Digital Accessibility Specialist

University of Denver•Quinte West, ON

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Digital Accessibility Specialist will be a full-time benefited position and will report to Manager – Application, Web, and Mobile Development. The Digital Accessibility Specialist is primarily responsible for assessing and improving the accessibility of software interfaces, websites, and online applications. The Digital Accessibility Specialist will be a critical member of the University’s digital accessibility working group that has been tasked with developing policies, guidelines, and minimum accessibility standards for software applications and websites and for ensuring an inclusive digital environment.

Requirements

Superior understanding and proficiency in web development and design.
Good understanding of content management systems such as Drupal and WordPress.
Knowledge of SQL, JSON, PHP, XML, HTML, CSS, JavaScript.
Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of situations where only limited standardization exists, sliver of a problem, interpret instructions furnished in written, oral, and diagram form, and ultimately design a solution.
General understanding of distributed computing architectures, e.g. Client/Server, Internet/Intranet, enterprise application systems & platforms.
Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business correspondence, policies, and technical procedures, communicate effectively in various situations.
Effective verbal and written communication skills are required.
Should be able to adapt communication style to suit different audiences.
Effective facilitation skills.
Should be able to facilitate group discussions.
Ability to be action-orientated.
Should be able to follow up on feedback to ensure positive outcomes.
Attention to detail is critical.
Ability to utilize general mathematical concepts.
Ability to apply concepts and analyze relevant data.
A Bachelor’s degree (web development/design, information technology, computer science, human-computer interaction or other related field) or equivalent experience as a digital accessibility specialist.
1-3 years of experience user testing applications and websites for accessibility.

Nice To Haves

Experience with WCAG accessibility standards and guidelines
Experience with digital accessibility audit and quality assurance tools and processes.
Experience with web accessibility testing tools like Siteimprove.
Experience in higher education working environment

Responsibilities

Design and implement new features and functionality within the University’s web properties.
Develop and maintain Drupal Themes & Modules while managing all technical aspects of the University’s content management systems, Drupal, and WordPress.
Establish and guide the website's architecture while managing the complete project lifecycle: Initiation, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling.
Effectively communicate project status with the direct supervisor and project owner.
Partner with web hosting vendor to manage a highly available web infrastructure and implement secure coding principles and collaborate with Information Security team to make sure all website properties are secure and not vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
Also, partner with University Relations and their web and digital experience team on all web development and enhancement projects and requests.
Partner with digital accessibility specialist to ensure accessibility of the du.edu website and all microsites and partner with mobile developers to ensure a device-responsive web design.
Hire, coach, and mentor web developers.
Manage third-party vendors to successfully complete large web development projects.
Plan and implement backup and recovery strategies for web search appliances.
Other duties as assigned.