Senior Accessibility Specialist

THE ROLE
Job Purpose

The BBC is for everyone, and as such, ensuring all BBC digital systems, products, and services are accessible is of paramount importance. We are looking for an accessibility specialist to join our small but essential audience-facing accessibility team to support diverse initiatives and high-profile products such as iPlayer, Sounds, BBC News, BBC Weather, and more.

Our ideal candidate will have a background in supporting the creation of accessible and usable experiences from conception to completion, rather than solely using audits to identify issues late in the development cycle.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities
With your knowledge of technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, iOS, Android, etc, and experience in how execute technical accessibility across multiple platforms, you will:

- Partner with cross-functional product teams, providing coaching and consulting to help embed accessibility processes across the product lifecycle.
- Work proactively to troubleshoot and help resolve accessibility issues and complaints promptly and identify ways to prevent the problems from happening again.
- Help to devise role-based training for Product teams relative to their knowledge levels.
- Help the Change Lead coordinate and provide support activities for the BBC’s Accessibility Champions’ Network, including resources, communications, training, collaboration, meet-up or event organisation, etc.

There isn’t really a typical day, as our days can be quite varied, but might include:
- Providing support to product development teams and guide them in building accessibility into the end-to-end design and development process working in collaboration with product owners, designers, developers, and quality assurance leads.
- Delivering input from and use your experience of how people with disabilities may interact with and use digital products to help product teams understand and prevent barriers in design and development.
- Creating bitesize accessibility training and presentations to people with varied experience of accessibility, including at our accessibility champions meet ups.
- Supporting our Principal accessibility specialists in projects across multiple platforms such as Web, iOS, Android, Television, etc.
- Staying up to date with new developments in technology and trends around accessibility from the wider accessibility industry, vendors and platforms and communicate these within the BBC.

We are happy to consider flexible work based on your personal situation, such as hybrid working. The role is Band D, hybrid working, from any UK BBC office location. Unfortunately we're unable to consider anyone without the eligibility/right to work in the UK and we cannot offer sponsorship

Are you the right candidate?

Essential
- At least 3 years of demonstrable experience in digital accessibility.
- Fundamental understanding of how people with disabilities may interact with and use digital products and the barriers they might face.
- Experience in delivering accessibility and usability consultancy at all product lifecycle stages for a range of technology platforms.
- Good knowledge of technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, iOS, Android, etc, with experience in how to test for and execute technical accessibility across platforms such as the Web, iOS and Android.
- Knowledge of using desktop and mobile assistive technologies (e.g.: JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, TalkBack, Dragon Naturally Speaking, ZoomText)
- Experience with design and evaluation tools for accessibility (e.g., Figma design tools, Axe, Developer Tools, Accessibility Inspector).
- Highly organised, proactive, and able to work autonomously or as part of a team.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, an approachable demeanour, and the ability to collaborate effectively with internal and external partners.

Desirable
- An understanding of the value of accessibility guidelines but knowing how to go beyond them to help accomplish product equity at scale.
- The ability to write clear guidance and documentation, to provide accessibility training and presentations to people with varied experience of accessibility.
- Good understanding and experience in an accessibility area that falls outside of traditional technologies, such as Games, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Native Mobile, or other.
- Practical experience in conducting inclusive research and supporting teams to complete inclusive research.
- Designing for assistive technology user experience.
- A firm belief in using insights over opinions to help steer product decisions.


DISCLAIMER
This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.