Technical Accessibility Specialist

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals.

The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders.

Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case.

A reasonable estimate of the current range is:
Grade:
Technical 403 Pay Range: $73,800.00 - $

The Technical Accessibility Specialist interfaces with UX, designers, product managers, business leaders, internal clients, developers, and students to deliver accessible experiences to our public, employee, and student-facing products.

Innovation, design, and functionality are key components to the success of this role.

The specialist’s role is also to partner to create solutions that solve problems while advancing accessibility and inclusion that fits into the university’s brand and ultimately leads to student success.

• Runs audits and accessibility tests on the university’s platforms and products for conformance with the current version of WCAG.
• Has expertise in using screen readers and other assistive technologies such as JAWS, Dragon, & NVDA (Non-Visual Desktop Access).
• Creates a remediation plan for university platforms and products.
• Prepares evaluation documentation for communication with university stakeholders and product teams.
• Provides expert accessibility guidance to designers, product managers, developers, and business partners to influence product development.
• Maintains knowledge of accessibility industry trends, innovations, and solutions, as well as accessibility-related standards, laws, and management strategies.
• Develops guidelines for architects, designers, and developers to aid in compliance with the current version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
• Trains/coaches colleagues one-on-one and in small group environments on ADA awareness, implementing solutions and fostering innovation through accessibility.
• Consults with colleagues to solve challenging accessibility barriers.
• Develops and documents team processes and procedures regarding accessibility.
• Assists with the research, development, and maintenance of the accessibility evaluation methodology.
• Assists with the training and mentoring of new team members.
• Networks with accessibility industry professionals.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

• Broad knowledge of WCAG, Section 508, and ADA.
• Ability to read and interpret HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and explain accessibility best practices.
• Ability to confidently navigate multiple environments in one screen reader and understand how a screen reader interacts with user agent elements.
• Understands how various types of disabilities experience digital environments and how to design accessible digital spaces.
• Ability to accurately collect data and analyze…