Digital Accessibility Lead

United States·New YorkFull Timelead

OtherDigital

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Quick Summary

Key Responsibilities

Translate WCAG 2.1/2.2 AA

Technical Tools

OtherDigital

Overview
The New York Public Library has been an essential provider of free books, information, ideas, and education for all New Yorkers for over 125 years. Founded in 1895, NYPL is the nation's largest neighborhood public library system and the most used research library in the world. NYPL provides an extraordinary richness of resources, educational innovation, and opportunities available to all across its 92 locations throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. The New York Public Library is built on the principle of equitable access for all and digital accessibility is a key pillar. We believe that access to information is a fundamental right, and our digital spaces must be as open and welcoming as our physical doors.

Reporting to the Chief of Staff of the Digital Department, the Digital Accessibility Lead will serve as the primary champion and strategic leader for digital accessibility across NYPL's digital products and platforms. The ideal candidate will be a persuasive changemaker who isn't afraid to push boundaries, challenge the status quo, and vigorously advocate for patrons and accessibility. They will be tasked with transforming mindsets, convincing cross-functional teams of why this work matters deeply, and embedding accessibility into the very DNA of our product development lifecycle. They will ensure that our digital experiences meet the latest accessibility standards and will collaborate with library-wide partners to identify and remediate digital accessibility barriers.

This is a four-year, grant-funded temporary position.

Some expectations for this role are that within:

1 month, this person will:

Understand the Digital Department's functional structure, product portfolio, and core mission.
Meet with key stakeholders across Product, Engineering, Design, and Project Management, as well as partners across NYPL, to build relationships and map the current accessibility landscape.
Conduct a preliminary review of NYPL's digital products to assess the current accessibility baseline and support prioritization of remediation efforts

3 months, this person will:

Develop and deliver initial accessibility training for the Digital team.
Establish consistent processes for embedding accessibility reviews into the product development cycle.

6 months and beyond, this person will:

Drive measurable improvements in accessibility compliance across NYPL's digital products, executing against the remediation roadmap.
Build and maintain an accessibility knowledge base — including design guidelines, developer resources, testing protocols, and training materials — that the Digital team can rely on.

Responsibilities:

Translate WCAG 2.1/2.2 AA requirements into clear, actionable guidance for designers, engineers, and product managers across the full product development lifecycle — from discovery through design, engineering, testing, and deployment.
Develop and deliver accessibility training, documentation, and resources — including how-to guides, FAQs, and design system contributions — to build team-wide accessibility competency.
Review designs, mockups, and prototypes throughout the development cycle to catch and address accessibility issues early.
Support accessibility user testing including keyboard-only navigation, screen reader testing, and other assistive technologies to provide a high-quality user experience
Support remediation of accessibility issues in PDFs, Microsoft & Google Suite documents, web-based forms, and other digital content formats.
Stay current with evolving accessibility standards, assistive technologies, and best practices, and proactively recommend improvements to NYPL's approach.
Represent the Digital Team in meetings with other Library departments, and report back to the Digital Team on accessibility needs and happenings from those meetings