering services. In a previous video I talked about the WAS and the CPAC exams and how having that certification is not necessary, that clients are not asking for it. Clients still are not asking for it. Very few are. But what I anticipate is that it is going to be a matter of, hey, we need to make sure that you are meeting a minimum baseline before you offer this service. We want to make sure that you are serious. We want to make sure you are legitimate.

I think the DHS Trusted Tester certification is a great way to divide those that are serious from those that are not.

### No payment, no renewal, no continuing education

There is no payment, there is no renewal, there is no continuing education. The other part I really dislike about the CPAC and the WAS exam is there is continuing education. So even once you pass the exam, you are not done with it. They just keep going on with it to maintain it. I really dislike that. Here you do not have to do that.

You need an 85% score to pass. It used to be 90%, but they have made some improvements with the exam.

I have number five: better than WAS. Better than the Web Accessibility Specialist exam, because WAS showcases more technical and conceptual knowledge, whereas Trusted Tester demonstrates applied knowledge plus shows that you have the skill and the ability to audit or test.

Then I have number six: bestows credibility. So a baseline for auditing, baseline for remediation. The certification is difficult to get, it takes you weeks to get. It makes it valuable, and it might take you months. That is part of what makes it so valuable, because you cannot get it easily.

I do like that they make you go through all of these different walls. It is not like, oh, well, here is an exam and then you can use AI to take the exam. It is like you have to put in the investment, you have to put in the time, and because of that it makes it difficult, it dissuades a lot of people, and so it makes it that much more valuable when you do have it.

### Why it matters for the YouTube membership and the market

This will be relevant if you are inside of the YouTube membership. This has been top of mind for me because I want to make sure that what we are doing inside of the YouTube membership is going to be, there are going to be less people in this that are claiming that they can do something when they cannot. That is very important.

There are so many ways, even if you are non-technical, to make money in this space. So do not think you are out just because you cannot be an auditor or you cannot remediate. You are not out at all. But it is so important to be aligned with what you excel in and what your role is versus anything else. You need to be able to excel in and deliver on what you say you can. If that is not the case, then you should not be in the membership one. You likely will not be.

If you want to be on the technical side of accessibility, then the Section 508 Trusted Tester certification makes a lot of sense. If you have the experience, if you have the portfolio behind you and it shows and it is tangible, then it is really not a problem. But this is more for people who are newer to accessibility, who are looking to enter this space.

That is number seven: it will be relevant inside of the YouTube membership.

It does not make you an expert. Just because you have passed this exam and you have this certification, it does not mean that you are home free. It just means that you are invested and it is a great starting point and that it means that you have some proficiency. But it is not just like you pass this exam and you never have to think about anything again. This is a great start and it is a way to separate yourself from all of the incoming people that are claiming they can audit, that they can audit digital assets.

That is number nine: it immediately separates you from those who claim expertise. This is what I am seeing. It is not necessarily a trend, but it is something I see coming. I see it coming. If you want to be an auditor, if you want to be a remediator, then this is just going to be something that is going to be expected under your resume.

### Resources, recommendations, and what to prioritize

If I have any resources, I will include this in the description. There is someone on YouTube named Skills Singh and he does a really good job breaking down the DHS Trusted Tester exam and what you can expect as you are going through these different courses. I will link to his video in the description. He has covered this a lot. He has done a really good job with it.

If you have less years of experience, I highly, highly recommend this. Especially, people are going to catch on to this. Even if clients are not asking now, I think you will start to see them ask more in the future. Especially when people work with people that are not actually experts in accessibility, then it is going to be found out. It is going to be realized in the marketplace. It may take a while, but it is just going to make it more difficult for you.

Beyond that, even if you could get clients without it, you do not want to offer services that do not actually match up with what you can do. So if you are offering audit services, then you want to be an expert in auditing. Same with remediation work. Obviously accessibility is a specialized skill. It is a specialized subset within development. So it is really important.

I think it will be very, very helpful. And again, you do not need this. This is for people that are really insistent upon being in the technical side. Otherwise, depending on what you want to do, you need to align yourself with what you can offer. What you are telling people you can do, you need to be able to actually do it. You need to have the expertise to actually do that.

If you do not have it yet, then you just need to put in that work and investment and make sure that you do become an expert in what you are offering. Expertise cannot come simply by taking a course. I see that to some degree, as some people think they can take a course and then they will become an expert and then they can offer services. No. Think about playing basketball. You could take a course in playing basketball, but it does not mean that you are good at basketball. It just means that you have taken a course about basketball.

I hope that analogy works. You have to put in repetitions, you have to put it into action, you have to put it into practice. That is what is really, really important. If you want this to come sooner, then you have got to put in more work sooner. But it all depends on what you want to do.

There are so many ways to make money in this space and many of them are not even technical. You can apply marketing, you can apply networking, you can apply sales, you can bring that all forward to accessibility. Of course you would want to learn the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Along with that, you would also want to read this book because it is going to help you understand the terms and concepts in this space.

When you read a book, you do not absorb it all. I would recommend reading this at least twice. But if you want to do something in accessibility and compliance, just make sure that you are thorough, make sure that you put in the requisite time and repetitions necessary, and then you will have it.

My book is *Accessibility and Compliance*. I will include that in the description. If you are thinking about entering this space, this book will help. It is beyond just education. This book will help you decide whether or not you actually want to enter this space.

For the cover of my book, I made it the Accessible.org logo. Then you have *Accessibility and Compliance*. This book is on Amazon. I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend the DHS Trusted Tester certification.

It is how the market is evolving. There are more people now in this space, and along with that, more people have entered and some of them are not ready to offer the services that they are offering. What I am getting at is that I think now is a good time to go ahead and make sure that you have something tangible to separate yourself away from those newer entrants and the people that are making claims of expertise.

This is a way that you have tangible evidence that you at least have a baseline for expertise. Not that you are actually an expert, but that you are invested. You are serious about this. This is not something you decided over the week. This is something that you have put time into and that you are at least minimally competent, right? You are getting into that proficiency level.

Then beyond that, start thinking about putting in the repetitions, because the repetitions and the experience is what fosters expertise.

I wanted to add one more thing. If you want the IAAP certification, prioritize this one. This is the one to have. It is free. There is no ongoing continuing education, at least that I have seen, at least that I am aware of.

I will link to Skills Singh, and I will link to his video. He has multiple videos on the DHS Trusted Tester program, and his breakdowns are really, really good. I will include that in the description.

### The membership is close, and the resources will be linked

Remember, YouTube memberships are closing in. We are getting really close. It is only a matter of time until I hit the hours threshold. Once I do, I have already uploaded a lot of the Netflix library. When I say Netflix library, I mean the videos where I am talking about how to make money in this space, how to be a professional in this space.

It is not only for accessibility professionals, it is also for people who are new to accessibility, who want to enter this space. Of course, this is 2026, is the year, so I am really close. That membership is coming up soon.

I will include links to the resources I have discussed in the description for this video.