Accreditation

The mission of AER Accreditation Council is to advance excellence in the field of blindness and low vision services by ensuring that:

• organizations and specialized schools that provide direct services to individuals who have a visual impairment deliver high-quality direct services, and
• institutions of higher education prepare professionals to provide services of the highest quality to individuals who have a visual impairment.

Accreditation is a means of ensuring that consumers are provided quality services in accordance with best practices in management, program delivery and curriculum.” In 2017, the AER Board accepted a proposal from the National Accreditation Council (NAC) to transfer its accreditation program for private agencies and schools to AER. At the same time, AER elevated its longstanding University Review Program from an approval process to an accreditation process, and established the AER Accreditation Council to direct both accreditation services. At the July 2018 AER Convention, the membership approved an amendment to the AER Bylaws which gave the Council independent legal and functioning authority with its own board, which would function independently from the professional organization.