Accessibility Specialist

Accessibility Specialist

Dulles, VA, Sunnyvale, CA, New York, NY

12 months plus possible extension or perm

Our client is looking for an Associate Accessibility Specialist for product evaluation who shares a passion for making products and services accessible to people with disabilities.

In this role you will help assure that our products don't just meet minimum accessibility requirements, but deliver extraordinary user experiences you will be proud to recommend to anyone, including people with disabilities.

Responsibilities:

Your primary role is to work directly with global product teams as one of their in-house accessibility experts on products, across all platforms (i.e., desktop web and app, native mobile app, mobile web, OTT).

Your responsibilities include:

• Conduct product evaluations
• Identify barriers to accessibility
• Provide feedback and guidance during product development
• Train engineers on best practices, propose or invent technical solutions
• Validate that our products not only function as expected with assistive technology (e.g. keyboard/mouse alternatives), but that they set the standard for usability. You will be working on products and services across all brands

More specifically, you will be responsible for working with product groups to make certain they identify and address basic accessibility requirements such as:

• Non-text content and content that includes text embedded in pictures have a text-only alternative
• Essential text and key UI elements (e.g. buttons, links) have sufficient contrast
• Text is resizable up to 200% without loss of content or functionality
• All buttons, icons and form elements are labeled
• Heading structure is provided to facilitate screen reader navigation
• The keyboard focus indicator is visible
• Video players support closed caption display and their controls are navigable with screen readers and keyboard

Job Requirements:

Successful candidates will be familiar with:

• Using one or more popular screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver and TalkBack along with switches, alternate input devices and magnifiers.
• Some experience with automated testing tools (e.g. WAVE) and will have done manual accessibility
• testing.
• Ability to learn new products quickly, strong time-management skills, ability to work effectively to a deadline and a passion for working in a fast-paced high-tech environment.
• This is an active, hands-on role that demands someone who enjoys working directly with a variety of cross-functional teams on multiple products simultaneously.
• A successful candidate will have excellent oral and written communication skills and be able to clearly articulate technical concepts and issues to designers, software engineers, and product managers. Attention to detail is a must.
• Some travel is required (typically only a few days once or twice a quarter.)
• The location for this role is flexible, including working from home, but preference will
• be given to candidates located near one of our Accessibility Labs (San Jose,
• California; New York City or Dulles, VA).
• Our Labs are equipped with the latest mobile devices, assistive technology and experts in the field.

A Typical work day will include:

A variety of tasks such as product evaluations; discussions, presentations and demonstrations of accessible design principles and best practices to engineers, designers, product managers; and supporting the activities of the Accessibility Labs.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree
• Preferred majors: User Experience, Design, Human Factors, HCI, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Psychology, Anthropology
• At least one year of experience evaluating the accessibility of websites and mobile apps
• Familiarity with VoiceOver, Talkback, NVDA and JAWS
• Familiarity with built-in accessibility features on OSX, Windows, iOS and Android
• Familiarity with industry best practices and standards and guidelines for accessibility (e.g. WCAG 2.1)
• Proven ability to maintain positive relationships with teams and form individual relationships with similar levels
• Insatiable curiosity about the why behind the what, a keen eye for spotting "aha!" moments in the field and in the data, passion for all digital experiences
• Ability to work independently and flexibly to adapt to rapid change while keeping a positive attitude and an open mind
• Strong work ethic and spirited collaborator
• Knowledge of and experience with assistive technology (e.g. screen readers, single switches, closed captioning)
• Some experience planning, conducting, analyzing, and presenting the results of UX research with various methodologies and experience conducting studies with people with disabilities
• Demonstrated interest in disability, diversity and inclusion
• Familiarity with JIRA and Google Suite (Docs, Drive, Meets)
• Strong presentation and writing skills

No Sub-Contract, Third Parties or Corp to Corp arrangements! W2 only!

Note: U.S. Citizens and those authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship will be considered. We are unable to sponsor at this time.