Ascension is seeking an experienced Web, UX & Accessibility Lead to provide technical leadership and hands-on support for public-facing websites supporting Montgomery Planning and the Montgomery Planning Board.

This role is intended for a web professional who combines website administration, user experience, accessibility, technical troubleshooting, and digital governance skills. The ideal candidate understands that a public-sector website is more than a communications channel—it is a critical means by which residents obtain information, understand planning decisions, access public resources, and participate in the planning process.

The Web, UX & Accessibility Lead will help Montgomery Planning maintain reliable, accessible, user-friendly digital services while continuously identifying opportunities to improve the online experience for residents, stakeholders, staff, partner agencies, and other users.

Ascension is particularly interested in candidates who can move comfortably between technical and nontechnical work: identifying and resolving website problems, evaluating usability and accessibility barriers, implementing improvements, documenting processes, and explaining technical recommendations to communications and program staff.

The successful candidate should be detail-oriented, highly organized, responsive, service-minded, and capable of working independently in an on-call environment. The individual should be comfortable anticipating problems before they become service disruptions, prioritizing competing requests, troubleshooting ambiguous issues, and developing practical solutions with limited supervision.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Web, UX & Accessibility Lead supports Montgomery Planning’s Website Maintenance & Technical Support requirements for MontgomeryPlanning.org and MontgomeryPlanningBoard.org.

The contractor will support the ongoing administration and maintenance of public-facing websites; identify and resolve technical problems; monitor website performance; support security and software updates; and recommend technologies, tools, features, and approaches that advance Montgomery Planning’s digital communications goals.

The Lead will also evaluate and improve user journeys, page structures, templates, components, forms, and other digital experiences while maintaining consistency with approved branding and site themes.

Accessibility is a central responsibility of the position. The contractor should be capable of evaluating websites and digital content against applicable accessibility requirements and helping identify, prioritize, remediate, test, and document accessibility issues involving ADA requirements, WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and Revised Section 508.

The contractor will work collaboratively with communications staff, designers, developers, content owners, program staff, project leadership, and other technical resources. The role will also help Montgomery Planning strengthen its internal capabilities through SOPs, technical documentation, job aids, training, and knowledge transfer.

This is not solely a visual UX/design position. The ideal candidate brings sufficient technical depth to support public website operations, CMS administration, accessibility testing, troubleshooting, web performance, release/change management, and technical documentation.

Position Responsibilities and Anticipated Activities

• ADMINISTER Montgomery Planning and Montgomery Planning Board public-facing websites and associated website tools, templates, components, and content-management functionality.
• MONITOR website availability, functionality, performance, usability, and technical health and identify issues requiring corrective action.
• TROUBLESHOOT website errors, broken functionality, content-display issues, integration problems, browser inconsistencies, forms, links, templates, and other technical problems.
• COORDINATE routine CMS, plugin, component, platform, and security updates in accordance with established change-management and security practices.
• ASSESS website pages, templates, navigation structures, forms, documents, and interactive content for usability and accessibility barriers.
• PERFORM automated and manual accessibility testing using appropriate accessibility-testing tools and techniques.
• VALIDATE accessibility using keyboard-only navigation, screen readers, browser accessibility tools, semantic structure, headings, labels, alternative text, color contrast, focus order, form controls, and other applicable criteria.
• REMEDIATE or coordinate remediation of accessibility defects affecting conformance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA, Revised Section 508, and applicable ADA accessibility expectations.
• IMPLEMENT UX and interface improvements that simplify navigation, improve content discoverability, support different devices and screen sizes, and make digital information easier for diverse audiences to understand and use.
• DEVELOP or modify web templates, reusable components, page structures, forms, and other web assets consistent with Montgomery Planning branding and established site themes.
• RESEARCH web technologies, digital tools, accessibility practices, and UX approaches that may improve Montgomery Planning’s online communications and public-engagement capabilities.
• RECOMMEND practical technology and UX improvements based on user needs, accessibility findings, website performance, technical feasibility, security considerations, and organizational priorities.
• COLLABORATE with communications strategists, graphic designers, content creators, technical staff, researchers, and Montgomery Planning personnel to translate business and communications needs into effective web solutions.
• SUPPORT quality assurance and user acceptance testing before deployment of new pages, features, templates, components, and significant website changes.
• DOCUMENT technical configurations, maintenance procedures, accessibility findings, remediation decisions, known issues, workflows, and recurring website-support activities.
• DEVELOP standard operating procedures, job aids, checklists, reference materials, and technical documentation to support Montgomery Planning personnel.
• TRAIN staff on website administration, accessibility responsibilities, content publishing practices, applicable tools, and procedures as requested.
• TRACK requests, defects, risks, technical issues, accessibility findings, remediation activities, and resolutions through established project-management or ticket-management processes.
• RESPOND efficiently to priority website problems and support time-sensitive technical requirements when public information must be updated or restored quickly.
• MAINTAIN organized records of website changes, testing results, technical documentation, and other work products required for knowledge transfer and continuity.

Professional Competencies

The successful candidate should demonstrate:

• Strong attention to detail and quality.
• A user-centered and accessibility-first mindset.
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills.
• Ability to identify root causes rather than only symptoms.
• Ability to anticipate technical or accessibility risks.
• Sound judgment when balancing user needs, technical constraints, schedules, and organizational priorities.
• Ability to manage several requests simultaneously.
• Clear written and verbal communication.
• Ability to translate technical subjects for nontechnical stakeholders.
• Strong documentation and knowledge-transfer discipline.
• Ability to work effectively with limited direction.
• Professionalism when working with client personnel and public-sector stakeholders.
• Responsiveness during time-sensitive web or accessibility issues.

Tools and Technologies

Candidates should be comfortable working with a combination of the following or comparable technologies:

Web/CMS

• Enterprise or public-facing content-management systems
• HTML
• CSS
• Basic JavaScript
• Browser developer tools

Accessibility

• WCAG 2.1 Level AA testing methodologies
• Section 508 testing
• Axe
• WAVE
• Accessibility Insights
• Lighthouse
• JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, or comparable assistive technologies

UX / Design

• Figma or comparable UX/design tools
• Wireframing and prototyping
• Responsive web-design principles
• Design systems and reusable components

Operations / QA

• Issue/ticket tracking
• Version control
• User acceptance testing
• Regression testing
• Performance monitoring
• Change and release management
• SOP and technical-documentation development