Senior Accessibility Subject Matter Expert

MCGARITY CONSULTING GROUP; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

MCGARITY CONSULTING GROUP seeks a senior accessibility tester to advise on Section 508 conformance and risk throughout the ICT lifecycle. You will review testing results, remediate documents, and provide guidance to project teams and executives on accessibility decisions before product selection.

The role emphasizes expert testing, risk assessment, and serving as a senior technical voice across the government accessibility program, with remote work options.

Qualifications

• DHS Trusted Tester Level 5 certification
• IAAP CPACC certification
• Broad knowledge of the Revised Section 508 Standards
• Two years testing web content and applications for Section 508 conformance
• Two years testing and remediating electronic documents
• Three years supporting ICT project and acquisition efforts addressing Section 508 requirements at defined stages throughout the project lifecycle
• Ability to explain accessibility risk to non-specialists

Responsibilities

• Perform Section 508 conformance testing using the DHS Trusted Tester Conformance Test Process for Web, v5.0 or later
• Conduct thorough quality checks and review of test results completed by other Trusted Testers, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and conformance to the test process guidelines, returning findings with the specific guideline citation
• Perform document remediation using the Section 508 Tests for Documents endorsed by the Federal CIO Council
• Provide technical assistance on ACRs and VPATs, develop test plans, advise on interpreting results and remediating defects, and provide remediation support
• Advise project teams and senior management across the system development lifecycle: alternatives analysis during market research, identifying accessibility risk and user impact before a product is selected; use of design standards, pattern and code libraries, developer guidance and testing tools; accessibility review of IT products moving through enterprise architecture and network service change processes
• Serve as back-up to the government accessibility program as needed

Job description

We are staffing this role for a contingent project and identifying qualified candidates now. The position does not exist until the project is awarded. Candidates selected will be asked to confirm availability and sign a contingent commitment letter. No work or compensation begins before award.

~1,880 hours/year, about 36 hours per week

The work. The senior advisory seat carries the highest credential bar in the program. Three things sit here that sit nowhere else: you quality-review other people's testing, you advise project teams and senior management at the point in the lifecycle where accessibility decisions are still cheap, and you serve as back-up to the government program itself.

The advisory half matters most and is hardest to staff. Testing finds defects after they are built. Remediation fixes them. Neither scales. What scales is a project team asking the right question during market research, or a program manager reading a risk assessment and changing what the next release does. That is your work.

• Perform Section 508 conformance testing using the DHS Trusted Tester Conformance Test Process for Web, v5.0 or later.
• Conduct thorough quality checks and review of test results completed by other Trusted Testers, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and conformance to the test process guidelines, returning findings with the specific guideline citation.
• Perform document remediation using the Section 508 Tests for Documents endorsed by the Federal CIO Council.
• Provide technical assistance on ACRs and VPATs, develop test plans, advise on interpreting results and remediating defects, and provide remediation support.
• Advise project teams and senior management across the system development lifecycle: alternatives analysis during market research, identifying accessibility risk and user impact before a product is selected; use of design standards, pattern and code libraries, developer guidance and testing tools; accessibility review of IT products moving through enterprise architecture and network service change processes.
• Serve as back-up to the government accessibility program as needed.

Required. Current DHS Trusted Tester Level 5 (or later) certification and current IAAP CPACC certification — both, neither obtainable after selection. Broad knowledge of the Revised Section 508 Standards. Two years testing web content and applications for Section 508 conformance. Two years testing and remediating electronic documents. Three years supporting ICT project and acquisition efforts addressing Section 508 requirements at defined stages throughout the project lifecycle.

Also needed. Demonstrated ability to advise non-specialists — much of this role is explaining accessibility risk to program managers, contracting personnel, and executives who do not test and do not want to. The judgment to review another tester's work and say it is wrong, and the ability to say it so the next test improves rather than the relationship suffering. Familiarity with federal acquisition touchpoints where accessibility is evaluated. Comfort operating as the senior technical voice in a room where you have no authority over the people you are advising.

This is a remote position.