QA Tester – Section 508 / WCAG

Position Overview

The Department of Education is seeking a Senior QA Tester to support ongoing enhancements to applications used for monitoring and administering Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants, including Parts B and C. Current project initiatives include the addition of two AEA funding streams, a fiscal monitoring tool, and three stand-alone form upload processes supporting budget and claims workflows.

This role will be responsible for both manual and automated testing, with a primary emphasis on manual testing and automation where appropriate. The ideal candidate will have experience developing and executing test plans, validating business and technical requirements, performing API and database testing, and supporting defect triage activities throughout the software development lifecycle.

The Senior QA Tester will collaborate closely with business analysts, developers, and business stakeholders to ensure solutions meet functional, usability, accessibility, and quality standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform a variety of software testing activities including:
• Functional Testing
• Regression Testing
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
• Usability Testing
• Accessibility Testing
• Develop, execute, and maintain manual test cases, test scripts, and test plans.
• Utilize testing tools to support and expand automated testing efforts where practical.
• Review business requirements and technical documentation to ensure comprehensive test coverage.
• Collaborate with Business Analysts to clarify requirements and develop test scenarios, including limited requirements gathering activities necessary for test planning.
• Perform API testing and database validation to ensure data accuracy and system integrity.
• Execute SQL queries to validate application functionality and data processing.
• Document testing results, defects, and recommendations.
• Participate in defect triage activities, troubleshooting, and production support efforts as issues arise.
• Work closely with development teams to ensure changes are successfully migrated into production environments.
• Support projects ranging from small enhancements to large-scale application initiatives.
• Assist with maintaining user and system documentation as business processes evolve.
• Participate in business process improvement and validation activities.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of Quality Assurance and Software Testing experience.
• Strong experience with manual testing methodologies and best practices.
• Certified in accessibility (e.g., CPACC, WAS, or equivalent) with a thorough, deep understanding of accessibility principles and WCAG 2.2 AA standards, not just surface-level familiarity.
• Experience creating and maintaining automated test scripts.
• High-level proficiency with:
• SQL queries and database validation
• API testing and web service validation
• Experience developing test plans, test cases, and test documentation from business requirements.
• Ability to analyze requirements and translate them into comprehensive testing strategies.
• Experience tracking and managing defects through the software development lifecycle.
• Certification in Accessibility Testing.
• Knowledge of Section 508 Accessibility Standards.
• Experience testing applications for government accessibility compliance.
• Familiarity with accessibility testing tools and methodologies.
• Experience validating WCAG and Section 508 compliance requirements
• Excellent troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively with business stakeholders, developers, project managers, and other IT teams.
• Experience working in Agile or similar collaborative development environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting government applications or public-sector technology environments.
• Experience testing compliance-driven or grant management systems.