Job Description

Job Title: Web Content Designer (Remote)

Location: Hartford, CT

Duration: 6 Months

Pay Rate: $70/hr

Job Description:

The State of Connecticut is leading a new digital transformation to uplift the lives and well-being of our residents, businesses, and employees. Our goal is to improve access to our programs and services, making interaction with government easier. When you join the Connecticut Digital Service, you'll be part of a team creating simple experiences personalized for everyone. If you enjoy solving complex problems with a curious, supportive, high-performing team, then the State of Connecticut is the place for you.

About the Role

The State of Connecticut (CT) is seeking a Digital Accessibility Expert who has strong experience in assessing, strategizing, and implementing a11y and usability improvements for digital products and services. You will help identify issues, assess solutions, and provide remediation needs across service verticals that include health, business, education, transportation, employment, IT, and Customer Service. You will also help test digital assets for a11y compliance, including websites, mobile apps, online documents, applications, and digital forms. Your expertise will help the state reach the highest levels of WCAG compliance and maintain a11y standards so all our residents can participate in equivalent experiences.

This role will require a deep familiarity with the requirements and processes for complying with current and future accessibility guidelines as documented in WCAG, ADA, and Section 508 standards. This role will also help support a holistic approach to accessibility improvements to foster a stronger culture of human-centered and user-first design. You will audit internal systems, platforms, and processes for legacy issues. You will also support cross-functional teams in applying modern a11y improvements to products and services, including Content, UX, Design, and Product teams. You will assist in training teams to conform to WCAG 2.2 standards for digital assets and information. And you will engage stakeholders to help drive implementation and advocacy for a11y best practices.

The ideal candidate will also champion customer needs by promoting the humanity behind inclusionary practices. You will be an empathic problem-solver who can move teams toward higher standards while staying focused on the impact your efforts will have on the people who need government services. This is a next level opportunity. Your work will change lives.

Main Responsibilities

NOTE: This is a testing-heavy role. Auditing and testing of digital assets are a core requirement of this position.

Conduct testing and implement improvements to digital products, services, and processes to ensure the State is meeting the highest standards of accessibility compliance

Be a bridge between a11y leadership and state teams, helping to integrate a practice of inclusionary methodologies and enterprise standards

Assist with code review and remediation, helping developers and engineers quickly apply best practice solutions for critical usability issues

This role will support the State's initiatives for accessibility optimization. To better understand the needs, we broke down additional responsibilities into seven main areas.

Assessment

Audit current State systems, internal processes, and customer-facing assets to find accessibility issues, and create prioritization models and project plans for addressing

Clearly summarize accessibility findings and provide recommendations for remediation, including code-level recommendations and solutions

Evaluate new vendor products for compliance with accessibility standards, and help improve the State procurement process for technology and digital services

Utilize and interpret multiple sources of research data to make credible recommendations for accessibility improvements

Documentation

Document current levels of State compliance, rank the compliance level against standardized benchmarks, and create reports that identify State gaps and violations by platform, service, process, asset type, and customer journey touchpoints

Align with State Accessibility leadership to help support the roadmap, vision, and strategy for enterprise digital accessibility

Strategy & Development

Support accessibility initiatives that foster environments where everyone can thrive, including employees, along the full range of neurodiversity

Collaborate with internal and external partners to identify needs and incorporate best practice policies for accessibility

Work with Legal and Legislative teams to align accessibility guidance with State regulatory policies

Assist Accessibility and project teams with management activities related to accessibility requirements (i.e, tracking deliverables and tasks, documentation, asset/artifact management, etc.)

Provide compliance guidance for the creation of visual media assets, and assist in the creation of these assets as assigned

Test/QA

Conduct and execute routine usability and accessibility checks for state websites and online assets

Integrate testing policies for meeting State accessibility standards on all product and service development, including development from external vendors

Communication

Support internal and external-facing engagements to help advocate for digital accessibility

Work with State Accessibility leadership to broadly champion digital accessibility

Conduct regular outreach as well as ad-hoc communications support for state teams around accessibility practices

Provide success metrics and KPI reporting to stakeholders and identify areas of improvement and challenges from optimization efforts

Keep Accessibility leadership apprised of progress, challenges, and outcomes related to the efforts of State a11y initiatives

Establish and maintain effective relationships across IT teams, business teams, legal teams, legislators, and vendors

Training

Conduct accessibility trainings addressing various stakeholder needs, develop training materials for teams, and serve as an accessibility asset point of contact

Help support enterprise accessibility guidance with cross-functional teams and promote its importance through coaching and communities of practice

Develop and implement ongoing accessibility program activities and share-outs for business stakeholders and vendors to support the State's evangelization of inclusionary design

Maintaining

Assist enterprise governance of accessibility requirements, including oversight, accountability, and tactical support to keep the State in regulatory compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws

Establish relationships between State and external customers to ensure accessibility needs are consistently surfaced and that State options are continually improved upon based on advances in technology

Contribute content on accessibility standards for current State guidebooks on Design, Research, Content, Development, Data, and Technology to consistently improve enterprise standards

Stay on top of the latest advances in WCAG, ADA, and Section 508 regulations and best practices, and create plans/processes for efficient optimization of State accessibility standards

Knowledge, Skills, and Ability

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