WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

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Re: How to hire for web accessibility specialist

for

From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Nov 1, 2018 9:35AM

A quick first step is to check whether their application contains the
word 'accessibility'.
Believe it or not, when I posted for a position I received over 20
applications, more than half of them listed a lot of qualifications
but did not mention the word "accessibility" at all. I instantly threw
them out.
I think it is a reasonable first step to screening applicants (I
glanced at everything I got, but noted that for future I could save
myself a lot of work by just doing a word search for "accessibility").
In your job description indicate you want someone with accessibility
background, maybe specify 1 to 3 or 3 to 5 years or whatever.
I think you could require IAAP certification (either CPACC or WAS or
both depending on the type of position you are posting). IAAP as over
500 people with this certification by now (you can see the list on
their website). If that takes your application from too many to 0 you
may have to relax and say that candidae should be familiar with the
IAAP certification body of knowledge for the topic.

I created a pretty detailed test for my candidates that I sprung on
the ones who made it for an onsite interview, try to mix labeling,
images, language and a couple of ARIA things to gauge their knowledge.
-B




On 11/1/18, Karlen Communications < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Here in Ontario Canada, we have an Accessible Media Production Certificate
> Program at Mohawk College in Hamilton Ontario. I'm in the process of
> sending
> out information on it and have included information on it in this post as
> something to look for in the future as we graduate more students with these
> skills. January will be our second cohort.
>
> I know that Telus, a Canadian cell/ISP provider now requires web developers
> to demonstrate their skill in accessible web design and you might find
> something on their website. They did a presentation on this at the
> University of Guelph Accessibility Conference two years ago.
> https://www.telus.com/en/ and
> https://opened.uoguelph.ca/student-resources/Accessibility-Conference which
> is the page for this year's conference (in case anyone wants to bookmark it
> for next year). I'm not sure if past presentations are available, but you
> might be able to contact either Telus or the conference organizers for the
> Tellus presentation.
>
> Accessible Media Production Certificate Mohawk College Hamilton Ontario
>
> If you live in the Hamilton Ontario Canada area and want to earn a
> certificate in accessible media production, the new cohort begins in
> January! You'll learn about the Accessibility for Ontarians with
> Disabilities Act, Types of disability, types of adaptive technology, how to
> create captioned video, accessible Word, PowerPoint and PDF documents/PDF
> forms and participate in a Capstone project bringing all your knowledge
> together.
>
> This is a great professional development opportunity or a great starting
> point for creating your own business in the field of accessible digital
> content.
>
> Courses are taught by leaders in the field of accessible digital content
> including Rob Harvie (Captioned Video), Karen McCall (Accessible Word,
> PowerPoint and PDF), Web Accessibility (Sandi Gauder), Adam Spencer
> (Entrepreneurship), Mary Neilans (Inclusive Writing), Jennifer Curry Jahnke
> (Accessibility Legislation) and Lianne Fisher (Diversity Perspectives).
>
> Learn more at
> https://www.mohawkcollege.ca/programs/graduate-studies/accessible-media-prod
> uction-390
>
> Cheers, Karen
>
>