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CivicActions' Accessibility Champions Program

Building an accessible culture through our Champions Program Anchor link

The CivicActions Accessibility Pledge confirms our commitment to delivering inclusive digital services. We don't take this pledge lightly. We know it takes a lot of buy-in and dedication to build a culture of accessibility. It's not something that a few accessibility experts sprinkled throughout the company can deliver on alone. It takes company-wide effort. The Accessibility Champions program was created to offer CivicActioners a path for increasing leadership and confidence in furthering accessibility initiatives across projects and roles. This community of Accessibility Champions (ACs) are integral to creating and spreading an accessible culture throughout CivicActions.

Champions are responsible for fostering awareness and action on digital accessibility within their teams. ACs are a conduit of information from the Accessibility Practice Area to their functional and/or client teams. They also bring concerns, findings, and practices from their functional and/or client teams to the Accessibility Practice Area to share knowledge across teams. Our Champions support their team(s) in building accessibility confidence and by advocating for continual improvement.

Objectives of the Accessibility Champions Program Anchor link

We are building a program in which:

  • Everyone at CivicActions understands the importance of digital accessibility and receives basic training
  • Teams are equipped to improve the accessibility of the products they build
  • CivicActions staff are able to improve their skills, knowledge, and leadership in furthering accessible technology
  • We share what we learn with the wider community

Program recruitment Anchor link

All CivicActioners are encouraged to become Accessibility Champions. Champions come in all sizes and shapes and it is expected that there will be differences in the needs that functional and client teams have. We have ACs on client teams and in functional teams (other practice areas). Teams may decide that they need to have people with more or less experience to lead. Some teams will have only one, but some may have more Champions, particularly if there is mentoring or a distribution of labor involved.

Who makes a good Champion? Anchor link

Generally individuals volunteer for this role because they are interested in expanding their accessibility skillset and are passionate about leveling up the accessibility practices of their team. People who are motivating to others, self-directed, self-aware, in tune with team needs, and who have a bias toward action tend to make great Accessibility Champions.

Champions typically have interest in…

  • Learning more about digital accessibility
  • Research and investigation
  • Ability to describe barriers in a way that allows them to be reproduced
  • Coaching and mentoring
  • Complex problem solving
  • Presenting to audiences
  • Relationship building
  • Conflict resolution
  • Understanding the systems that create barriers to participation
  • Learning to use and interpret the results of automated tools

Benefits of becoming a Champion Anchor link

The Champions program makes it easier to:

  • Increase your organizational impact: Many joined CivicActions because they wanted to work for an impact-driven organization. Helping make websites more accessible can have an impact on millions of people.
  • Advance your career: We also want to support people in their growth within the company. "Accessibility Champion" looks good on your resume. It will help CivicActions become better innovators and win work.
  • Build cross-functional relationships: The work of accessibility is multidisciplinary and brings you into contact with specialists, leaders, and stakeholders from areas you may not otherwise interact with. These connections improve team communication and can have a lasting impact on your career and exposure to related expertise.

Expectations for Champions Anchor link

Champions are not expected to be accessibility experts, but they are expected to grow their accessibility knowledge and to support their teams in maturing accessibility practices. Having all of the answers is not required, but a willingness to find answers, foster communication between their client or functional team and the Accessibility Practice Area, and advocate for improved processes and practices is essential.

A champion will…

  • Take responsibility for iteratively making the client's project more accessible
  • Recommend process, tooling or other changes to make accessibility a bigger part of the client team's growth
  • Work with the Accessibility Practice Area group to surface and codify best practices to share across the company
  • Surface opportunities for learning and process improvement
  • Help their functional role have a clear understanding of accessibility expectations for that role
  • Support team members in meeting accessibility goals including onboarding new members

Specific examples include:

  • Raising accessibility issues in team meetings
  • Auditing projects for areas for improvement
  • Ensuring there is axe-core testing in our CI/CD process (pa11y with axe, Cypress-axe)
  • Ensure developers are using an accessibility linter (VSCode, phpStorm, atom)
  • Ensuring designers include accessibility annotations in wireframes
  • Working with the project team/PMs to better integrate accessibility into ticketing process
  • Coordinating actions using shared decision-making and prioritization criteria
  • Building checklists or default acceptance criteria
  • Do accessibility code reviews and help coach others on the team
  • Leading ARRM workshops if useful for new project or addressing backlogs

Champion levels Anchor link

There is an infinite amount that can be done on accessibility. And yet, we want the program to be a welcoming place for the accessibility-curious to be able to join without the need for advanced study or certifications. Levels provide an on-ramp for staff that may be less experienced with digital accessibility as well as leadership and mentorship opportunities for more experienced staff. The levels are set up to encourage people to push themselves to learn more with time and practice.

As champions gain skills, experience, and responsibility they can advance through three levels:

Level 1 — Basic knowledge Anchor link

No previous accessibility knowledge or experience is necessary for this level, only an enthusiasm to learn. In addition to Accessibility Onboarding for new employees, all CivicActions employees are encouraged to take an Introduction to Web Accessibility course. All employees are welcome to attend the practice area calls and engage in the Slack channel to keep up with best practices and internal accessibility discussions. At this level, the goal is to be able to articulate the importance of accessibility and to identify and prioritize common accessibility issues.

Level 2 — Experienced Anchor link

This level is for employees who are able to analyze the accessibility of a task across multiple pages and components and recommend solutions with confidence. Open to employees who have worked toward more in-depth accessibility certification through International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC), IAAP Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS) or DHS Trusted Tester. Level 2 Champions contribute to the website, write articles, and lead Accessibility Onboarding Workshops for new employees.

Level 3 — Taking leadership Anchor link

Level 3 is all about impact. At this level, Champions are able to evaluate the accessibility of a product systemically and prioritize approaches which will have the biggest impact. On projects they are expected to track down and advance issues and assist teammates in navigating complex solutions. Internally responsible for the innovation of our Accessibility Practice Area. Level 3 Champions contribute beyond CivicActions by maintaining modules or themes, contributing back to open source, engagement with the W3C Working Groups, and by coaching clients and partners.

Resources to start an Accessibility Champions program Anchor link

Articles and talks about beginning and growing Accessibility Champion programs to get you started.