Certiport today announced a partnership with Adobe Systems Incorporated to develop and launch a new line of certifications for Adobe software that engage students in the classroom while preparing them with essential digital communications skills to succeed in 21st Century careers. This alliance and subsequent offerings are intended to extend the availability of Adobe certification programmes to secondary and post-secondary institutions around the world, over 6,900 of which currently act as Certiport testing centres.

"Certification is a critical link between education and employment," said David Saedi, president and CEO of Certiport. "These new Adobe credentials will prepare students for meaningful employment and help revitalise classroom curricula for the 21st Century."

Immediate terms of the agreement call for Certiport to develop the new Adobe certification programme for launch near the end of Spring 2007. This English-language release will feature certification exams for Rich Media communication using Flash 8 and Web Communication using Dreamweaver 8.

"Adobe is committed to offering educators the resources to give students the necessary digital media skills to succeed in today's highly competitive workplace," said Megan Stewart, director of K-12 Education at Adobe. "By partnering with Certiport we can offer teachers and students the ability to not only learn to use Adobe's industry standard digital communications tools, but to validate the skills and competencies that they have acquired."

Called Adobe Certified Associate, the first generation of the certification exams will help validate a test candidate's ability to create, manage, integrate and communicate information using Adobe's dynamic multimedia, video, graphic and Web software through linear testing. Each of the new certification exams will test knowledge and skills using a particular Adobe application and will represent a single certification. For example, achievement of the Dreamweaver certificate denotes entry-level communication skills using Adobe Dreamweaver software.

Certiport, an industry leader in developing certification programmes that validate essential digital media skills and help students advance from education to employment, will create, manage and distribute the new Adobe certification programme. Certiport certification programmes are available in 21 languages and in 128 countries worldwide. Thousands of businesses, academic institutions (secondary and post-secondary) and government agencies deliver Certiport programmes that develop digital skills for the competitive global workforce.