Senior Accessibility Specialist

Job Title: Senior Accessibility Specialist (Tester) Location: Telford, Manchester or Newcastle Salary: £42,618 Join HMRC as a Senior Accessibility Specialist and Make a Real Impact Are you ready to transform digital experiences and ensure they are accessible to everyone? HMRC is searching for a dynamic and passionate Lead Accessibility Specialist to drive our accessibility efforts and champion inclusivity in our digital products and services. Why Is This Role Exciting? In this pivotal role, you'll be the driving force behind making HMRC's digital landscape accessible for all. Your work will directly align with our unwavering commitment to diversity and inclusion, ensuring that everyone, regardless of ability, can access and benefit from our services. This is more than a job—it's a mission to create a truly inclusive digital world. As a key member of our newly formed Internal Accessibility Centre of Excellence (CoE), you’ll be part of a dedicated team of Accessibility Specialists. Your mission? To support HMRC users of assistive technologies, communicate standards and legal obligations, and ensure internal compliance with accessibility legislation. Role Overview As the Lead Accessibility Specialist, you'll be at the heart of our accessibility initiatives, ensuring our digital products and services are inclusive and user-friendly for all customers and employees. This role requires a deep understanding of accessibility regulations, guidelines, and best practices, along with the ability to lead cross-functional teams in implementing effective accessibility solutions. What You'll Bring to the Table: Expert Knowledge: Leverage your deep understanding of the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 and the Equality Act 2010 to safeguard our internal user experience. WCAG Mastery: Expertise in WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 standards is crucial for maintaining the highest accessibility standards for our technology estate. Tech Savvy: Proficiency with assistive technologies like DevTools, JAWS, NVDA, Dragon, Windows Ease of Access suite, and iOS is essential for testing and validating our solutions. Leadership: Proven experience in leading and mentoring a team will inspire and guide colleagues towards our shared accessibility goals. Job description Responsibilities Develop and Implement Strategies: Create robust accessibility strategies, policies, and procedures. Quality Assurance & Audits: Influence quality assurance and testing strategy; conduct audits and assessments to identify improvement areas. Collaboration & Implementation: Work with design, development, and product teams to integrate accessibility; manage the implementation of the Internal Accessibility CoE testing process for all HMRC services. Training & Support: Provide expert guidance, training, and support on accessibility best practices and assistive technologies. Team Leadership & Development: Lead and mentor a team of accessibility professionals; handle talent development and succession planning. Representation & Decision Making: Represent HMRC in external forums and events; make informed decisions relating to accessibility testing. Stay Current: Keep up-to-date with emerging accessibility trends, technologies, and regulations, recommending actions to maintain compliance. Person specification Positive Impact: Support HMRC’s vision of positive employee experience ensuring maximum contribution from all colleagues. Advocacy: Promote and advocate accessibility test capabilities within and outside government. Training Delivery: Deliver training to colleagues on accessibility best practices, testing, and meeting the needs of our community. Relationship Building: Build relationships with third-party suppliers, project stakeholders, and service owners. Technical Proficiency: Proficient in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and WAI ARIA to support service owners with remediation. Audit Experience: Experience in conducting full accessibility audits and understanding of evaluation tools and testing methods, including manual testing. Essential Criteria Regulatory Knowledge: Excellent working knowledge of the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018, the Equality Act 2010, and the impacts of non-compliance. WCAG Expertise: In-depth understanding of WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 standards. Assistive Technology Proficiency: Good knowledge of and ability to test with assistive technology tools. Leadership Experience: Proven experience in leading and managing a team. Desirable Criteria Experience in a large, complex organization with diverse digital products and services. Knowledge of agile methodologies and their application in accessibility initiatives. Familiarity with accessibility testing tools and automation frameworks. Certification or formal training in accessibility standards and best practices. Why HMRC? At HMRC, we believe that diversity drives innovation. We value everyone's unique talents and perspectives, creating an environment where everyone can thrive. We encourage applications from individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and abilities, as we strive to build a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. Apply today and lead the charge in making HMRC's digital world accessible for everyone. Your journey to making a real impact starts here Benefits Alongside your salary of £42,618, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £11,506 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs. We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days. Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues’ Alpha pension equal to at least 27% of their salary. Family friendly policies. Personal support. Coaching and development.