From the Accreditation Board
We’ve made the difficult decision to postpone the 2026 accreditation exam. We understand this is disappointing news for anyone who planned to sit the exam this August. But we’re working towards getting it up and running again as soon as we can.
Why did we postpone the exam?
The exam is expensive and time-consuming to prepare for, both for exam candidates and for our volunteers. And our current projects mean our volunteers and staff are feeling significant time pressure to:
- review how we deliver the exam to make it more affordable
- update the exam materials to focus on accessibility skills and knowledge
- transition from Google to Microsoft platforms and test the new platform thoroughly
The wellbeing of our teams is vital – we wouldn’t be able to offer accreditation without them. We’ll update you when we have new dates for the exam and exam preparation workshops.
What next?
You can still prepare for the exam by:
- reading the Guide for candidates and study tips fact sheet
- practising your exam technique with our sample exam documents
- forming a study group with other exam candidates
Want to get started with a book? We recommend Books without barriers: a practical guide to inclusive publishing, co-published in 2023 by IPEd and the Australian Publishers Association. It covers how to create born-accessible books by considering accessibility at every stage of the publishing workflow. Practising what it preaches, the book is available in various formats: PDF (print and screen), Word, EPUB and Braille.
We also recommend:
- The Australian editing handbook by Elizabeth Flann DE, Beryl Hill DE and Lan Wang (3rd edition, Wiley, 2014)
- Fit to print: the writing and editing style guide for Aotearoa New Zealand by Janet Hughes and Derek Wallace (Dunmore Publishing, 2010)
- The copyeditor’s handbook: a guide for book publishing and corporate communications by Amy Einsohn and Marilyn Schwartz (4th edition, University of California Press, 2019)
- Working words by Elizabeth Manning Murphy DE (revised edition, Lacuna Publishing, 2019)
- Editing for sensitivity, diversity and inclusion: a guide for professional editors by Renée Otmar DE (2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, 2023)
What about renewing your accreditation?
Renewals will continue as planned. If you passed the accreditation exam in 2011, 2016 or 2021, you need to renew your accreditation this year. Applications open on 1 May and Charlotte Cottier, Accreditation Board chair, will email you everything you need to know.
Want to check the renewal requirements now? You can find them on our website.