Senior Accessibility Specialist

UKG•Lowell, MA

About The Position

We are seeking a Senior Accessibility Specialist that is highly driven, self-motivated, and deeply committed to creating more inclusive experiences for people with disabilities. As AI reshapes how users interact with software, complete tasks, and make decisions, this role is critical in ensuring those evolving experiences remain accessible. As a Senior Accessibility Specialist, you will collaborate directly with product, design, and engineering to create fully accessible products. You are accomplished in auditing systems using available tools to find accessibility issues, recommend solutions for violations found, and have the experience and expertise to expand web accessibility knowledge and practices within the product team. You will socialize, administer, and continuously evolve our accessibility strategy, serving as a champion and subject matter expert across the organization.

Requirements

5+ years of experience with accessibility standards and guidelines (WCAG, WAI-ARIA) and assessing digital materials (Interfaces, PDFs, etc.) to meet standards
5+ years of experience developing, designing or maintaining desktop, mobile and responsive web applications with web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery) and reasonable familiarity with frontend frameworks like, Angular or React
Expert with screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver and assistive technology like ZoomText or Dragon. Expert using various automated testing tools like Axe, WAVE, Lighthouse, etc.
Expert-level execution of detailed accessibility evaluations/audits, as well as significant experience summarizing those results in an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR), based on the latest Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)
Experience working collaboratively with product teams to design, developing applications that are accessible and tested end-to-end
Proven use of AI tools and techniques to enhance accessibility workflows, including auditing, testing, synthesis, and documentation
Experience conducting Accessibility evaluations and assisting teams with remediation
Comprehensive understanding of design language systems and their implementation, with the ability to evaluate and enforce accessibility compliance at the component level
Excellent and effective communication skills with a passion for quality and driving results; ability to interact with and influence stakeholders from all levels of an organization
Proficient in multiple user experience disciplines (Research, Design, Engineering), techniques, and processes
Ability to understand and explain technical issues and their implications for projects and business decisions, facilitate discussion and resolution of problems, and mentor other product team members
Adept at navigating complexity and championing accessible product delivery within global, matrixed environments
Proven ability to identify and put into action creative approaches to accessibility challenges and problems, including in the context of AI-powered and rapidly evolving product experiences
Strong organizational skills combined with a self-motivated, self-starter, and go-getter

Nice To Haves

IAAP Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC), Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS)
Previous roles or degree(s) in fields of Digital Accessibility, User Experience, Digital Design, or Software Engineering.

Responsibilities

Build and maintain relationships, credibility, and trust with business, product, and technical partners
Evaluate, define, and when required, prototype appropriate approaches for any proposed accessibility solution
Assisting internal delivery teams with ongoing development processes and implementation of accessibility throughout the software development lifecycle
Run automated scans and manual assessments on web pages to identify accessibility issues, suggested fixes, and priorities
Help design and development teams understand accessibility requirements, available tools, solutions, and prioritization
Provide developers with technical advice during code reviews and pair programming during sprints
Staying up to date on modern web development practices and new versions of WCAG requirements
Attend team ceremonies (stand-ups, refinement meetings, sprint planning meetings, etc.): gain knowledge about the accessibility maturity level of the team, identify opportunities for improvement, answer questions, and provide insight
Review accessibility requirements with product leaders that provide accessibility acceptance criteria that developers can use to develop components that meet WCAG 2.2 AA conformance and provide scope for quality assurance testing
Complete Accessibility Conformance Reports (VPATs) for multiple web and mobile products and train product teams on how to update it per release
Define, create, and lead training materials for various roles throughout product and development
Provide training to staff to ensure they understand the importance of accessibility and ways to incorporate best practices into product delivery