Digital Accessibility Expert

Digital Accessibility Expert at Braintrust

We are seeking an experienced, pragmatic Digital Accessibility Expert to provide hands-on support across the university while the certified specialist is on leave and key team members are retiring.

This role focuses on enabling people and processes: helping staff and faculty understand accessibility expectations, interpret assessments (VPATs), and drive practical improvement at scale, rather than building new software.

Please Note: This is a 6-month engagement, with strong possibility of extension. Candidates must support at least 4-hour overlap with US-based team in US-Central Time (CT).

Key Responsibilities

• Accessibility Governance & VPAT Review: Review VPATs and other accessibility documentation for ICT/enterprise systems (e.g., Oracle, learning management systems, and documents). Interpret automated/AI-based assessments and validate them with expert judgment. Develop and document alternative access plans for non-compliant systems (e.g., interim accommodations, remediation roadmaps). Collaborate with security and procurement teams to integrate accessibility checks into the annual security re‑attestation process.
• Barrier & Issue Management: Triage and respond to user-submitted accessibility barrier reports. Diagnose issues, prioritize them, and coordinate with system/content owners on remediation plans. Track decisions, action plans, and progress in a structured, auditable way.
• Training, Communication & Evangelism: Design and deliver accessible, engaging training (live and recorded) for faculty and staff on core accessibility principles (WCAG, inclusive design), creating accessible documents, presentations, and digital content, and using templates and tools correctly. Create and maintain clear, reusable materials (guides, checklists, FAQs, slide decks, templates). Act as a visible, approachable champion for accessibility—building relationships and trust rather than “policing” compliance.
• Process & Tooling Support: Contribute to the design and refinement of university-wide accessibility processes (e.g., content remediation workflows, AI-based assessment pipelines). Work with existing teams (IT, Public Affairs, Teaching & Learning) on website accessibility, legacy content remediation, LMS (Canvas) accessibility practices, digital signage, and social media accessibility. Provide informed feedback on selection and configuration of AI and other tools used for large-scale remediation (e.g., 70,000+ PDFs).
• Change Management & Culture Building: Support the change management team in shifting habits and mindsets around accessibility. Tailor messaging and approaches to different stakeholder groups in a highly autonomous, faculty‑driven environment. Promote accessibility as part of the client’s values and mission, not only as a compliance obligation.

Required Experience & Skills

• Accessibility Expertise: Strong working knowledge of WCAG and related digital accessibility standards. Hands-on experience assessing accessibility of enterprise and web-based systems, digital documents (Word, PowerPoint, PDFs) and web content. Experience interpreting VPATs (or equivalent) and translating them into clear risk and remediation guidance.
• Pragmatic Problem-Solving: Ability to balance strict standards with practical, context-aware solutions. Comfortable providing recommendations that are both compliant and realistic given constraints. Experience designing or advising on alternative access plans where full compliance is not immediately feasible.
• Training & Communication: Proven experience delivering training and presentations to non-technical audiences. Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. Ability to explain complex accessibility concepts in simple, actionable terms. Experience creating accessible templates and guidance, and teaching others how to use them correctly.
• Stakeholder Management: Experience working in environments with high autonomy and “rogue actors” (e.g., universities, research, government). Strong relationship-building skills; able to influence without authority. Comfortable working across multiple departments with varied goals and constraints.
• General: Experience with AI- or tool-assisted accessibility assessments is a plus. Familiarity with higher education environments is highly desirable. Ability to work independently, manage priorities, and operate under time pressure.

Reporting & Collaboration

Work closely with the Change Management & Accessibility lead, IT leadership (including CIO organization), and Public Affairs. Engage with the current accessibility specialist when they return from leave to ensure continuity and knowledge transfer.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• A seasoned accessibility practitioner who enjoys working directly with people more than just doing heads‑down audits.
• Comfortable being an “evangelist” who can build buy‑in, not just enforce checklists.
• Preferred experienced in universities or public-sector/government contexts.
• Energized by helping a resource‑constrained team make visible progress under a fixed, external deadline.

Key skills/competency

• Digital Accessibility
• WCAG
• VPAT Review
• Accessibility Training
• Stakeholder Management
• Remediation Planning
• Inclusive Design
• Change Management
• Content Accessibility
• Higher Education Accessibility