Visit Jacksonville Renews Certified Autism Center™ Designation, Continues Mission to Best Welcome Every Visitor

JACKSONVILLE - The International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES) is excited to renew Visit Jacksonville’s designation as a Certified Autism Center™ (CAC). This credential proves their ongoing commitment to creating a community where everyone is welcome. To renew the CAC designation, staff completed an autism-specific training and certification process, equipping them with up-to-date knowledge on the best practices, resources and skills to communicate with, assist, and accommodate autistic and sensory-sensitive individuals and their families.

“It’s an honor to lead a company of individuals who care about helping people of all abilities experience Jacksonville,” says Michael Corrigan, president and CEO of Visit Jacksonville. “To have 100 percent of our staff complete training and renew our Certified Autism Center™ certification means we are dedicated to creating a welcome environment for all who visit Jacksonville.”

In 2024, Visit Jacksonville became a member of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program, a tool for people to voluntarily share that they have a disability or condition that may not be immediately apparent and may need a helping hand, understanding or more time.

Additionally in 2024, Visit Jacksonville added the ReciteMe toolbar option to visitjacksonville.com. This feature includes over a dozen accessible options for browsing the site including menu audio, color theme, cursor options, focus text and increasing text size.

“We are excited to continue our partnership with Visit Jacksonville, recognizing their ongoing dedication to welcoming every visitor, especially autistic and sensory-sensitive individuals and their families,” says Myron Pincomb, IBCCES board chairman. “This certification renewal is a testament to their dedication to creating a community where visitors feel supported, welcomed, and included.”

For more than two decades, IBCCES has been a leader in providing autism, sensory and neurodiversity training and certification for professionals worldwide, including those in healthcare, education, public safety, travel, and corporate sectors. As the only credentialing board offering these programs, IBCCES provides training from subject matter experts and autistic self-advocates, along with long-term support, continuous learning, onsite reviews, and renewal requirements to ensure continued growth and lasting impact.

IBCCES also created the Accessibility App, AutismTravel.com, and CertifiedAutismCenter.com – free resources for individuals with a variety of neurodiversities and disabilities, listing certified locations and connecting individuals to other resources and each other.

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About Visit Jacksonville
Visit Jacksonville is a Destinations International-accredited Destination Marketing Organization contracted by the Duval County Tourist Development Council (TDC) to champion the growth of business and leisure tourism in Jacksonville. For a closer look at all there is to see and do in Jacksonville, go to http://www.VisitJacksonville.com or contact 800-733-2668.

About IBCCES
Delivering the global standard for training and certification in the fields of autism, neurodiversity, and accessibility – IBCCES provides a series of certification programs that empower professionals to be leaders in their field and improve the outcomes for the individuals they serve. For over two decades, IBCCES has been a global leader, setting the industry standard in autism and cognitive differences training. IBCCES works in over 111 countries and provides training in 8 languages, and its programs have been recognized around the world as the leading benchmark in training and certification.

In addition to individual certification programs, IBCCES partners with cities, destinations, and organizations on initiatives like the Certified Autism Destination™ (CAD) and Autism Certified City™ (ACC), ensuring autistic and sensory-sensitive residents and visitors feel welcomed and safe. Destinations that achieve the CAD designation have completed a specialized program that ensures a multitude of recreation, hospitality and entertainment organizations have completed an autism and sensory-sensitivity training, certification and IBCCES facilities review process. The ACC designation expands on that program and includes IBCCES training and certification for the public safety, education, healthcare and workplace sectors.

IBCCES also created the Accessibility App, AutismTravel.com, and CertifiedAutismCenter.com – free resources for individuals with a variety of neurodiversities and disabilities, listing certified locations and connecting individuals to other resources and each other.