About the job

Job summary

GDS exists to help government make brilliant public services that empower people in the UK. We work at the very centre of government to drive digital transformation, focused on users. We build and maintain common platforms, products and tools for others to use and create great public services that are accessible, inclusive and easy to use. We also work with departments to identify patterns, share learning and create change to make government more efficient.

Our teams are organised around delivering on our priorities. These are:

• making it easier for people to find what they are looking for on GOV.UK
• building common service platforms to make it simpler and cheaper to build quality digital services
• promoting agile, user-centred design practices both in the UK and across the world

Job description

As a senior accessibility specialist at GDS you’ll work in multidisciplinary teams, alongside researchers and developers, to deliver world-class, user centred public services. 

You’ll help identify and fix some of the toughest problems in public infrastructure and you will be focussing on design of services at scale. You’ll help the government transform the way it delivers services, so that they’re more efficient, simpler, faster and easier to use.

As a Senior Accessibility Specialist you’ll:

• work with Design Leads and Head of Design to define and establish accessibility best practice for GOV.UK
• identify and implement ways to champion and embed accessibility in regular practice for all GOV.UK colleagues
• share accessibility knowledge within GOV.UK and across GDS, provide accessibility advice and increase capability and raise awareness
• write guidance and documentation and advise on latest WCAG
• organise training and help build accessibility capacity across GOV.UK
• assess products for accessibility best practices and conformance with accessibility standards
• consult product teams, help them meet accessibility standards and best practices
• review implementations using a range of techniques including design reviews, automated testing and manual code inspection
• recommend solutions for code, design and content to be as accessible as possible
• benchmark and track the success of interventions to embed accessibility practices
• liaise with commercial teams to support the procurement of compliant, accessible and inclusive software and services, and can be incorporated into our code deployment pipeline
• arrange yearly accessibility audit for GOV.UK by procuring audit services and collaborating with them during the audit
• interpret and prioritise the result of the GOV.UK accessibility audit

Person specification

We’re interested in people who have:

• familiarity with front-end development technologies, specifically HTML, CSS, JavaScript and WAI-ARIA
• expert knowledge of existing and emerging accessibility guidelines and standards, particularly the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1
• demonstrable experience of evaluating the accessibility of digital websites and providing feedback, advice and solutions to help fix identified issues
• knowledge and experience of testing with a range of assistive technologies including customised browser settings, screen magnification, screen readers, speech recognition and literacy software
• proven experience of collaborating with delivery teams to identify and fix accessibility barriers and raise accessibility capability
• demonstrable ability to write accessibility guidance and documentation, and deliver accessibility training and presentations
• experience working in flexible, agile environments and multi-disciplinary teams
• Strong negotiation skills to ensure that accessibility concerns are treated with an appropriate degree of priority
• Experience of working in government
• Experience of delivering digital services on multiple, complex or large scale end-to-end services in large organisations

Benefits

The benefits of working at GDS

There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:

• flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
• a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days
• an extra day off for The King’s birthday
• an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
• career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
• paid volunteering leave
• a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
• job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
• advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
• death in service benefits
• cycle to work scheme and facilities
• access to children's holiday play schemes across different locations in central London
• access to an employee discounts scheme
• 10 learning days per year
• volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
• access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning

GDS offers hybrid working for all employees. This means that everyone does some working from home and also spends some time in their local office. You’ll agree to your hybrid working arrangement with your line manager in line with your preferences and business needs.

Any move to Government Digital Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Things you need to know

Selection process details

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
• a 60-minute video interview beginning with a 10-15 minute presentation of 1 project that demonstrates your skills and experience.

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours: 

• working together
• changing and improving
• developing self and others
• communicating and influencing

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Digital, Data and Technology Profession Capability Framework for the Senior Accessibility Specialist role:

• Communicating information
• Consultancy
• Governance and assurance (Accessbility)
• Leadership and guidance
• Technical understanding (Accessibility)
• Testing
• User focus

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.