Digital Accessibility Specialist

Teachers College, Columbia University•New York, NY

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Office of Access and Services for Individuals with Disabilities (OASID) at Teachers College, Columbia University (TC) is seeking a Digital Accessibility Specialist to ensure digital accessibility at TC and provide support services for faculty, staff, and students to ensure that individuals with disabilities can fully participate in the Teachers College community. Reporting to the Associate Director of Digital Accessibility and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services, the Digital Accessibility Specialist is responsible for providing guidance and services to ensure digital access for individuals with disabilities at Teachers College. Oversee accessibility audits and assessment of Teachers College digital applications/software to ensure that Teachers College’s digital accessibility standards for campus-wide use are met. Oversee all technology-related accommodations for students and employees including, but not limited to, managing and maintaining assistive technologies; researching, recommending, and training on technologies.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience
Minimum of three years of related experience, including a minimum of 1-year experience focused on Digital Accessibility and Assistive Technology
Familiarity with assistive technologies, accessibility testing, relevant legal requirements, technical standards, and best practices.
Strong knowledge and understanding of assistive technologies for persons with disabilities, including /familiarity with Kurzweil, Dragon Naturally Speaking, JAWS, and ZoomText.
Proficiency with a wide array of assistive technologies and basic computer programs such as Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Zoom as well as G-Suite
Knowledge of accessibility auditing and testing tools and strategies.
Strong web accessibility skills, including knowledge of online access issues and means for addressing them.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree or certification-related discipline.
Minimum one year of working in a higher education disability service setting.
Experience preferred in managing assistive technologies, including alternate format conversions, databases, and websites for disability services, preferably in a higher education setting.
Working knowledge of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, its 2008 amendments, and WCAG 2.1 as well as other appropriate laws pertaining to higher education and disabilities.
Proficient in presenting and speaking publicly about digital accessibility to groups of individuals.
Familiarity with inclusive and universal design for learning (UDL) pedagogies and experience researching, evaluating, and troubleshooting technology tools are strongly desired.
Experience working with the Accommodate case management database software and Blackboard Ally.

Responsibilities

Research, evaluate, recommend and maintain College-wide digital applications, websites, and software to support accommodations, accessibility, and inclusion.
Complete accessibility testing through the use of the various OS, assistive technologies, and other techniques.
Develop/maintain expertise in assistive technologies including but not limited to: Kurzweil, Dragon Naturally Speaking, Sonocent, JAWS, and ZoomText.
Provide one-on-one technical support to students and employees with disability technology-related accommodations.
In collaboration with the Associate Director of Digital Accessibility and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services and Associate Director, manage OASID materials conversion (text to alternative format), note-taking technologies, processes for acquiring and creating captioned videos, transcripts of videos, and remote real-time transcription.
Serve as accessibility subject matter expert for the College in the area of digital accessibility, accessibility of applications on various platforms, and creating accessible websites and content.
Advise prospective and current students and employees regarding accessibility services, technology, and related resources both within and outside of the College.
Collaborate with Associate Director of Digital Accessibility and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services to define and carry out ways to keep digital accessibility at the forefront of digital efforts and teach best practices to those working with digital applications.
As needed, provide digital accessibility support and guidance to student groups, organizations, and event planners.
Develop, revise and maintain accessible content on the OASID website, including information about policies, processes, training, events, programming, etc.
Stay abreast of best practices in digital accessibility, including updating web pages and adding new resources in a timely and accessible way.
Participate in ongoing professional development and training to keep current in the disability services and digital accessibility fields and advise on proactive approaches to service and accommodation delivery.
Support with development and delivery of training on digital accessibility, accessible content, and assistive technologies for students, faculty, and staff.
Assist with developing training materials such as documents, PowerPoints, videos, etc. that can be widely distributed to the College community.
Other duties as assigned