Instructional Accessibility Specialist

Salary: $68,820.00 - $87,876.00 annually

Job Type: Full-time

About the Role

The ideal candidate will serve as a collaborative, campus-wide leader advancing digital accessibility across all departments to meet Department of Justice Title II compliance. This role requires strong project management and data skills, including benchmarking accessibility efforts, tracking progress, and supporting data-informed decision-making. The candidate will use a customer-service approach and actively assist others with remediation of digital content while empowering them through training and workshops. The role also requires technical expertise in accessibility tools and practices to achieve Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards.

Under the general direction of the Administrator, provide expertise in universal design application and assist faculty and other instructional staff with ensuring that digital documents and other materials are accessible using universal design techniques and WCAG AA standards. Actively contribute digital accessibility expertise by participating in college initiatives such as Zero Cost Text/Open Educational Resources (ZCT/OER) and Accessibility Capability Maturity Model (ACMM).

While this role is structured as remote, the successful candidate will spend the first 60 days working on-campus for comprehensive onboarding, deep-diving into institutional systems, and building in-person connections. Following this period, the role transitions to fully remote, with expectations to be on campus for pre-scheduled meetings and college-wide events.

Responsibilities

• Design and deliver training and course materials for faculty and staff in digital content accessibility.
• Advise and assist faculty and staff in learning management systems and other technology to create content that integrates with assistive technology.
• Track digital course content accessibility compliance.
• Perform audits and validation testing on software and documents based on Section 508 and W3C WCAG 2.1 accessibility guidelines.
• Collaborate with Information Technology Services, Student Accessibility Services, Distance Education, and other departments to plan, coordinate, and educate the college community about universal design for learning.
• As ACMM co-facilitator, identify and recommend areas where existing policies and procedures require change or where new ones need to be developed, especially regarding information and communications technology accessibility.
• Write detailed findings to document identified issues and recommend solutions and best practices for remediation of accessibility violations.
• Manage implementation of the multi-year ACMM plan and document progress.
• Work with third-party service providers and vendors as a liaison for information and communications technology accessibility services.
• Monitor and advise on new or changing laws and technical standards related to technology accessibility.
• Assist in making complex documents accessible and recommend solutions for future reference.
• Remediate instructional video captions for accuracy.
• Participate in conferences and activities related to technology and accessibility.
• Demonstrate sensitivity to and respect for the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, and ethnic backgrounds of the college’s students, faculty, staff, and community.
• Effectively engage and support historically disproportionately impacted groups by addressing issues of equity and improving culturally responsive service-oriented practices.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree with significant coursework in computer science, instructional design, instructional technology, digital arts, or a related field.
• One year of experience with accessibility compliance techniques and testing tools in the creation and repair of documents.
• Evidence of responsiveness to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students, as these factors relate to equity-minded practices.

Skills and Knowledge

• Fundamentals and techniques of creating and producing online forms and digital media.
• Development, assessment, and remediation of accessible web pages.
• Accessibility testing tools and web accessibility laws and standards, including ARIA, HTML 5, and WCAG 2.0.
• Use of progressive enhancement, responsive/adaptive design, and current technology including web development tools, computer graphics packages, courseware authoring tools, learning management systems, and content management systems.
• Expertise in accessibility features of MS Word and Adobe Acrobat software.
• Teaching and/or presentation experience, including course or program development.
• Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Instructional Material Accessibility requirements of Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, in accordance with California Government Code 7405.
• Interpret, apply, and explain rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.
• Establish and maintain cooperative and effective working relationships with others.
• Serve as a technical resource for ICT accessibility to faculty and staff.
• Meet schedules and timelines and work collaboratively within a team.
• Maintain records and files.
• Differentiate colors and provide guidance on color contrast requirements that meet WCAG standards.
• Effectively and independently lead projects to completion.
• Prepare comprehensive narrative reports.
• Provide services at both Fremont campus and Newark Center.

Benefits

Classified employees advance one step on the salary schedule each year and have the potential to reach the current maximum step of $87,876.00 annually.

Schedule

This is a full-time position. The candidate is expected to be on campus for pre-scheduled meetings and college-wide events unless on leave (e.g., sick, vacation, FMLA).

Physical Requirements

• Standing and/or sitting for prolonged periods.
• Occasional stooping, bending, kneeling, and twisting.
• Occasional lifting, carrying, pushing, and/or pulling light to moderate amounts of weight.
• Operating office equipment requiring repeated fine motor skills (e.g., keyboard use).
• Vision and hearing in normal ranges (with or without correction) sufficient to operate assigned equipment and communicate clearly.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.