Accessibility & Communications Specialist

The American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD) www.aahd.us is a cross-disability national non-profit 501(c) (3) organization dedicated to ensuring health equity and inclusion for persons with disabilities through policy, research, education, and dissemination. AAHD activities are largely funded by federal agencies and foundations. The official journal of AAHD is the Disability and Health Journal (www.disabilityandhealthjnl.com).

A major initiative of AAHD is the Disability Community Engagement Partner Project (DCEPP), funded by the National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program. The All of Us Research Program is inviting one million people across the U.S. to help build one of the most diverse health databases in history. Researchers will use the data to learn how biology, lifestyle, and environment affect health. This may one day help them find ways to treat and prevent disease. The major goals of DCEPP are to increase awareness and recruit persons with a range of disabilities into the All of Us program and facilitate interest by disability and health researchers in the program.

AAHD is recruiting an Accessibility & Communication Specialist to assist in the implementation of four communication and engagement campaigns targeting: 1) Persons with disabilities that are affiliated with the DCEPP’s Disability Consortium, a partnership with over 20 national and local disability organizations; 2) Persons with disabilities that may be affiliated with other organizations funded by the AoU Program; 3) the general population of persons with disabilities that are not affiliated with disability organizations; and 4) Disability and Health Researchers.

Under the guidance of the Communications Manager and the DCEPP Communications Committee, the Accessibility & Communications Specialist will play a supporting role in communication and engagement planning and implementation and a primary role in ensuring DCEPP communications are accessible to persons with a range of disabilities.

The Accessibility & Communication Specialist will:

Ensure DCEPP documents, PDFs, presentations, website, software, synchronized media, video, audio, and social media meet Section 508 requirements and accessibility best practices.
Suggest outreach and communication strategies to reach DCEPP target audiences.
Assist in identifying AoU Research Program-approved digital and traditional communication assets or developing original assets.
Draft content for newsletter, blogs, videos, websites, and/or press releases as requested.
Collect and analyze communication metrics and deliver evaluation reports in a timely fashion, as requested.
The ideal candidate will have a thorough understanding of communications accessibility, theories of communication, excellent writing and editing skills, familiarity with team-based approaches to work, and experience in the development and editing of project deliverables such as communication assets and reports. The position will support AAHD staff and partners in the implementation of accessibility best practices in content development.

The Accessibility & Communications Specialist will also participate in DCEPP-specific meetings and AAHD staff meetings. The Accessibility & Communications Specialist must be ready and willing to “jump in” when and where needed to support important organizational activities. Familiarity with grant writing processes is a plus.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Communications or Related Field;
At least two years working in the field of digital accessibility with remediation, documentation creation, and auditing/testing experience;
Knowledge of accessibility standards and guidelines (WCAG 2.0, Section 508)
Experience in communications/marketing, with specific experience in digital (e.g., social media platforms including Facebook live, listserv distribution of electronic versions of communication assets such as newsletters, brochure, flyers, infographics, FAQs, or videos, webinars, and webpages) and traditional dissemination channels (e.g., distribution of hard copies, in-person presentations, in-person exhibits, PSAs, ads, etc.).
Website development and management (WordPress preferred).
Excellent writing skills and ability to tailor writing for different contexts and audiences.
Strong attention to detail, and ability to work under multiple priorities and deadlines.

Preferred Qualifications

Master’s degree preferred
Digital graphic design
Experience with digital marketing tools including Google Analytics and Google Ads

Benefits & Compensation:

-Salary Range –$50,000-$55,000 ($55K is the cap)
-PTO – AAHD offers competitive leave packages, to include vacation, sick and compassionate leave.
-Health Insurance – AAHD provides health insurance for full time and part time (17.5hours/week) employees if they are interested. AAHD pays 50% of the policy for the employee only.
-401K Plan – Employees are entitled to participate in the 401K plan at time of hire, with employer matching at two years.
-Remote Working

The position is currently remote. Compensation will be commensurate with experience. Interested applicants should submit cover letter and resume to msayles@aahd.us by August 26th, 2022. NO PHONE CALLS.

AAHD is an equal opportunity employer. Persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.