The AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty exam (AXS-C01) will retire on March 23, 2021.
We hold the belief that when preparing for any exam, it’s crucial to have access to comprehensive details and the correct resources conveniently located in one place. Therefore, the primary objective of this cheat sheet is to provide you with all the essential resources required for the AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty exam. Talking about AWS, we all know that AWS is the collection of cloud computing services providing big career prospects in cloud computing. And, holding AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty will automatically take your career to next level.
However, there is also another side to this that is the increase in the level of competition. But, there is no need of stressing out about this. In this cheat sheet, we will cover all the details related to the AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty exam with the basic requirements. So get ready to start preparing in a sequential manner so you don’t miss on anything important.
AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty: Exam Overview
It’s important to understand that the AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty is Amazon’s intial AWS certification for Alexa, the widely-used virtual assistant employed in Amazon Echo and Amazon Echo Dot smart speakers. This certification is particularly suitable for individuals engaged in the role of an Alexa skill builder. The AWS Alexa Skill Builder exam, on the other hand, verifies your competence in constructing, testing, publishing, and certifying Amazon Alexa skills. As a result, you should possess expertise in these areas to succeed in this certification.
Next, there are AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty learning objectives for the AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty. Let’s take a look at them.
- Firstly, Elucidate the value of voice.
- Then, Design the user experience.
- Thirdly, Understanding AWS and Alexa’s best practices for a skill.
- Fourthly, Designing and developing the architecture to build a skill.
- Next, Develop, test and validate a skill.
- Then, Manage the skill publishing process
- Lastly, Work with Alexa Developer Console and manage Skill operations and lifecycle
It’s important to understand that Alexa Skills are essentially external applications that Amazon employs for its smart speakers. These skills enable devices like Amazon Echo to perform various tasks such as weather updates, home automation tasks, games, and more.
AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty: Exam Prerequisites
There are various prerequisites that are recommended by Amazon to give the Alexa Skill Builder Exam, such as:
- Firstly, a prerequisite is having a minimum of six months of practical experience in creating Alexa skills using the Alexa Skills Kit, which should encompass skills integrating AWS Cloud services.
- Secondly, proficiency in at least one programming language is essential.
- Lastly, prior experience in publishing an Alexa Skill is required.
Quick Cheat Sheet for AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty
For good preparation for the AWS certification exam, you will require a plan and the essential resources. So, here in this quick guide, we will check the various resources from making a blueprint to understand exam topics with essential study material. So, without wasting time, let’s get started with this to help you prepare and pass the exam.
Understanding the Important Exam Concepts
This is an important part of the revision for the AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty exam. Getting familiarity with the exam topics will not increase your knowledge but it will help you to understand the concepts instead of cramming it. Moreover, with this, you will get the confidence of giving the exam as almost every part is covered in the exam topics provided by AWS. Below, you can see the list of important topics with important subsections, just go through them.
Voice-First Design Practices and Capabilities (14%)
1.1 Explain how user-interaction takes place with skills (AWS Documentation: Understanding How Users Interact with Skills)
1.2 Map features and capabilities to use cases (AWS Documentation: AWS Cloud Map)
Skill Design (24%)
2.1 Design and develop an interaction model (AWS Documentation: Create the Interaction Model for Your Skill)
2.2 Design a multi-turn conversation (AWS Documentation: Building natural, extensible voice conversations, Enable Multi-Turn Dialog with Decision Tree Sample Skill)
2.3 Use built-in intents and slots (AWS Documentation: Built-in Slot Types, Built-in Intents, Standard Built-in Intents, Implement the Built-in Intents)
2.4 Handle unexpected conversational requests or responses (AWS Documentation: Create a Question and Answer Bot with Amazon Lex and Amazon Alexa)
2.5 Design multi-modal skills using one or more service interfaces (for example, audio, video, and gadgets) (AWS Documentation: Building a Multimodal Skill)
Skill Architecture (14%)
3.1 Identify AWS services for extending Alexa skill functionality (Amazon CloudFront, Amazon S3, Amazon CloudWatch, and Amazon DynamoDB) (AWS Documentation: Build Skills with the Alexa Skills, Amazon DynamoDB)
3.2 Use AWS Lambda to build Alexa skills (AWS Documentation: Using AWS Lambda with Alexa, Host a Custom Skill as an AWS Lambda Function)
3.3 Follow AWS and Alexa security and privacy best practices (AWS Documentation: Alexa Security Best Practices, Alexa Privacy and Data Handling)
Skill Development (20%)
4.1 Implement in-skill purchasing and Amazon Pay for Alexa Skills (AWS Documentation: Understand In-Skill Purchasing, Sell Goods and Services with Transaction APIs, Set Up Payments for In-Skill Purchasing)
4.2 Use Speech Synthesis Markup Language for expression and MP3 audio (AWS Documentation: Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML), Best Practices for Using Amazon Polly Voices)
4.3 Implement state management (AWS Documentation: State Management at Three Different Levels, Understand State and Change Reporting)
4.4 Implement Alexa service interfaces (audio player, video player, and screens) (AWS Documentation: AudioPlayer Interface Reference)
4.5 Parse Alexa JSON requests and provides responses (AWS Documentation: Request and Response JSON)
Test, Validate and Troubleshoot (18%)
5.1 Debug and troubleshoot using Amazon CloudWatch or other tools (AWS Documentation: Troubleshooting the CloudWatch Agent)
5.2 Use the Alexa developer testing tools (AWS Documentation: Test Your Skill, Alexa Skills Kit)
5.3 Perform beta testing (AWS Documentation: Skill Beta Testing for Alexa Skills)
5.4 Troubleshoot errors in the interaction model (AWS Documentation: Common Error Messages for Custom Alexa Skills, Creating the Interaction Model)
Publishing, Operations, and Lifecycle Management (10%)
6.1 Describe the skill publishing process (AWS Documentation: Skill Certification and Publication, Test and Submit Your Skill for Certification, Create and Publish Private Skills)
6.2 add and remove users in the developer console (AWS Documentation: Invite and Remove Users)
6.3 Perform analysis of skill analytics in the developer console (AWS Documentation: View Skill Metrics, Skill Metrics Overview, ASK Analytics)
6.4 Differentiate among the statuses/versions of skills (for example, In Development, In Certification, and Live) (AWS Documentation: Understand the Different Skill Models, Certification Requirements)
Exploring AWS Learning Paths
AWS provide learning path for AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty Exam. However, this learning path is designed for software developers, voice developers, solutions architects, UI developers, voice designers. And, also others who perform a role involving Alexa skill-building.
AWS Training
AWS offers training to help you get prepare for the exam. The programs under AWS for AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty includes:
The Alexa for Developers digital course covers the usage of Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) to build, test, publish and certify Amazon Alexa skills. Moreover, here you will learn the core skill and ASK SDK concepts and covers its integration with other AWS services.
Exam Readiness: AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty
The AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty Exam validates your knowledge about building, testing, publishing, and certifying Amazon Alexa skills. Moreover, here you can prepare for topics such as predesigning, building, troubleshooting and publishing an Alexa skill using complementary AWS services.
Additional Resources
For AWS Alexa Skill Builder exam, there are some additional links that you can use while revising to better understand things.
- Alexa Skill Store
- Alexa Developer Console
- Amazon CloudWatch
- Alexa Skill Set
- AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Evaluating using Practice Tests
Practice tests play a vital role as they allow you to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. Engaging in regular practice helps enhance your ability to answer questions effectively, ultimately saving time. An effective approach is to commence practice tests after thoroughly reviewing an entire topic, effectively using them as a revision tool. Thus, a thorough revision followed by self-assessment is key to succeeding in the exam.
