Lead Digital Accessibility Engineer

job summary:

• 2+ years working as a digital accessibility engineer
• 5+ years working in a fast-paced and highly collaborative development environment with experience in large, complex software or web applications
• 5+ years of experience and familiarity with Web Content Authoring Guidelines (WCAG)

• BA/BS in information technology, information design, computer science, human computer interaction (HCI), instructional design, quality assurance, assistive technology or related field, or equivalent industry training and experience.
• 3+ years of experience working in roles related to accessibility engineering.
• 2+ years working as a digital accessibility engineer, analyst or tester.
• Working knowledge of user-centered design principles and tools.
• Understanding of Agile development methodology.
• Advanced knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
• Knowledge of Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines and specifications.
• Familiarity with WCAG.
• Exposure to or familiarity with how to use design pattern libraries for client products.
• Advanced knowledge of assistive technology and accessibility-related software, including JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, ZoomText, Dragon NaturallySpeaking or other speech recognition software.
• Self-motivated with a desire to improve products for people with disabilities.
• Mastery of working collaboratively and productively both with diverse teams and independently.
• Advanced soft skills and mastery of working with teams who may not have any understanding of inclusive design or accessibility.
• Proven organizational and multi-tasking skills.

• Under the guidance of Accessibility Center of Excellence leadership, collaborate with product teams across the enterprise to promote the need for accessible products and services.
• Serve as the lead on client projects, providing direction to and mentoring digital accessibility engineers and Grow Your Own program participants, reporting status updates to project team leadership and Accessibility Center of Excellence leadership, and handling any issues that arise regarding talent, timelines and deliverables.
• Participate on a large project or initiative, such as the Engineering Standards (mobile or web), researching and documenting best practices for usability and accessibility, documenting and sharing use cases to help promote accessibility best practices, helping to promote decisions made to peers and clients.
• Assess and validate digital properties to ensure that they comply with WCAG.
• Perform accessibility assessments. May include web pages, desktop applications, mobile applications and documents, such as PDFs, PPTs, etc., with the (preferred) ability to assess and remediate PDF, Word and other documents so they confirm to current standards, including WCAG and PDF/UA.
• Document assessment results via available reporting templates and tools.
• Write Rally or Jira user stories based on the standard accessibility user story template and following guidelines in place.
• Present findings to internal product teams and external clients, educating teams on specific accessibility requirements and the use of available tools to proactively include accessibility early in the lifecycle.
• Identify accessibility issues of visual and interactive designs, promoting the use of accessible design pattern library components and use of tools to improve the accessibility of designs.
• Research and stay aware of new development frameworks for the purpose of assisting developers in creating accessible products.
• Support the Accessibility Center of Excellence by researching and writing posts for team websites.
• Write curriculum and lead accessibility training for peers and clients.
• Apply HTML, CSS, JavaScript and ARIA knowledge to digital properties as part of client engagements and governance processes.
• Identify new opportunities to support and contribute to the growth of the Accessibility Center of Excellence.

• Experience level: Experienced
• Minimum 5 years of experience
• Education: No Degree Required