Digital Accessibility Specialist – a contractor on the Digital Services team serving as a subject matter expert on digital accessibility.
Job Title: Digital Accessibility Specialist
Location: 10 Park Plz, Boston MA 02116 - Hybrid 2-3 days onsite
Duration: 12+ months contract to hire
The Client is responsible for supporting the accessibility of online information and services of the Secretariat. Staff provide recommendations based on best practices for content presentation and final review of content before posting. Staff expertise includes graphic design, UI/UX, writing and editing for the web, and accessibility best practices.
Digital Accessibility Specialist position: The incumbent will develop relationships with staff across the organization to gain extensive institutional knowledge and user behavior. They will work closely with content contributors, the Digital Services team, vendors, and IT staff to maintain standards for accessibility and usability. Tasks require strong attention to detail and ability to work under tight deadlines. The incumbent will manage multiple projects from concept through completion, adhering to schedules and budgets.
Key Responsibilities:
- Serve as subject matter expert on accessibility by researching industry best practices, standards, guidelines, and legislation, including Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and WCAG.
- Stay current with developments in digital accessibility technology, policies, procedures, standards, and tools.
- Develop digital accessibility resources and collaborate with team members to build and maintain a robust knowledge repository.
- Promote accessibility across the organization and advocate for accessibility as a vital part of the customer and employee experience.
- Assist in creating a communication plan to inform employees of their role and responsibility for accessible digital content and services.
- Lead audits of digital assets to meet WCAG 2.1 A and AA standards. Report findings and work with project teams to fix issues identified in audit reports.
- Advise internal teams on incorporating digital accessibility into their processes.
- Maintain the department’s audit test plan to incorporate new tools and processes.
- Oversee tracking of current audits and archiving of past audits for reporting.
- Assist the Digital Accessibility Program Manager in keeping the digital asset inventory up to date.
- Assist with efforts to establish and manage digital accessibility best practices and develop and maintain standards and policies that evolve with the maturity of the program.
- Identify and develop checkpoints to ensure that digital content and services meet accessibility best practices, standards, and Commonwealth policies.
- Anticipate problems and evaluate potential sources of information to generate alternatives.
Required Experience:
- Experience in applying digital accessibility, usability, and UX principles to manage, edit, and quality control of text, images, and other content on an organization’s website and communications.
- Knowledge of state and national accessibility laws and standards, including Title II of the ADA, WCAG, and Plain Language laws.
- In-depth understanding of WCAG 2.1 A and AA compliance.
- Experience conducting content/software/application audits using tools such as WAVE, ARC Toolkit, Accessibility Insights for Web, WebAIM Contrast Checker, and others; testing with assistive technologies like NVDA, JAWS, Dragon Naturally Speaking, and ZoomText.
- Strong research skills: ability to gather, assemble, correlate, and analyze facts to devise solutions and prepare concise reports.
- Skills in planning and facilitating meetings, working in teams, and group problem-solving.
- Knowledge of project leadership principles and experience building consensus within cross-departmental teams.