Accessibility Specialist; Web & Digital Accessibility

Location: Onsite
Job Type: Full-Time, 12 Month Contract
Schedule: 40 hours per week
Department: Office of Innovation & Technology Digital Services
Position Overview
The City is seeking an Accessibility Specialist to support hands-on testing, remediation, and quality assurance of City websites, web applications, and digital documents to ensure compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA and related accessibility standards.
This full-time, 12 month role will work closely with internal development teams, external vendors, the Accessibility Architect, and the Client Digital Services team. The specialist will play a key role in advancing the City's enterprise accessibility governance strategy by embedding accessibility into development workflows, validating vendor deliverables, and promoting accessible design and coding practices across departments.

• Conduct comprehensive accessibility audits of City websites and web applications against WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria.
• Perform hands-on testing using automated tools and assistive technologies, including axe Dev Tools, WAVE, Lighthouse, Siteimprove, JAWS, and NVDA.
• Collaborate with internal developers and external vendors to remediate accessibility issues, providing detailed guidance on:
  • Semantic HTML and accessible CSS/Java Script
  • ARIA markup and WAI ARIA Authoring Practices
  • Keyboard navigation and focus management
  • Color contrast and visual accessibility
• Integrate automated accessibility testing into CI/CD pipelines, establishing pre-deployment accessibility gates using tools such as axe core, pa11y, and Lighthouse CI.
• Support continued development of the City's internal web crawler as it relates to accessibility monitoring.
• Review vendor deliverables to ensure accessibility compliance prior to deployment.
• Identify, remediate, and validate digital documents (PDFs, forms, reports, spreadsheets) for compliance with:
  • WCAG 2.1 AA
  • PDF/UA
  • Section 508
• Use tools such as Adobe Acrobat Pro, Common Look, and Client to test and remediate documents.
• Educate departmental web teams on accessible design, development, and content best practices.

• 3+ years of professional experience in web accessibility testing, auditing, and remediation within large-scale or enterprise environments.
• Deep working knowledge of:
  • WCAG 2.1 AA/AAA success criteria
  • WAI ARIA Authoring Practices
  • Section 508 and ADA Title II as applied to web applications
• Strong proficiency in HTML5, CSS3, and Java Script , with the ability to review source code and recommend accessibility-compliant solutions.
• Hands-on experience using both automated and manual accessibility testing tools, including:
  • axe Dev Tools, WAVE, Lighthouse, pa11y
  • Screen readers such as JAWS and NVDA

• Experience working with government agencies or public-sector websites.
• Familiarity with Word Press accessibility in enterprise environments.
• Experience integrating accessibility checks into CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Git Hub Actions).
• Experience managing or tracking accessibility defects within formal issue-tracking workflows.
• IAAP Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS) , Client Trusted Tester, or equivalent accessibility certification.
• Knowledge of inclusive design principles and plain-language content best practices.