Accessibility Engineer

Accessibility Engineer Roles at GitLab

At GitLab, Accessibility Engineers collaborate closely with product designers, engineers, UX researchers, and technical writers to ensure GitLab’s products are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.

An Accessibility Engineer reports to a Product Design Manager.

Base Requirements

• Interest in digital accessibility.
• Understanding of design and UX.
• Strong understanding of WCAG, Section 508, and EN 301 549 guidelines and accessibility standards.
• Experience with assistive technologies (screen readers, voice recognition software, etc.).
• Proficiency in HTML (including ARIA roles and attributes), CSS, and JavaScript.
• Proficiency in automated accessibility testing tools and methodologies.
• Experience conducting accessibility audits and working with audits produced by others.
• Ability to use GitLab.
• Strong communication skills, including ability to explain technical accessibility concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Comfort working in a highly agile, iterative product development process.
• You share our values, and work in accordance with those values.
• Proficiency in the English language, both written and verbal, sufficient for success in a remote and largely asynchronous work environment.
• Strong bias for action and ability to develop daily priorities to achieve goals (manager of one).

Levels

Accessibility Engineer

An Accessibility Engineer collaborates closely with product designers, product managers and engineers.

Job Grade

The Accessibility Engineer is a grade 6.

Responsibilities

• Technical Implementation: Implement accessibility solutions using semantic HTML (including ARIA roles and attributes), CSS and JavaScript, following WCAG guidelines in the GitLab product and design system.
• Accessibility Testing: Conduct automated and manual accessibility testing using various tools and assistive technologies.
• Documentation: Create and maintain accessibility documentation, including guidelines and best practices.
• Code Review: Review code changes for accessibility compliance and provide actionable feedback.
• Training: Provide basic accessibility training and guidance to UX and development teams.
• Bug Fixes: Implement fixes for identified accessibility issues in the GitLab product and design system.
• Standards: Keep up-to-date with accessibility standards and emerging technologies.
• Collaboration: Work with designers, product managers and engineers to ensure accessibility is considered early in the product development process.

Requirements

An Accessibility Engineer is expected to meet the base requirements and execute their responsibilities with a commitment to results and agreed actions.

Senior Accessibility Engineer

A Senior Accessibility Engineer collaborates closely with product designers, produt managers and engineers and is not exclusive to a single group.

Job Grade

The Senior Accessibility Engineer is a grade 7.

Responsibilities

Everything in the Accessibility Engineer role, plus:

• Technical Leadership: Lead implementation of complex accessibility solutions and architectural decisions.
• Strategic Planning: Help develop accessibility roadmaps and implementation strategies.
• Advanced Testing: Design and implement comprehensive accessibility testing frameworks.
• Reporting: Maintain an Accessibility Conformance Report by evaluating the product against accessibility standards and documenting conformance levels for procurement purposes.
• Mentoring: Mentor other engineers on accessibility best practices and implementation.
• Process Improvement: Identify and implement process improvements for accessibility testing and development.
• Cross-team Collaboration: Work across teams to ensure consistent accessibility implementation.
• External Engagement: Represent GitLab in external technical communities.
• Innovation: Research and propose new technologies and methods to improve accessibility.

Requirements

A Senior Accessibility Engineer is expected to meet the base requirements and execute their responsibilities while modeling a sense of urgency and commitment to deliver results.

Staff Accessibility Engineer

A Staff Accessibility Engineer is expected to work across R&D based on business needs.

Job Grade

The Staff Accessibility Engineer is a grade 8.

Responsibilities

Everything in the Senior Accessibility Engineer role, plus:

• Technical Strategy: Define and drive technical strategy for accessibility across GitLab.
• Architecture: Design and implement scalable accessibility solutions that can be adopted across the platform.
• Testing Framework: Develop and maintain comprehensive accessibility testing frameworks.
• Reporting: Serves as a key partner in customer-facing accessibility compliance discussions, providing strategic direction on conformance assessments and final determinations for ACRs.
• Standards Development: Create and maintain internal accessibility standards and guidelines.
• Organizational Impact: Drive accessibility initiatives across multiple teams and departments.
• External Leadership: Represent GitLab in accessibility communities and conferences.
• Innovation Leadership: Lead research and implementation of emerging accessibility technologies.
• Mentorship Program: Develop and lead accessibility mentorship programs, including evaluation methodology and documentation standards.

Requirements

A Staff Accessibility Engineer is expected to meet the base requirements and execute their responsibilities while coaching team members to collaborate and work iteratively.

Performance Indicators

• Number of accessibility issues resolved
• Time to resolution for critical and severe accessibility issues
• Product coverage for automated accessibility checks

Hiring Process

Candidates for these positions can expect the hiring process to follow this general process:

1. Recruiter Call (30 minutes)
   • Discussion of interest in accessibility.
   • Discussion of experience with design and UX.
   • Discussion of experience with accessibility engineering and front-end development.
   • Understanding of WCAG guidelines and accessibility standards.
   • Technical background and approach to accessibility.
   • Compensation expectations and motivation.
2. Technical Exercise
   • Candidates will receive a brief technical exercise focusing on identifying and fixing accessibility issues.
   • Exercise should be completed before the technical interview.
   • Exercise will test both technical knowledge and problem-solving approaches.
3. Technical Interview Panel (1 hour)
   • In-depth discussion of accessibility implementation experience.
   • Technical questions about HTML (including ARIA), CSS, JavaScript, WCAG, a11y testing tools and assistive technologies.
   • Review and discuss the technical exercise.
   • Discussion of accessibility testing methodologies.
4. Hiring Manager Interview (1 hour)
   • Experience with manual and automated a11y testing.
   • Experience with complex accessibility solutions.
   • Strategies for monitoring and maintaining accessibility compliance.
   • Working with engineers to implement solutions.
5. Senior Product Design Manager Interview (1 hour)
   • Experience collaborating with design teams on accessibility solutions.
   • Methods for balancing design intent with accessibility requirements.
   • Approach to accessible component libraries.
   • Understanding of diverse user needs and contexts.

Successful candidates will receive an offer through a video call or phone call.

Required Skills by Level

Accessibility Engineer

• Proven WCAG knowledge and implementation.
• Experience with manual and automated accessibility testing tools.
• Working knowledge of several assistive technologies (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver, etc.).
• HTML, CSS, JavaScript proficiency.
• Ability to test and debug front-end and accessibility issues including cross-browser differences.
• Vue.js proficiency is a plus.
• Understanding and experience with design and UX is a plus.

Senior Accessibility Engineer

• Advanced WCAG implementation experience.
• Deep knowledge of manual and automated accessibility testing tools.
• Deep knowledge of assistive technologies (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver, etc.).
• Experience leading accessibility initiatives.
• Experience developing accessibility standards at an organization.
• Strong technical architecture skills.
• Mentoring and training experience.

Staff Accessibility Engineer

• Expert-level accessibility knowledge.
• Platform-wide accessibility architecture experience.
• Leadership in accessibility communities.
• Experience developing accessibility standards at an organization.
• Track record of driving organizational change.

 

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About GitLab

GitLab is an open core software company that develops the most comprehensive AI-powered DevSecOps Platform, used by more than 100,000 organizations. Our mission is to enable everyone to contribute to and co-create the software that powers our world. When everyone can contribute, consumers become contributors, significantly accelerating the rate of human progress. This mission is integral to our culture, influencing how we hire, build products, and lead our industry. We make this possible at GitLab by running our operations on our product and staying aligned with our values. Learn more about Life at GitLab. Thanks to products like Duo Enterprise, and Duo Workflow, customers get the benefit of AI at every stage of the SDLC. The same principles built into our products are reflected in how our team works: we embrace AI as a core productivity multiplier. All team members are encouraged and expected to incorporate AI into their daily workflows to drive efficiency, innovation, and impact across our global organisation.

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