Principal Accessibility Specialist

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Leadership and Strategy

• Define and drive the client’s accessibility roadmap, aligning it with product goals and WCAG compliance requirements.
• Provide accessibility expertise and support across scrum teams.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to a team of engineers and other stakeholders across the project.
• Align closely with designers and front-end engineers on accessible best practices.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on accessibility issues and solutions, staying up to date with WCAG guidelines, 508 and OMB initiatives and other relevant standards.

Implementation and Development

• Adhere to modern software development practices, including accessibility, documentation, testing, observability, and monitoring.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure accessibility is incorporated into the design and development process from the start.
• Deep knowledge and experience with design systems and component libraries.
• Guide the development of accessible user interfaces and components, ensuring they meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards or higher.
• Lead code reviews and audits to assess, improve, and maintain accessibility compliance across digital products.
• Strong knowledge of ARIA and how screen readers interact with components.

Testing and Validation

• Establish and lead processes for automated and manual accessibility testing, using tools such as ANDI, Axe, or WAVE.
• Leverage various forms of assistive technology during development, such as VoiceOver, JAWS, and ZoomText.
• Develop and manage a repository of accessibility test cases and documentation to ensure consistent testing and compliance.
• Collaborate with QA teams to embed accessibility testing into CI/CD pipelines.
• Ensure accessible outcomes through coordinated development, component testing, and issue remediation.

Education and Advocacy

• Advocate for accessibility best practices and foster a culture of inclusion, ensuring accessibility is a core consideration in product development.
• Collaborate with internal and external partners, including disability advocates, to gather feedback and improve user experience.
• Build relationships and foster open collaboration with partner teams on the VA.gov platform and other stakeholders.

Compliance and Reporting

• Ensure all products meet or exceed legal accessibility requirements and document compliance efforts for stakeholders.
• Lead the development of an accessibility reporting framework to monitor progress, identify gaps, and prioritize improvements.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of experience in accessibility engineering, with a deep understanding of WCAG, ADA, Section 508, and other relevant guidelines.
• Proficiency in front-end development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) with an emphasis on accessible coding practices.
• Strong experience with assistive technologies (e.g., screen readers, voice input tools).
• Familiarity with accessibility testing tools such as ANDI, Axe, WAVE, or similar.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to lead, educate, and advocate for accessibility across teams.
• Passion for creating accessible digital experiences and an inclusive user experience.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance. 

Nice to have

• Experience in a leadership or team lead role within accessibility or software engineering.
• Trusted Tester certification.
• AAP certifications such as CPACC or WAS (Web Accessibility Specialist) are a plus.