Head of Accessibility

Summary

A head of accessibility is an expert practitioner who can create an accessibility vision or strategy for an organisation. At this role level, you will:

define and assure best practice while influencing, leading and mentoring others

influence and develop organisational strategy and priorities, working with counterpart colleagues across government

ensure the right conditions and environment for accessibility specialists to work effectively

develop departmental capability by supporting internal movement of staff between roles, shaping career paths and recruiting talent

understand and own the overall approach to accessibility risk (including how accessibility risk is communicated and how corporate legal compliance risk is managed within the organisation)

engage with and contribute to the cross-government accessibility community

Work Activity Components

Title	Details
Involve, synthesise and inform (Level 5)	Synthesises findings, develops insights and presents findings to inform decision making and drive actions.
Methods, standards and policies (Level 6)	Develops organisational policies, standards, and guidelines to ensure research continually informs the development of systems, interactions, products and services to optimise utility and usability for users and enable them to achieve their required outcomes.
Acceptance tests (Level 4) UNAN	Specifies measurable criteria for the required usability and accessibility of the system, products and services. Assists clients/users in defining user experience acceptance tests for automated systems, against the measurable criteria.

Behavioural Skills

Title	Details
Interacting with People	Establishing relationships, contributing to an open culture and maintaining contacts with people from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. Effective, approachable and sensitive communicator in different communities and cultures. Ability to adapt style and approach to meet the needs of different audiences.
Influence, Persuasion and Personal Impact	Conveying a level of confidence and professionalism when engaging with stakeholders, influencing positively and persuading others to take a specific course of action when not in a position of authority.
Teamwork	Working collaboratively with others to achieve a common goal.
Leadership	Clearly articulating goals and objectives, and motivating and leading others towards their achievement.

Technical Skills

Title	Details	Depth
Corporate, Industry and Professional Standards	Applying relevant standards, practices, codes, and assessment and certification programmes to the specific organisation or business domain.	Proficient in
Systems Ergonomics and Iterative Design	Iterative methods and techniques to allocate and optimise the division of functions between the human, machine and organisational elements of IT systems and the functions themselves in terms of ergonomic impact. Systematic and iterative design of the physical and cognitive interfaces to create an effective user experience in a software system, product or service with attention paid to variety of locations and access devices employed by users.	Proficient in

Other Skills

Title	Details	Depth
Presentation Techniques	Methods and techniques for delivering effective and accessible presentations, either face-to-face or online within various contexts and to a variety of audiences.	Proficient in
Project Planning and Control Techniques	Methods and techniques associated with planning and monitoring progress of projects.	Proficient in

Training

Title	Details
Information and Data Modelling	Tools and techniques used to investigate, analyse and model the structure, relationships and use of data and information within an organisation.
Human Factors Techniques	Methods and techniques for understanding human needs and limitations and for designing usable, accessible and ergonomically sound systems. Examples: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) approaches and iterative design methods and accessibility. Recognising ever evolving user expectations for use of a variety of access devices and locations and opportunities for environmental savings e.g. reducing office space, travel, etc.
Usability Evaluation Techniques	Methods and techniques for the assessment of IT product usability, accessibility and health and safety throughout the lifecycle of development projects.
Latest Cyber Security Threats for Senior Execs	Short, high-level, up-to-date and to-the-point briefing on the latest threats and vulnerabilities in cyber security.

Professional Development Activity (PDA)

Title	Details	PDA Group
Mentoring	Acting as a mentor, advising those for whom there is no direct responsibility, on matters to do with their job role, career and professional development.	Broadening Activities
Gaining Knowledge of Broader IT Issues	Increasing and maintaining currency of knowledge of broader IT issues through reading, attending and participating in seminars or conferences, special studies, temporary assignments etc.	Increasing Knowledge
Gaining Knowledge of Activities of Employing Organisation	Developing an understanding of the potentially diverse range of activities (service, governance, administrative, regulatory, commercial, charitable, industrial, etc.) undertaken by the employing organisation.	Increasing Knowledge
Gaining Knowledge of Standards and Legislation	Gaining and maintaining knowledge of relevant national and international standards and legislation.	Increasing Knowledge
Participation in Professional Body Affairs	Taking an active part in professional body affairs at branch, specialist group, committee or board level.	Participation in Professional Activities
Management Development	Undertaking learning and best practice of the skills appropriate to managing all or part of an organisation, including business and financial management, benefits management, people management, management of change and strategic planning. This will require both on and off the job learning and may include participation in an appropriate development programme such as MBA or DMS (Diploma in Management Studies).	Developing Professional Skills

Organisational Skill Name and Description

Framework	Skill	Level
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	Communicating information Communication involves conveying information using the most effective medium and language for the audience.	Expert Communicating information You can: mediate between people and mend relationships, communicating with stakeholders at all levels manage stakeholder expectations and host or moderate discussions about high risk and complexity, even within constrained timescales speak on behalf of and represent the community to large audiences inside and outside of government
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	Governance and assurance (accessibility) Governance and assurance involves defining and ensuring adherence to an organisation's quality control and compliance processes.	Expert Governance and assurance (accessibility) You can: analyse governance and assurance systems and add appropriate measures to ensure accessibility is built into all project, programme and change activity
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	Leadership and guidance IT infrastructure involves ensuring systems and processes are available, adaptable, reliable and secure.	Expert Leadership and guidance You can: change organisational structures to fixable and sustainable designs lead on the strategy for the whole organisation, marrying business needs with innovative analysis make and justify decisions characterised by high levels of risk, impact and complexity build consensus between organisations (private or public) or highly independent and diverse stakeholders solve and unblock issues between teams or departments at the highest level understand the psychology of a team and have strong mediation skills coach the organisation on team dynamics and conflict resolution
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	Technical understanding (accessibility) Accessibility involves ensuring your service can be used by as many people as possible, including those with impaired vision, motor difficulties, cognitive impairments, learning disabilities and deafness.	Practitioner Technical understanding (accessibility) You can: demonstrate knowledge and communicate the requirements of accessibility standards and legislation advocate appropriate technical solutions to a range of accessibility issues perform detailed audits of websites, services and documents, and document findings clearly for others to work from be an advocate for the people affected by accessibility barriers across the department provide introductory awareness and training about accessibility demonstrate confidence using one or more assistive technologies, and knowledge of others
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	Testing Testing involves ensuring that requirements have been fully met by using appropriate tools and techniques to verify that a product or service works.	Practitioner Testing You can: manage the planning of system and acceptance tests, co-ordinating both functional and non-functional specifications provide authoritative advice and guidance on test planning identify process improvements and contribute to the definition of best practice
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	User focus User focus involves understanding the user needs to develop a detailed understanding of the problems that need to be solved.	Expert User focus You can: give direction on which tools or methods to use demonstrate experience in meeting the needs of users across a variety of channels bring insight and expertise in how user needs have changed over time to ensure they're met by the business apply strategic thinking to provide the best service for the end user

Framework

Skill

Level