History of the European Computer Driving Licence - History of Computing: Learning from the Past - page 139

produced - one a test of skill and one theoretical test. The version taken
depended on the facilities available. The pass mark was 80%.
4.1 Quality Assurance
Quality had a high priority and quality assurance procedures were defined and man-
aged by the ECDL Foundation, the licensees, sub-licensees and the test centres. The
quality assurance procedures included use of rigorous authorization guidelines and
compulsory standards. The tests for ECDL were conducted by authorized test centres.
These centres were validated by the licensee in each country using guidelines
provided by the ECDL Foundation. The test centres were expected to be operated by
course vendors, educational establishments, large organizations or companies. It was
the intention that authorized test centres would provide facilities to test not only their
own pupils but also persons who wished to take a test without undergoing formal
courses.
The results of the tests in Europe were monitored on a statistical basis and any un-
usual patterns were investigated by the ECDL Foundation. Strict adherence to the
syllabus and the use of the standard tests and marking guidelines also ensured that
the tests were of an even standard. The ECDL Foundation performed quality assur-
ance audits to ensure that standards were maintained and that the quality of the prod-
uct was ensured.
Quality is considered as a continuous improvement element within the organization
and today, the ECDL Foundation quality statement is as follows [14]:
“ECDL Foundation is committed to the development, promotion, and deliv-
ery of quality certification programmes so as to enable proficient use of ICT
that empowers individuals, organisations and society throughout the world.
To meet the needs of all our customers, ECDL Foundation has established a
Quality Management System based on the internationally-recognised quality
standard ISO 9001: 2000.
Adherence to this standard ensures that the processes used by ECDL Foun-
dation to develop and support its certification programmes, are effective,
efficient, and subject to continuous evaluation and improvement.”
4.2 Accessibility
In early 2001, accessibility was identified as a major requirement for ECDL. The
ECDL Foundation was a partner in an accessibility project, ECDL-PD, which planned
to examine ECDL, identify accessibility issues and propose solutions. The outcome of
this project [15] was the definition of potential barriers to inclusion within ECDL. At
the same time other projects examined accessibility issues; these included projects in
the UK, Hungary, Italy, Austria [16] and Greece. The ECDL Foundation set up an
international working group, which included representatives of disability groups, to
decide on how to address the identified barriers and to collate the results and findings.
These were used these to inform future development, procedures and standards [17].
ECDL is committed to accessibility and inclusion. Today, the Accessibility State-
ment on the web site reads: