Digital Accessibility Lead

WMJobs; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Local Government Pension Scheme

EV car benefit scheme

Healthcare plans

28 days annual leave + option to buy

Discounted gym membership & eye care

Job summary

West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is seeking a Digital Accessibility Specialist to champion accessibility across communications and digital services. You will translate WCAG and regulations into practical guidance for colleagues and suppliers, review outputs, and influence major campaigns, websites and offline materials.

You’ll lead accessibility training, mentor Designers, and ensure recruitment and application processes are accessible.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience in leading automated and manual testing using assistive technologies.
• Expert knowledge of WCAG and accessibility guidelines and standards.
• Understanding of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and WAI-ARIA.
• Ability to manage projects with competing deadlines and influence stakeholders.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and empathy for users with accessibility needs.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and implementation of an accessibility strategy for the organisation’s communications.
• Regularly share knowledge on accessibility best practice, including updates to WCAG.
• Advocate for disabled people with communications and digital projects.
• Provide informal mentorship on accessibility best practice to Designers and other Communications specialist teams.
• Shape and manage organisational wide accessibility training.
• Work with People and Culture services to ensure recruitment templates, adverts and application processes are accessible and engaging.
• Build test plans, considering automated and manual testing methodologies, to audit outputs for accessibility compliance.
• Define and manage a regular audit schedule for the WMCA digital estate.
• Work with Designers to shape user research activity to meet real needs.
• Use quality assurance tools to identify and action issues on owned websites.
• Procure and manage relationships with external accessibility auditors.

Skills

Assistive tech testing

Accessibility leadership

WCAG expertise

Web technologies (HTML/CSS/JS/ARIA)

Project management

Stakeholder influence

Interpersonal skills

Screen reader testing

Tools

Acquia Web Governance

Job description

West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is seeking a Digital Accessibility Specialist to champion accessibility across communications and digital services. You will translate WCAG and regulations into practical guidance for colleagues and suppliers, review outputs, and influence major campaigns, websites and offline materials.

You’ll lead accessibility training, mentor Designers, and ensure recruitment and application processes are accessible.