Web Accessibility Specialist (SO# 434)

Name of position: Web Accessibility Specialist (SO# 435)

The Accessibility Specialist will be responsible for hands-on testing, remediation, and ongoing quality assurance of the City’s websites and web applications against WCAG 2.1 AA standards.

Working full-time at 40 hours per week for 12 months, the resource will conduct comprehensive accessibility audits of City web properties, work directly with development teams and vendors to remediate identified issues, and integrate automated and manual accessibility testing into existing development and deployment workflows.

The specialist will also at times review vendor deliverables for accessibility compliance and help educate departmental web teams in adopting accessible design and coding practices.

This role works in close coordination with the Accessibility Architect and the OIT Digital Services team to ensure web accessibility efforts align with the City’s broader enterprise accessibility governance framework.

Work activities:

• Bring City websites and web applications into compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria, utilizing tools such as axe DevTools, WAVE, Lighthouse, Site Improve, and assistive technologies (JAWS, NVDA).

• Help guide continued development of the City’s internal web crawler as it relates to accessibility.

• Collaborate with internal development teams and external vendors to remediate identified accessibility defects, providing detailed guidance on compliant HTML, ARIA markup, keyboard navigation, focus management, and color contrast.

• Integrate automated accessibility testing into CI/CD pipelines and establish pre-deployment accessibility gates to prevent regressions, including configuration of tools such as axe-core, pa11y, or Lighthouse CI.

• Identify, remediate, and validate existing City digital documents (PDFs, forms, reports, spreadsheets) for compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA, PDF/UA, and Section 508 standards using tools such as Adobe Acrobat Pro, CommonLook, and PAC.

Required Skills/experience of the assigned staff:

• Minimum 3 years of professional experience in web accessibility testing, auditing, and remediation for large-scale or enterprise web environments.

• Deep working knowledge of WCAG 2.1 AA/AAA success criteria, WAI-ARIA authoring practices, Section 508, and ADA Title II requirements as applied to websites and web applications.

• Proficiency in front-end web technologies (HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript) with the ability to read, evaluate, and recommend fixes to source code for accessibility compliance.

• Hands-on experience with accessibility testing tools (axe DevTools, WAVE, Lighthouse, pa11y) and assistive technologies (JAWS, NVDA) for both automated and manual evaluation.

Highly Desired/Preferred

• Experience working in or with government agencies on web accessibility compliance, particularly in environments with WordPress

• Familiarity with integrating accessibility checks into CI/CD pipelines (Github Actions) and with defect tracking workflows for accessibility issues.

• IAAP Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS) certification, DHS Trusted Tester certification, or equivalent professional credential.

• Familiarity with inclusive design principles and plain-language content practices for the web.