Presented at 11:45am in Cotton Creek II on Friday, November 18, 2016.
#4526Speaker(s)
- Elianna James, President, I Break Websites LLC
Session Details
- Length of Session: 1-hr
- Format:
- Expertise Level: Intermediate
- Type of session: General Conference
Summary
Building on last year's presentation about bringing all your skills to an accessibility career. Tracking jobs across the US which contain keywords related to accessibility skills shows a steady increase in job opportunities.
Abstract
History of jobs related to accessibility tended to be concentrated in several urban areas (Boston, Bay Area, Washington D. C. and the State of Washington) Many opportunities were limited to a small number of practitioners known to one another.
In the past several years, knowledge of universal design, ARIA coding, functional use of screen readers and understanding of the legal and ethical landscape of accessibility became known to more and more employers as vital and useful skills for their business to obtain.
Job postings in diverse places such as Highland Heights, KY and Shoreview, MN include WCAG, ARIA and other skillbases. The glass ceiling that contained accessibility jobs has been broken.
This workshop will explore the current state of jobs in this niche. It will share creative ideas on how to formulate your own dream job in accessibility. Shortcuts on how to find and learn skills that will be job valuable are included.
Keypoints
- How to look for and apply to accessibility related positions
- How to make a case for a job where one doesn't exist yet
- What materials to study and what to avoid in accessibility
Disability Areas
Cognitive/Learning, Deaf/Hard of Hearing, Mobility, Other, Vision
Topic Areas
Uncategorized
Speaker Bio(s)
Elianna James
Elianna James, President of 'I Break Websites LLC' in Colorado has worked for the past several years exclusively in accessibility, as Accessibility SME for EBSCO Industries, as Accessibility Lead for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on a large SaaS project for HR recruitment and in other verticals and industries.
Building on a long term career in QA and UX her guiding motto is: "Usability with Accessibility. Together they make business sense!"
Former President of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (RMHFES) she created field trips to broaden the experiences of the members. We traveled the Front Range to a firehouse in Louisville, SpaceCo ergonomic furniture manufacturer and NREL.
Member of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP). Part of the Organizational Professional Development Committee.