Accessibility Test Lead

About Us:
Solirius Consulting delivers technical consultancy and application delivery to our clients in order to solve real world problems and allow our clients to respond to an ever-changing technical landscape. We partner closely with our clients, embedding our consultants into  their businesses in order to provide a bespoke service, allowing us to truly understand our clients' needs.

It is this close collaboration with our clients that has enabled us to grow rapidly in recent years and will drive our ambitious future growth plans. We currently have over 250 consultants working with a variety of key clients from both the public and private sectors such as the Ministry of Justice, Department for Education, FCDOS, UEFA, International Olympic Committee and Mercedes Benz; and we are actively working to expand on this.

We operate as a flat organisation and believe in trusting and supporting our team to operate independently. We pride ourselves on being specialists at what we do, making the most of our consultants' expertise in their fields in order to provide a best-in-class service to our clients. All our consultants have the opportunity to work on a range of different projects, providing a broad range of knowledge on which to develop their careers and progress in the direction they choose.

About You:
You are enthusiastic, motivated, and have a genuine interest in accessibility and technology. You are a proactive and experienced professional with a passion for accessibility and inclusivity. You excel at leading teams, managing testing processes, and working collaboratively with clients and stakeholders to deliver exceptional digital services. 

About the Role:
We are looking for skilled and experienced  Accessibility Test Lead to join our team. In this role, you will lead accessibility testing efforts across key projects, ensuring that our digital services are inclusive and compliant with accessibility standards. You will work closely with stakeholders, developers, and testers, driving the integration of accessibility into Agile workflows and delivering high-quality, user-friendly solutions for our public and private sector clients.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and manage accessibility testing activities across multiple projects, ensuring compliance with WCAG 2.2 AA/AAA standards.
• Define, implement, and maintain accessibility testing strategies, plans, and frameworks, working at both an organisational level and development team level.
• Develop best practices to standardise accessibility testing across organisations
• Provide expert guidance on accessibility best practices to Agile teams, ensuring accessibility is embedded throughout the project lifecycle.
• Conduct manual accessibility testing and oversee semi-automated testing processes using tools like Axe, WAVE, and Lighthouse.
• Conduct assistive technology testing using screen readers (e.g., NVDA, JAWS), speech recognition tools (Dragon, Voice Control), Zoom tools (ZoomText, Apple Zoom) and other tools.  
• Manage and train team more junior members on accessibility
• Deliver training on accessibility principles, testing methodologies, and assistive technology usage, including delivering in-person and online workshops, fostering a learning community 
• Act as the primary point of contact for accessibility-related queries and collaborate with stakeholders to align testing efforts with project goals, including working across practices (Design, Development etc).
• Advocate for accessibility and inclusivity at all stages, ensuring diversity and inclusion are prioritised in project outcomes for all users.
• Stay up to date with the latest accessibility standards, tools, and technologies to continuously improve testing processes, including AI accessibility tooling.

Skills and Experience Required:

• Degree or 5 years+ experience as an Accessibility Specialist/Lead and a genuine interest in accessibility and technology.
• Proven experience in accessibility testing, with a strong understanding of WCAG standards and best practices.
• Good knowledge of Equality Act 2010 and government legal requirements (PSBAR)
• Demonstrated ability to lead accessibility testing efforts across complex projects.
• Strong expertise in manual accessibility testing and assistive technologies (e.g., NVDA, VoiceOver, JAWS, ZoomText).
• Proficiency in semi-automated accessibility tools such as Axe, WAVE, Lighthouse, or similar.
• Experience with implementing and managing automated accessibility tools such as Pa11y and aXeCore
• Experience in defining and implementing accessibility testing strategies and frameworks.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to convey complex accessibility concepts in an understandable manner across a range of roles and seniority levels 
• Leadership and mentoring experience, with the ability to upskill team members on accessibility
• Experience with training and upskilling teams on the basics of accessibility, testing and assistive technologies
• Experience with developing and tracking accessibility testing metrics and progress indicators 
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret testing results and provide actionable remediation of issues
• Familiarity with Agile development processes and integrating accessibility testing into Agile workflows.
• Experience writing and publishing Accessibility Statements 
• Experience with conducting accessibility maturity assessments 

What We Offer:

• Competitive salary
• Private healthcare insurance
• 25 Days Annual Leave + Bank Holidays
• Flexibility to work from home
• Up to 10 days allocated development training per year
• Generous discretionary bonus
• Statutory & Contributory pension
• Free gym membership
• Annual Away days
• Monthly company socials

Equality & Diversity:

Solirius Consulting is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to creating a work environment that supports, celebrates, encourages and respects all individuals and in which all processes are based on merit, competence and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexuality, age, disability, ethnicity, marital status or any other protected characteristics.

Should you require further assistance or require any reasonable adjustments be put in place to better support your application process, please do not hesitate to raise this with us.