WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

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Re: Accessibilty consultant salary

for

From: Jordan Wilson
Date: May 10, 2016 9:05AM

I'd suggest that this industry is a very good industry to be involved in right now.

Supply: Small - there are a limited number of professionals in the field
Demand: High - new regulations and awareness is creating a lot of need. Upcoming legal updates will only make that stronger.
Outlook: Bright - This newfangled web thing seems to be pretty popular.

Don't forget the added benefit of coming to work everyday knowing that you're doing something positive/useful/helpful and working with a great community.




On 5/10/16, 9:52 AM, "WebAIM-Forum on behalf of Birkir R. Gunnarsson" < <EMAIL REMOVED> on behalf of <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

>I'd be happy to provide web accessibility consulting for $18000 an hour. *grin*
>Seriously, a friend of mine who works at a very large multi-national
>company once said they contracted a specialist for an hourly rate like
>that .. and not for accessibility purposes.
>
>
>
>On 5/10/16, Jennifer Sutton < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>> WebAIM folks:
>>
>> I'll be fascinated to see where this discussion goes.
>>
>>
>> I've been on email lists that explicitly forbid the discussion of
>> salaries, lest the list be put in the position of setting up some kind
>> of industry price-fixing or collusion, or even the appearance thereof.
>>
>>
>> It's not my intention to sound scary; I'm simply sharing my experience.
>> These were very mainstream lists consisting of folks who worked on the web.
>>
>>
>> For my part, what I'll say, as an independent consultant is that it very
>> much depends on your market/what kind of rates others outside of
>> accessibility are charging, plus cost of living, plus all of the things
>> that are required to sustain a business and a life. And sometimes, if
>> business is good, I might charge a little less to help a nonprofit.
>>
>>
>> Basically, specializing in accessibility, in my view, is going to
>> require you to market harder, rather than if you were an independent
>> developer who offered accessibility as an additional service (or if you
>> just did it as a matter of course, which is even better).
>>
>>
>> I sat on the procurement side of the desk, for a while, and what I
>> learned from that has certainly informed my thinking as I've returned to
>> consulting.
>>
>>
>> So, were I in your shoes, Mike, I'd solicit bids for projects from your
>> current job; that's how you really can get a sense of what companies
>> would charge. And of course, the longer a company has been around/has a
>> reputation, the more they can charge.
>>
>>
>> I'd also mention that the more the legal situation heats up in the U.S.
>> (or perhaps it would now be better to say becomes hard to predict), the
>> more anyone who's in this business needs to keep that in mind. What
>> "keeping that in mind" means for each consultant is up to him/her to
>> judge. But not thinking about that area early and often, when
>> establishing a new business, seems to me unwise.
>>
>>
>> I trust you're studying the market enough to know, Mike, that Deque,
>> TPG, and SSB BART Group are all hiring like crazy. That's something that
>> would inform my thinking, if I were in your situation. Other companies
>> may be, too; I mention these three because they're the ones I see.
>>
>>
>> And no, I'm not going to reveal my rates here on the list, or by private
>> email, unless someone contacts me about real work, just in case you were
>> waiting for "the punch line." See my LinkedIn profile link below my
>> name. And I'm not responding here as a disguised marketing pitch.
>>
>>
>> Finally, here's a link to a WebAIM survey that may be helpful.
>>
>> http://webaim.org/blog/practitioner-survey-results/
>>
>>
>>
>> Good luck.
>>
>> Jennifer
>>
>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/jsuttonmedia
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> >> >> >> >>
>
>
>--
>Work hard. Have fun. Make history.
>>>>