BioInteractive Accessibility Consultant/Freelancer (Project Based)

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Science Education Media Group (BioInteractive) is expanding efforts to ensure Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) compliance for published educational materials. To this end, we will select accessibility consultants with demonstrated experience in executing, validating, and remediating to provide HHMI with services to achieve Accessibility standards. As accessibility consultants, you will provide services in support of the BioInteractive team’s accessibility policy. Services may include working with digital designers, developers, and accessibility consultants to deliver expert consultation and end products, advising HHMI with respect to third-party providers, and providing remediation development services. Experience with improving the accessibility of secondary and postsecondary course materials is desirable. Experience with accessibility design and development is also desirable. Other services as needed or required may be agreed upon.
We anticipate these consulting services will amount to 20/hrs per week maximum. As this is a project-based services contract, it excludes the payment of benefits.
This engagement will include the following services:
• Finalize new and/or update existing resource documents source files to comply with team standards and usability/accessibility best practices, including posting student documents to google drive
• Create (508 & UA) accessible pdf documents from source files, including tagging and writing alt text/descriptions, ensuring documents pass validation testing for accessibility compliance.
• Run automated checkers (eg. Axe) and perform manual testing for WCAG compliance and validation for online educational interactive resources.
• Maintain accessibility checklists for online educational interactive resources.
• Coordinate usability and accessibility testing/feedback, including: compiling and communicating audit results, conducting interviews and compatibility tests with assistive technologies, etc
Basic Qualifications:
• Minimum of five years’ post-secondary education or relevant work experience
Additional Qualifications and Skills:
The following Additional Qualifications are strongly preferred. If you meet some, but not all, you are still encouraged to apply.
• Minimum of 5+ years working directly in efforts to improve digital accessibility
• Expertise in Section 508, WCAG 2.1 (WAI-ARIA, HTML5, and related Web Standards a plus)
• Understanding of the techniques used to make websites, electronic documents, and media content accessible.
• Knowledge and demonstrated experience with cross-browser and cross-platform issues (IE, Firefox, Safari, OS, Windows, etc.) when making accessibility recommendations.
• Basic fluency with assistive technologies such as JAWS, NVDA, ZoomText, Dragon Naturally Speaking – and understanding of the experience for those using assistive technologies – or other accessibility features.
• Experience working in a higher education environment especially related to accessibility of teaching and learning materials and environments (including LMSs and online learning)
• Experience working with vendors on testing and contracts to ensure accessibility
• Knowledge of compatibility issues affecting assistive technology use with common software systems
• Knowledge of- and experience with- user experience methods and deliverables, including the performance of usability testing/interviews
• Willingness to function in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Excellent written, verbal, interpersonal and communication skills