Proposal:Certification
| certification | |
|---|---|
| Proposal status: | Draft (under way) |
| Proposed by: | JPinAR |
| Tagging: | certification=* |
| Applies to: | node, way |
| Definition: | Identify a type of certification for a business, path, or building. This is the broad stroke certification type that can be global while the accredited tag will reference the outside party supporting that certification. |
| Statistics: |
|
| Rendered as: | Potential as POI tag for things like food, sustainable, or |
| Draft started: | 2025-01-29 |
Proposal
During a discussion around disability and sustainability and how to tag 3rd party outside organization that can certify standards for sensory, adaptive MTB, and sustainable compliance. The discussion group on OSM Slack started looking at other tags that today cover some sort of compliance or certification and the only ones we saw had to do with dietary (Kosher and Halal) and even those where very minimal. A response pointed to the common pairing of Wikimedia property - has certification and Wikimedia property - Accredited by liking how this was organized and very flexible yet capable I though it appropriate to bring these tags in line with OSM tagging standards and shorten 'has certification' to Proposal:certification it was also called out that this tag works best in a tiered association rather than leaning to heavily into namespaces. For example when mapping a sidewalk the typical tagging is highway=path + path=sidewalk in a similar manner is you want to support certain existing tagging with certification then you could combine diet:kosher=yes + certification=diet:kosher.
The 'accredited' tag proposal however we are swapping for a namespace tagging of certification:certifier=* this was the clearest namespace name for what information is to be sent of a few discussed. This also is the result of looking at existing certification=* tags listing only certifying agencies, typically abbreviated ones, that in and of themselves aren't clear 'what' they are actually certifying thus it makes sense that a certifier's value comes from pairing it with a certification=* tag to associate the 'who' of certification with the 'what' of certification.
The last item that had come up in discussion around tagging certification is that merging a certifier and that rating from that certifier was actually merging two things into one tag. While many times simply listing an independent certifier is sufficent many certifications have tiers or variation in their certification thus separating the certified from the rating was called out as a need. Thus one more namespace based tagging is being proposed certification:rating=* to use LEED Building certifications as an example this are issued by the U.S. Green Building Council for sustainable building practiced have multiple certifications of which LEED is onewith rating level (Platinum, Gold, Silver). As some organizations offer more than one type of certification the certification:name=* tag can be included to specify which. Thus an example showing the separation of these tags would look like:
certification=sustainably_built
certificaiton:certifier=us:gbc
certification:name=leed
certification:rating=platinum
Rationale
.jpg)
The core inspiration for this tag are similar ones from Wikipedia mentioned above Wikimedia property - has certification while looking for equivalant I have found two buckets the first if a lot of certification=* that already exist but only list abbreviations for organizations that I only was able to derrive from looking at the context of the location and even then knowing the organization tells me nothing about 'what' is being certified. The second is a few namespace based tags with :certification tagged to the end but even there there is variation and a lack of consistency as keys will switch between answering 'who' is certifying, 'what' is being certified, and 'if' (yes/no) something is certified, but on the whole the tagging and namespace situation around certification is sparce and inconsistent. This tagging is focused on trying to bring consistency and simplicity to certification.
The other key is that each tag of tag:namespace capture one piece of detail per tag certification=* answers 'what', certification:certifier=* answer 'who', and certification:rating=* answer the type/level as specified by the 'certifier'.
Tagging
The below table provides a range of examples from use cases brought up just within the dialog that indicated there may be a need for such tagging and is setup to show the distinction between the certification=* being what is being certified being distinct from the certification:certifier=* covering what outside entity is supporting that claim.
Note: Because companies can have more than one form of certification this tag is most typically going to be applied as a name space suffix to existing tagging reinforcing that tag with evidence of certification to support the main tag's claims. For example a corporate cafeteria might be certified as diet:vegetarian=*, diet:halal=*, and/or diet:kosher=*. Let's say for the Halal they are certified they can add diet:halal:certified=yes and some supporting diet:halal:certified=* tags listed below to provide this detail. This can similarly be paired with an office=* key or classification tagging.
certification=* - the key values for this tag need to describe what is being certified while being agnostic of who is doing the certifying. Why? Because while by country or industry there may be a predominate certifier this doesn't mean for some things like being 'sensory friendly' or 'sustainably built' that there may not be similar competing or even cooperative certifiers for sensory KultureCity well known in the US but in the EU the EU has it's own distinct certification for 'sensory friendly' neither is right or wrong and if some cares enough to trust one more than another then they can look as certification:certifier=* as an additional filter. No party listed in the examples below was selected because they are the one and only standard for X they merely has been selected to demonstrate the variety and consistency of tagging certification.
Values:
- certification=yes - indicates simply that there is a certification
- certification=no - this more commonly would just be excluded, and would more likely occur if a place was once certified but no longer is.
- certification=third_party - in the famous words of Levar Burton, "But, you don't have to take my word for it". This adds specificity to the certification coming from an outside (third party) source.
- certification=participatory - this like above adds specificity but the certifying standard is well defined, but voluntary meaning there is not a external review. There still can be validity especially if the standards has wide participation by an industry many times, but not always, in an effort to avoid outside regulation but demonstrating a willingness to self-regulate.
certification:certifier=* - Name of certifying authority.
certification:ISO3166-1=* - If certifier is a nationally aligned entity or government including ISO Country Code to help differentiate is helpful.
- Note: Some umbrella multi-national organizations like the UN or EU have their own ISO "Country Code" that can also be used if the certifier is aligned to one of these which is common.
certification:ISO3166-2=* - If certifier is a sub-nationally aligned entity (state, province, territory, capital, etc.) or government including ISO Country Code to help differentiate is helpful.
certification:name=* - If a certifier has multiple certification types then provide the name of the certification when applicable
certification:rating=* - If a certifier has multiple ratings types then provide rating or ratings separated by semicolon of the certification when applicable
certification:url=* - If the certifier has a website associated with the certification then it can be included here.
- Note: A great example that caused me to add this was KultureCity which has stories for 'sensory sensitivity' to prepare someone for a visit and what to expect like this Lego Store.
Dietary
| certification=* | certification:certifier=* certification:ISO3166-1=* certification:ISO3166-2=* |
certification:name=* certification:rating=* |
Element(s) | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| diet:kosher:certification=third_party | diet:kosher:certification:certifier=ou kosher | diet:kosher:certification:rating=ou;ou-d;ou-fish | node or way (building) | OU Kosher is one of the largest provides of Kosher Food certifications which also certify restaurants. |
| diet:kosher:certification=yes | diet:kosher:certification:certifier=chicago rabbinical council diet:kosher:certification:ISO3166-1=us diet:kosher:certification:ISO3166-2=il |
diet:kosher:certification:rating=kosher;meat;fish | node or way (building) | Local Rabbinical Council |
| diet:halal:certification=yes | diet:kosher:certification:certifier=american halal foundation diet:kosher:certification:ISO3166-1=us |
N/A | node or way (building) | American Halal Foundation are one of a few major certifiers here in the US. |
Accessibility
| certification=* | certification:certifier=* certification:ISO3166-1=* certification:ISO3166-2=* |
certification:name=* certification:rating=* certification:url=* |
Element(s) | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sensory_friendly:certification=sensory | sensory_friendly:certification:certifier=erasmusplus certification:ISO3166-1=eu |
sensory_friendly:certification:name=autism friendly space | node or way (building) | The EU's 'Autism Friendly Spaces' runs a great certification for sensory safe places for those on the Autism Spectrum (ASD) as well as Autism friendly employer. |
| sensory_friendly:certification=sensory | sensory_friendly:certification:certifier=kulturecity sensory_friendly:certification:ISO3166-1=us;eu |
sensory_friendly:certification:name=venue sensory_friendly:certification:url=https://venue.kulturecity.org/venues/lego-store-pinnacle-hills |
node or way (building) | KultureCity has one of the more comprehensive sensory friendly criteria for certification that I've seen and cover a variety of venues, emergency services, and honestly a long list beyond. I added URL for them specifically because their locations some with stories about what to expect as part of your time at the location. |
| mtb:scale:amtb:certification=yes | mtb:scale:amtb:certification:certifier=kootenayadaptive mtb:scale:amtb:certification:ISO3166-1=ca mtb:scale:amtb:certification:ISO3166-2=bc |
mtb:scale:amtb:certification:rating=blue | way (MTB Trail) | For Adaptive Mountain Biking (AMBT) KASA has possibly the largest adoption in North America. For whatever reason their site is down right now so here is WayBack Machine. |
| blindlowvisability:certification=yes | blindlowvisability:certification:certifier=aria.io | N/A | node or way (building) | For Blind and low vision (BLV) a certification could indicate app based services, in this case many Starbucks offer free Aria service for customer visual assistive services. I realize blindlowvisability is not an approved OSM tag at this time I'm merely providing a placeholder for purposes of demonstrating future potential means of use. |
Environmental
I realize multiple root tags are not approved OSM tag at this time I'm merely providing a placeholder for purposes of demonstrating future potential means of use.
Business Credentials
With respect to certification for a business this tag does not indicate all or even a majority of company employees hold the certification is question. The tag in this situations only indicates that the business has someone within their organization qualified to perform a set of functions associated with that certification. (e.g. For a drone business one person or hundred of people could hold a drone license for commercial operation of a drone from a customers perspective the number of people qualified is largely irrelevant and so long as there is 'some' coverage for the certified skill. If for any reason 'some' becomes 'none' then the listing of the associated certification should be removed although in a majority of such cases then it's common that the business may then need to close, merge, or change hands as a Dentist's office without a certified dentist isn't really a Dentist's office. The same goes for CPAs, financial fiduciaries, many independent law practices, and so on.) I realize multiple root tags are not approved OSM tag at this time I'm merely providing a placeholder for purposes of demonstrating future potential means of use.
Examples
Throughout this page are various examples of physical signing for various certifications including but not limited to kosher, LEED for Sustainable Building design, and next to the example section a KultureCity sign designating headphone zones where things will be noisy, and headphone use is advised. KultureCity also have signage for Quiet Zones within facilities if people on the Autism Spectrum need a break. Most example are physically marked in some way or are certification/licensure that can be independently verified by members of the public.
Rendering
This varies based on the tagging association for Adaptive MTB trails, this could be a filter that removes rated trails for support that haven't been independently reviewed. For dietary this again may be a filter beyond diet:halal=* or diet:kosher=* where you want to remove any places that might have just added the tag but aren't really compliant and you want to only see the certified ones. As the list goes on, there is a pattern of being things you can already render, but this tag simply acts as a narrowed filter when certainty is required.
Features/Pages affected
I'll likely be following this page up with changes to my proposed but further along Adaptive MTB support tag Proposal:Mtb:scale:amtb replacing the 'mtb:scale:amtb:inclusive' tag with a certification=amtb and adding the certification:certifier=* option for those that want to list the specific party or organization providing the independent certification.
I believe that likewise the Proposal:Sensory page was likewise looking for a way to indicate some level of sensory certification both existing and referencing the outside party which sparked this proposal, so I could see this also being added there.
External discussions
The OSM.US Slack conversation that kicked the whole page off.
Comments
Please comment on the discussion page.