The Accessibility Specialist will establish standards for accessibility in the Design System, embedding inclusive practices, and collaborating across teams to ensure digital experiences are accessible and user-friendly.
Overview: Education and Experience Required:
- We are seeking a Senior Accessibility Specialist to establish and advance accessibility practices for our Enterprise Design System team. This role is responsible for defining accessibility standards, embedding inclusive practices into system components and patterns, and enabling product teams to deliver accessible digital experiences at scale.
- As a top 20 U.S. bank, accessibility is both a regulatory responsibility and a critical part of delivering clear, usable, and trustworthy experiences. Our Design System is central to this effort, and this role will partner closely with design, engineering, and Enterprise Accessibility to ensure accessibility is built into the foundation of our digital platforms.
Accessibility Strategy & Ownership
- Serve as the primary accessibility owner for M&T’s Enterprise Design System.
- Define and evolve accessibility standards and best practices as they apply to system components, patterns, and documentation.
- Partner with Enterprise Accessibility to align our implementation with enterprise and cross-platform accessibility strategy.
- Advocate for accessibility as a foundational system capability rather than a downstream compliance activity.
Design System Integration
- Embed accessibility considerations into the design and development lifecycle of UI components and patterns.
- Provide early accessibility guidance and feedback on net-new components and patterns during design exploration (e.g., Figma).
- Define system-level expectations for keyboard navigation, focus management, screen reader behavior, motion, and responsive behavior.
- Ensure accessibility is addressed consistently across shared and platform-specific implementations.
Engineering Enablement & Quality
- Conduct accessibility reviews and audits of design system assets, independently or in partnership with external vendors.
- Define and document accessibility best practices for design system consumers, including areas that must be handled at the application level.
- Partner with engineering and Enterprise Accessibility to refine accessibility testing approaches, including keyboard navigation and interaction patterns as part of the definition of done.
- Identify accessibility risks and gaps and work with partners to drive sustainable solutions.
Accessible Content & Inclusive Language
- Establish standards for accessible system-level content, emphasizing clear, plain-language writing that supports comprehension for diverse audiences.
- Define best practices for semantic structure (e.g., headings, hierarchy) to support screen readers and scannability.
- Provide principles and examples to help teams create appropriate accessible alternatives (such as text equivalents for visual content and media) while allowing flexibility across use cases and platforms.
- Promote inclusive and culturally sensitive language practices, avoiding visual-dependent, directional, or ambiguous instructions.
- Ensure design system documentation models accessible content practices for adopting teams.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Collaborate with content, design, engineering, product, and accessibility partners to support adoption of accessible system patterns.
- Act as an accessibility advocate and subject-matter expert within the design system team.
- Enable teams through documentation, guidance, and consultation.
- Foster deep partnership with Content Strategy/Design.
- Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 3 years’ related experience, or in lieu of a degree, a combined minimum of 7 years’ higher education and/or work experience, including a minimum of 3 years’ related experience
- Demonstrated experience applying WCAG-aligned accessibility principles to digital products or platforms, including native iOS and Android experiences.
- Working knowledge of front‑end technologies (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) sufficient to review implementations, evaluate accessibility behavior, and define system‑level standards.
- Strong experience writing accessible UX content, including plain language, semantic structure, and inclusive guidance.
- Familiarity with industry‑standard accessibility tools and testing methods, such as screen readers (JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver), automated testing tools (e.g., aXe, WAVE), and manual testing techniques.
- Experience working with design systems, component libraries, or shared UI platforms at the enterprise level.
- Ability to translate accessibility standards into practical guidance for designers and engineers.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- CPACC or WAS Certification is strongly preferred.
- Experience in financial services or other regulated industries.
- Familiarity with modern design and development practices, including Figma and component-based front-end ecosystems (e.g., React, Angular, Lit).
- Experience collaborating with enterprise accessibility or governance teams.
What Success Looks Like
- Accessibility is embedded by default in Currency components and documentation.
- Product teams understand what accessibility Currency provides and how to implement what it cannot.
- Accessibility issues are identified early and addressed systemically.
- The design system is trusted as an enabler of inclusive digital experiences across the bank.
M&T Bank Oakland, California, USA Office
Oakland, United States
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