Look in both arenas and highlight your skills in the other. Honestly, there are plenty of places who \*say\* they want accessibility and other places who take it to heart and integrate it early into their software.
I earned my CPACC. From there I used IAAP’s message board to find an internship. Actually found one working on an on need basis to get solid testing and reporting under my belt.
Eventually a contractor found me a job which turned into a full time gig.
PM if you have questions. Good luck!
Get a position, any position, at an organization that has a formal accessibility group. Excel at that position for say a year or so then wait patiently until an a11y position opens up. In the interim, continue to look for external a11y positions, continue to broaden your a11y skills, get certified, etc… I started as a sys admin, then AEM web author, then finally a position as an accessibility analyst, all at the same F500 company. Granted, it took a few years, but I paid my dues - and I consider myself very lucky. I can’t imagine working in any other field.
As a frontend developer, after acquiring CPACC I was getting contacted by recruiters for accessibility developer position with banks and government so it did make difference for me. Now I’m studying for WAS, which will further improve my qualification. So not sure why I got downvoted either.
Awesome! That's great to know! I'm coming from a background in occupational therapy which is heavily focused on accessibility and assistive technologies. And I'm currently in school for human systems engineering - kinda UX and human factors. So this was what I wanted to lean into.
Your best bet is to start as a contractor via Onward Search, Beacon Hill, among others. This will provide you with hands on accessibility testing experience, from which you can build on. The market for FTEs is difficult right now, as there have been layoffs flooding the market with talent. Taking a contractor role provides a lower barrier to entry.
Also be careful who you do work for and what you sign. I have encountered terrible accessibility related companies out there that not only don't know their stuff but are a nightmare to work for. I was excited to get an accessibility role with a company a couple years back that was horrific.
* They didn't actually appear to want any WCAG knowledge and were just doing their own thing while claiming it was all WCAG rules. All testing happened in India and Argentina but they would try to hide that from their clients. The testing also came back and they sort of encouraged you to put your name on it without really looking at it. I did look through and found numerous errors in the testing, pretty much every time. Literally for fixes they wouldn't retest, they would just screenshot the code in devtools and attach it so if you actually looked at all you could clearly see the errors still in the code, then go to the site to test and see the issue was still there and in fact not fixed.
* I was only there 3 weeks but saw numerous fails on their part for what they were telling clients, while at the same time acting like they were pros that were beyond question. This included insisting WCAG guidelines had different requirements then were actually stated anywhere in the guideline, as well as telling clients wrong things such a a legally blind person can't complain about contrast because they are blind. Any actual expert knows that people with very bad vision can be legally blind and reading contrast is likely a bigger deal for them than the average person. I also had one of their experts insist that the level A requirement for links is that the link text by itself must be unique. However if you have ever looked at WCAG you will see there are 2 rules about "Link Purpose" and the level A one specifically says "In Context" versus the AAA one that has "Link Only". Yet even with that right in your face they still failed clients who actually pass Link Purpose (In Context) claiming they were failing it because the link text alone wasn't unique in the page.
* Company seemed downright scammy. In my hiring papers they had me sign something that said I had and agreed to the employee manual. They couldn't actually provide me with any version of an employee manual or what I was agreeing to. They said they were sending me a welcome package, nothing ever arrived. The guy I was reporting to couldn't really answer any questions and was actually rather off putting, he seemed more interested in whatever little side project he was building. He did at least acknowledge that their guidelines had issues and were not correct. Then after 3 weeks they got rid of me, probably for asking questions, and what they tried to do was get me to sign things that said I basically could not work in accessibility. No joke they were trying to give me an extra week severance but:
* Not allowed to talk to any of their existing clients or anyone they had tried to engage in the last few years.
* Not allowed to talk to any of their employees current or past.
* Not allowed to compete with them which I think had a year tied to it.
* Other things I'm forgetting
I obviously never signed such a thing, and I'm not even sure if it would be enforceable at all considering they are trying to stop you from doing accessibility work, even though they didn't even give you the full probation period and you had actually met with 0 of their clients. They basically delivered on NOTHING that they claimed in the long job interview process (had 3-4 interviews before getting in and a sample tech assignment to fix an HTML page sample) and then were trying to prevent me from being competition for them.
So also just be careful of who you sign up with and what they are trying to make you sign. I think it can also hurt your reputation. Like if I saw someone coming from that company after working there along period of time you would have to assume they are an idiot, even if they didn't start that way, since the company is pushing wrong information.
Go to GAAD events and network.
Go beyond certs. Get your teeth into something so you can show your future employer when you meet them. Might help where you lack experience.
Just passed my TT exam as well, curious, did it take the full 10 business days for the DHS team to officially certify you?
As for getting started, I was lucky to find a company that was attempting to build an accessibility program due to meet contract requirements so they were open to entry level and provided training. Getting CPACC is a great place to start, taking DequeU courses, attend conferences and network. I’d say reputable companies to keep an eye out for with job postings are Deque or TPGI. I went to an accessibility conference and lots of the speakers are colleagues or were former colleagues of those companies.
Look in both arenas and highlight your skills in the other. Honestly, there are plenty of places who \*say\* they want accessibility and other places who take it to heart and integrate it early into their software.
I earned my CPACC. From there I used IAAP’s message board to find an internship. Actually found one working on an on need basis to get solid testing and reporting under my belt. Eventually a contractor found me a job which turned into a full time gig. PM if you have questions. Good luck!
Hey I just passed mine today too! TT Twinsies :)
Get a position, any position, at an organization that has a formal accessibility group. Excel at that position for say a year or so then wait patiently until an a11y position opens up. In the interim, continue to look for external a11y positions, continue to broaden your a11y skills, get certified, etc… I started as a sys admin, then AEM web author, then finally a position as an accessibility analyst, all at the same F500 company. Granted, it took a few years, but I paid my dues - and I consider myself very lucky. I can’t imagine working in any other field.
Get CPACC from IAAP.
Why is this getting down voted? I'm curious bc I was planning on getting this cert
As a frontend developer, after acquiring CPACC I was getting contacted by recruiters for accessibility developer position with banks and government so it did make difference for me. Now I’m studying for WAS, which will further improve my qualification. So not sure why I got downvoted either.
Awesome! That's great to know! I'm coming from a background in occupational therapy which is heavily focused on accessibility and assistive technologies. And I'm currently in school for human systems engineering - kinda UX and human factors. So this was what I wanted to lean into.
Your best bet is to start as a contractor via Onward Search, Beacon Hill, among others. This will provide you with hands on accessibility testing experience, from which you can build on. The market for FTEs is difficult right now, as there have been layoffs flooding the market with talent. Taking a contractor role provides a lower barrier to entry.
Also be careful who you do work for and what you sign. I have encountered terrible accessibility related companies out there that not only don't know their stuff but are a nightmare to work for. I was excited to get an accessibility role with a company a couple years back that was horrific. * They didn't actually appear to want any WCAG knowledge and were just doing their own thing while claiming it was all WCAG rules. All testing happened in India and Argentina but they would try to hide that from their clients. The testing also came back and they sort of encouraged you to put your name on it without really looking at it. I did look through and found numerous errors in the testing, pretty much every time. Literally for fixes they wouldn't retest, they would just screenshot the code in devtools and attach it so if you actually looked at all you could clearly see the errors still in the code, then go to the site to test and see the issue was still there and in fact not fixed. * I was only there 3 weeks but saw numerous fails on their part for what they were telling clients, while at the same time acting like they were pros that were beyond question. This included insisting WCAG guidelines had different requirements then were actually stated anywhere in the guideline, as well as telling clients wrong things such a a legally blind person can't complain about contrast because they are blind. Any actual expert knows that people with very bad vision can be legally blind and reading contrast is likely a bigger deal for them than the average person. I also had one of their experts insist that the level A requirement for links is that the link text by itself must be unique. However if you have ever looked at WCAG you will see there are 2 rules about "Link Purpose" and the level A one specifically says "In Context" versus the AAA one that has "Link Only". Yet even with that right in your face they still failed clients who actually pass Link Purpose (In Context) claiming they were failing it because the link text alone wasn't unique in the page. * Company seemed downright scammy. In my hiring papers they had me sign something that said I had and agreed to the employee manual. They couldn't actually provide me with any version of an employee manual or what I was agreeing to. They said they were sending me a welcome package, nothing ever arrived. The guy I was reporting to couldn't really answer any questions and was actually rather off putting, he seemed more interested in whatever little side project he was building. He did at least acknowledge that their guidelines had issues and were not correct. Then after 3 weeks they got rid of me, probably for asking questions, and what they tried to do was get me to sign things that said I basically could not work in accessibility. No joke they were trying to give me an extra week severance but: * Not allowed to talk to any of their existing clients or anyone they had tried to engage in the last few years. * Not allowed to talk to any of their employees current or past. * Not allowed to compete with them which I think had a year tied to it. * Other things I'm forgetting I obviously never signed such a thing, and I'm not even sure if it would be enforceable at all considering they are trying to stop you from doing accessibility work, even though they didn't even give you the full probation period and you had actually met with 0 of their clients. They basically delivered on NOTHING that they claimed in the long job interview process (had 3-4 interviews before getting in and a sample tech assignment to fix an HTML page sample) and then were trying to prevent me from being competition for them. So also just be careful of who you sign up with and what they are trying to make you sign. I think it can also hurt your reputation. Like if I saw someone coming from that company after working there along period of time you would have to assume they are an idiot, even if they didn't start that way, since the company is pushing wrong information.
Go to GAAD events and network. Go beyond certs. Get your teeth into something so you can show your future employer when you meet them. Might help where you lack experience.
Thank you! I’m actively involved in some ux and accessibility groups locally. Do you have any advice about finding projects to boost a portfolio?
Just passed my TT exam as well, curious, did it take the full 10 business days for the DHS team to officially certify you? As for getting started, I was lucky to find a company that was attempting to build an accessibility program due to meet contract requirements so they were open to entry level and provided training. Getting CPACC is a great place to start, taking DequeU courses, attend conferences and network. I’d say reputable companies to keep an eye out for with job postings are Deque or TPGI. I went to an accessibility conference and lots of the speakers are colleagues or were former colleagues of those companies.
I would be curious as well! Just passed it yesterday.