Are you curious about a career as an Digital Accessibility Consultant? Wondering what a typical week looks like? The world of digital accessibility is incredibly broad. No two roles (or weeks) are quite the same. Depending on your background, interests, and skills, your days might be filled with audits, training, policy work, design reviews, or all of the above.
I really enjoyed a varied diet, so my typical day is never very typical! I am often working with multiple projects for different clients at a time, across different industries. I enjoy chaos and multi-tasking, but this is not for everyone! Some of my other colleagues work on long term projects, getting to see a client progress over time to achieve their goals.
To give you a better idea of what this work can look like day-to-day, I asked some of my amazing colleagues at Intopia to share what their weeks usually involve. From being a junior digital accessibility consultant just starting out to senior strategists and trainers, we paint a diverse picture of what a career in accessibility can look like.
Accessibility audits and assessments
For a lot of Digital Accessibility Consultants, most of their time is dedicated to accessibility audits and assessments. A week is not complete without some focused accessibility testing. This includes reviewing websites, apps, or documents against relevant standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The work often includes inspecting code and using assistive technologies like screen readers to identify potential barriers that could impact people with disabilities.
Writing detailed reports to communicate accessibility testing results is another essential task. These reports clearly document the issues found, explain their impact, and offer guidance on how to fix them.
For Junior Digital Accessibility Consultant Beau, a lot of their time is spent on auditing websites as they learn the intricacies of accessibility testing. “Most websites have a significant number of barriers, likely stemming from a lack of accessibility training and knowledge at the development level”, they share.
For an experienced Digital Accessibility Consultant like Madhavi, this process also involves preparing Statements of Conformance or Accessibility Conformance Reports. This ensures clients can confidently communicate the accessibility status or a product or service. Madhavi shares , “I’ve been working with Canva testing and producing Accessibility Conformance Reports. It’s been rewarding to see them strive to make a complex app as Canva accessible to as many users as possible”.
If you’re lucky, you might also get the opportunity to do something a little bit different, like reviewing a content management system against the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) or a EFTPOS machine against EN 301 549 (Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services).
Not all accessibility reviews are full audits. We also assist with pulse checks, validation, design reviews, component testing and more. As someone who specialises in accessibility design, I also do design reviews. I am often jumping into Figma and reviewing designs in different stages, from wireframes to existing design systems, to give feedback on where to improve accessibility.
To wrap up, we make sure we have a good Quality Assurance (QA) process. All our work is peer reviewed to ensure that we maintain our high standards for quality.
Continuous learning
One of the things that makes working in digital accessibility so interesting is that there’s always something new to learn. Whether you’re just getting started or have years of experience, staying up to date with evolving standards, tech, and best practices is a big part of the job. Honestly, it’s part of the fun!
For Junior Digital Accessibility Consultants like Beau, learning is baked right into the week. “I often spend my spare time researching and learning about digital accessibility”, they say. “I also meet weekly with the audit practice lead to discuss issues or questions. This is always a highlight of my week, as I get the opportunity to learn from their experience and usually learn something new”. That mix of mentoring and self-guided exploration is a great way to build confidence and skill early on.
Principal Digital Accessibility Consultants, like Andrew Arch, take a research-focused approach to support their work in accessibility strategy and policy. “Some of the support we provide organisation requires not just our existing knowledge and expertise, but also research to uncover best practices for obscure topics or tasks”, he explains.
Keeping up with international standards is a big part of the puzzle, too. Andrew shares, “Policies and standards are changing all the time around the world. As we work with so many international organisations, it is essential to monitor changes and updates continually”.
For Russ and Claire, who create and deliver training, learning happens through teaching. Whether it’s putting together a course, writing a guide, or answering tricky questions in a workshop, the process often sparks new insights and learning.
Accessibility consulting
For Madhavi, working directly with clients is one of the most rewarding parts of the job. After an audit wraps up, she often meets with clients to walk through the findings and explain why they matter. “It’s not just about pointing out what’s wrong. It’s about helping clients understand how people with disabilities interact with their site or app. It’s fulfilling to know I’m helping them create a more inclusive digital experience”, she shares.
I often find myself jumping on calls with various clients to answer questions and dive into problems that need solving. Being flexible and responsive goes a long way in keeping things moving and building trusting relationships with clients.
Andrew, who works in strategic consulting, helps organisations understand their accessibility maturity. Andrew conducts one-on-one interviews, focus groups and reviews organisational policies and processes. This helps Andrew understand how accessibility is perceived and practiced day-to-day in an organisation. In turn, this feeds into Accessibility Maturity Assessments for clients, which help them understand where they are at and how they can improve.
As the Head of Inclusive Training, Russ works directly with clients to figure out what team upskilling they need and how to deliver it in a way that works for their organisation. “A significant part of the role involves working with clients to understand their needs and promote accessibility”, he shares. That includes everything from initial chats and writing up proposals to staying in touch once an engagement is done.
“Duties as otherwise specified”
The exciting thing about being a consultant is often the variety that comes with it. While the day-to-day might look different, coming together as a team and helping out teammates is core to who we are. “This includes jumping in and helping teammates on other projects if my long background in this field can be useful”, Andrew adds.
As Digital Accessibility Consultant May-Fei puts it, there’s a ton of setup work that happens before any actual auditing begins. “A lot of work goes into setting up projects before our auditing team can jump in”, she says. That might mean defining the scope, getting the right tools in place, or streamlining internal processes to make things run more smoothly. Intopia also has an awesome Service Delivery team, ensuring consultants have everything lined up and ready to go.
Overall, work as an accessibility consultant is incredibly varied. Each of us at Intopia have a unique background and set of skills to contribute in different ways. Digital accessibility is something to consider in so many aspects of a business, so there is a large variety of roles. If accessibility is something that you want to move in to as a career, there definitely is a niche that would suit your existing skillsets and background.
Interested in becoming a Digital Accessibility Consultant?
We’re always on the hunt for any new budding Digital Accessibility Consultant to come and join the force. For more information about careers at Intopia, please visit our Intopia Careers.