What is it?

This resource provides:

1. A crowdsourced database of job descriptions which have been published by councils, together with their salary information. There’s also a form through which councils can upload their own recent JDs to add to the library.
2. A library of exemplar job descriptions, which you can use as templates for your own (updated November 2025).

Why did we create it?

Councils spend a huge amount of time writing role profiles to attract talent to their organisations. But with this database, there’s no need for them to have to start from scratch!

The role profiles in the Exemplar library have been written and formatted to be inclusive and accessible – the language has been checked by the LOTI team and reviewed for gender and other unconscious biases, and the documents have been consciously designed to be fully accessible.

To check your own role profiles for gendered language try using tools such as Gender Decoder, The Total jobs Gender Bias Decoder, or Applied’s Job Description.

The simplest way to ensure your role profiles are accessible is to follow some basic rules regarding formatting. Find out more about these simple accessibility rules.

For the crowdsourced library, we check your jobs pages on a weekly basis and add any newly advertised vacancies to our jobs board and this automatically uploads the role profile to the library along with the salary details. Councils can also upload their own job descriptions via our form. This library now provides several alternative versions of each role profile so hiring managers have a selection of examples to inspire their own. It also helps us to build up more detailed information about the salaries offered for each role.

For more advice on how to write the perfect JD and improve your recruitment practices, see LOTI’s Guide to Recruiting for Hard to Fill Roles.

Who should use it?

We hope these databases will be of interest to all hiring managers in councils who look after recruitment for digital, technology and data roles. When viewing the list of job descriptions, use the search link in the top right-hand corner of the screen to search for specific job roles.

How to make your job adverts and role profiles accessible

The structure and format of your documents are vital for accessibility, especially for users of screen readers. This applies across all formats (web, document, presentation).

Structure and navigation

• Use proper headings. Use built-in heading styles (H1, H2, etc.) and nest them correctly for navigation by assistive technology.
• Avoid layout tables. Tables should only be used for tabular data, not for organising text / images into columns, as this confuses assistive technology.

Text and readability

• Use plain English. Use simple, clear language, avoid jargon and acronyms. Write in short sentences and paragraphs, breaking up long blocks of text.
• Font choice matters. Use a readable, sans-serif font such as Arial, Helvetica, Lato, Montserrat, Open Sans, Roboto or Verdana. These fonts are designed for clarity and legibility on both screens and in print.
• Ensure proper spacing. Line spacing should be at least 1.5 times the font size; paragraph spacing at least 2 times.
• Don’t use italics for emphasis. Italics reduce readability, especially for users with dyslexia or other visual impairments, and they are often not conveyed by screen readers.
• ​​Don’t underline text. Underlining also causes problems with readability and should be reserved for links to avoid confusion.

Visuals and links

• Use alt text for images. Provide a short description for screen readers. Use empty / decorative tags for purely decorative images. For complex images, provide a longer description or data link.
• Complex images or charts. If your document contains an organisation chart or similar which requires more than a short description, you may need to provide a longer text description or a link to a data table.
• Don’t rely on colour alone. Never use colour as the only way to convey meaning. For example, don’t use red text to mean “important” without also making it bold or using another way to highlight it.
• Check the colour contrast. Always ensure there is sufficient contrast between the background and text. You can use a simple tool like Colour Contrast Analyser to check this if you’re not sure.
• Ensure links are descriptive. Links should tell the user exactly where they’ll go if they click on them. They should make sense when taken out of context of the surrounding text, for instance, “learn more about our services”. Never use “click here”!

There you have it! Some simple but effective rules to follow to ensure your documents are accessible!

© London Office of Technology and Innovation, 2022-2026. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.