Job description
Senior accessibility specialist
Grade G7
What accessibility specialists do
An accessibility specialist provides support, advice and guidance to other roles in the Government Digital and Data profession about how to create accessible digital services.
You will use knowledge of accessibility guidelines, provide technical expertise and bring the voice of disabled users to ensure that product teams make digital services that can be used by everyone.
Role responsibilities
A senior accessibility specialist works with people at a range of role levels to embed accessibility into the output of teams.
At this role level, you will:
- coach and mentor more junior colleagues
- input into accessibility strategy with business areas or teams
- create and deliver accessibility training
- engage with teams across different levels and capabilities
- potentially manage or lead individuals or sub-teams
- engage with and contribute to the cross-government accessibility community
In the Department for Education you will:
- work within the Design Operations team to embed accessibility best practice into product and service teams
- increase the capability of teams to deliver accessible products and services through training, support, and advice
- write and maintain guidance and advise on latest WCAG criteria and accessibility standards
- monitor products for accessibility best practices and conformance to accessibility standards
- review products and services using a range of techniques, including design reviews, automated testing and manual code inspection and provide recommendations for resolving problems
- benchmark and track the success of interventions to embed accessibility practices, identifying and escalating risks where necessary
- support product teams with procuring, and interpreting, independent accessibility audits
Skills you need
- familiarity with front-end development technologies, specifically HTML, CSS, JavaScript and WAI-ARIA
- expert knowledge of existing and emerging accessibility guidelines and standards, particularly the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
- demonstrable experience of evaluating the accessibility of digital websites and providing feedback, advice and solutions to help fix identified issues
- knowledge and experience of testing with a range of assistive technologies including customised browser settings, screen magnification, screen readers, speech recognition and literacy software
- proven experience of working with delivery teams to identify and fix accessibility barriers and raise accessibility capability
- demonstrable ability to write accessibility guidance and documentation, and deliver accessibility training through presentations and workshops
- experience working in agile, multi-disciplinary teams