Accessibility Specialist

Description

Wayside Publishing is a progressive developer of world language programs, resources, and materials for middle and high schools across the United States. We partner with educators to craft transformative texts and digital tools that engage students and foster successful communication and understanding across cultures.


What you'll do

We are seeking a dedicated and knowledgeable Accessibility Specialist to serve as The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) subject matter expert and advocate for Wayside’s products and offerings. As the SME, you will coordinate and implement accessibility compliance activities, including auditing, reporting, solution finding, and consulting. As an advocate, you will be responsible for managing accessibility compliance and promoting an inclusive experience for all users of our products. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) success criteria, experience with assistive technologies, strong verbal and written communication skills, and excellent attention to detail. If you are truly passionate about helping to create inclusive educational products and being an accessibility champion, keep reading!


Responsibilities

Serve as Wayside's accessibility SME across all products and offerings by coordinating and monitoring compliance efforts, acting as the main accessibility point of contact, and creating and maintaining documentation.
Conduct and organize accessibility audits and report findings.
Perform interface testing to validate conformance to WCAG and other accessibility requirements, including the use of assistive technologies such as JAWS, NVDA, Voiceover, Talkback, Zoom Text, and Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Experience using assistive technologies is required.
Provide consultation and manageable solutions (proactive or corrective) to Product and Web Development teams for accessibility needs and efforts across product lines.
Engage in solution-finding and collaboration with internal teams and external parties.
Assist in managing and organizing the development roadmap across all product lines, including the prioritization of development efforts for digital products to meet WCAG success criteria.
Serve as Wayside’s accessibility advocate by sharing or training on accessibility best practices, recommending solutions, and ensuring that our guidelines, policies, and efforts are maintained and documented.
Manage relationship(s) with vendors focused on accessibility.
Communicate with and provide documentation for external parties to share Wayside’s accessibility compliance and efforts.
Gather, analyze, and act on customer inquiries or feedback regarding accessibility needs.
Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

We value diversity and accept people from all backgrounds, united around their ability to build relationships, communicate, problem-solve, and ultimately work as a team to achieve goals.


Some of the role-specific qualities needed to be successful here include:

Current ADA certification or experience in the field evaluating accessibility compliance for digital and print products.
Deep Knowledge of federal, state, school districts, and local laws, regulations, and guidelines related to accessibility and civil rights compliance for individuals with disabilities.
Experience with and ability to prioritize needs to ensure compliance with WCAG 2.1 and other accessibility standards.
Experience with assistive technologies like JAWS, NVDA, Voiceover, Talkback, ZoomText, and Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
Self-directed with the ability to manage company-wide accessibility needs.
Project management experience or similar.
Some of the company-specific qualities to be successful here include:
Strong organizational skills with attention to detail and respect for deadlines.
Ability to work independently and manage deadlines.
Positive and can-do attitude with a growth mindset.
Experience working in or with the educational content industry.
Strong collaboration skills and willingness to embrace different perspectives.
A passion to learn and grow in a small and dynamic company and necessary industry.

What We Offer

Competitive compensation: base salary plus achievement-based incentive program, uncapped potential.
Health insurance with options for dental, vision, life insurance, and more.
Retirement savings plan with employer contribution.
Employer-paid STD and LTD policies.
Paid holidays.
Work/life balance as a company value.

We believe that traditional hiring policies can hurt the most marginalized people in society, including people of color, people from working-class backgrounds, women, and LGBTQ people. Because we believe that these communities must be centered in the work we do, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.



Wayside Publishing is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.



When submitting your application, please include a concise cover letter that speaks to your experience, and why this role is the next best step in your career.



NO PHONE CALLS OR RECRUITERS PLEASE