Senior Accessibility Specialist

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

joining up public sector services
harnessing the power of AI for the public good
strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
elevating leadership and investing in talent
funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need

Service Transformation and Experience:

We support service teams across central and local government to deliver a digital-first operating model and great services that everyone can access.

A blueprint for modern digital government is our guiding vision.

This is your opportunity to contribute to products of national significance, enabling the join-up of public sector services that improve the lives of citizens and support economic growth.
Job description

As a Senior Accessibility Specialist you will:

help set the strategy and standards for ensuring digital services are more inclusive and accessible
help to deliver both the Digital Inclusion Action Plan and Blueprint for Modern Digital Government commitments
manage cross government and public sector accessibility and digital inclusion communities and associated events
help to evolve and grow existing capability to deliver these commitments and manage risks inline with regulatory obligations
be able to demonstrate a passion for and excellence in your profession
be a credible subject matter expert in your profession and apply and develop this in the context of digital service transformation
help to define and measure success in this space
work collaboratively with other parts of the Service Transformation directorate, the rest of GDS and across the public sector
seek to continuously improve your performance in the above, including requesting feedback and looking externally at best practice

This list is not exhaustive, there may be a need to flex and change for business needs.
Person specification

We're interested in people who have:

experience of collaborating with teams to identify and fix accessibility barriers and raise accessibility capability
the ability to write accessibility guidance and documentation, and deliver accessibility training and presentations
experience of evaluating the accessibility of digital websites and providing feedback, advice and solutions to help fix identified issues
knowledge and experience of existing and emerging accessibility guidelines and standards, particularly the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2
familiarity with front-end development technologies, specifically HTML, CSS, JavaScript and WAI-ARIA
knowledge and experience of testing with a range of assistive technologies including customised browser settings, screen magnification, screen readers, speech recognition and literacy software

Benefits

There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:

flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days
an extra day off for the King’s birthday
an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
paid volunteering leave
a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
death in service benefits
cycle to work scheme and facilities
access to an employee discounts scheme
10 learning days per year
volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning


Any move to Government Digital Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Office attendance
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.
DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).
Things you need to know
Selection process details

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
a 60 minute video interview

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which is:

experience of collaborating with teams to identify and fix accessibility barriers and raise accessibility capability

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

Changing and Improving
Communicating and Influencing
Working Together
Making Effective Decisions

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework for the Senior Accessibility Specialist role:

Communicating information
Consultancy
Governance and assurance (accessibility)
Leadership and guidance
Technical understanding (accessibility)
Testing
User focus

Recruitment Timeline

Sift completion: week commencing Monday 27th October 2025

Panel interviews: starting Friday 7th November 2025

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

Sponsorship

DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.


Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

UK nationals
nationals of the Republic of Ireland
nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :

Name : [email protected]
Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

Email : [email protected]

Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact [email protected] in the first instance.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission by email: [email protected] Or in writing: Civil Service Commission, Room G/8 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ.