Staff Product Designer, Accessibility at Khan Academy

ABOUT KHAN ACADEMY

Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission to deliver a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. Our proven learning platform offers free, high-quality supplemental learning content and practice that cover Pre-K - 12th grade and early college core academic subjects, focusing on math and science. We have over 155 million registered learners globally and are committed to improving learning outcomes for students worldwide, focusing on learners in historically under-resourced communities.

OUR COMMUNITY 

Our students, teachers, and parents come from all walks of life, and so do we. Our team includes people from academia, traditional/non-traditional education, big tech companies, and tiny startups. We hire great people from diverse backgrounds and experiences because it makes our company stronger. We value diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging as necessary to achieve our mission and impact the communities we serve. We know that transforming education starts in-house with learning about ourselves and our colleagues. We strive to be world-class in investing in our people and commit to developing you as a professional.

THE ROLE

Imagine being a teacher in Sarasota, Florida, four years after the pandemic started, with a classroom full of 6th graders who haven’t had a normal year of school or learning since 2019. It’s the reality of so many educators and students who use Khan Academy – and our team is uniquely positioned to help them when they need it most.

We have no end of fascinating challenges that can only be solved with a deep empathy for our users, diligent product & UX thinking, and a strong drive to make a positive impact. Some questions we’re working on answering right now are:

• How do we support teachers who are dealing with the impact that the pandemic had on learning?
• How do we help students with learning gaps catch up to their grade level?
• How do we center schools serving historically under-resourced communities in our product design and development?
• How do we reach more school districts so our learning experience gets used in more classrooms?
• …and more

The best part? Our work really matters: catch Sal talking to CNBC about low math and reading test scores.

We’re looking for an Accessibility Design Lead to embed within our Learning Components team, the home of some of our most resourced and empowered accessibility experts in the organization. The heart of this role is helping us achieve a truly accessible, AA-compliant product experience for users of all abilities, starting with the most fundamental technical components of our learning content.

You will also drive accessibility improvements to the platform UX across the product organization in partnership with our Accessibility Designer for Assessments. Ultimately, we want your help creating a living document that states our level of a11y compliance across the whole platform.

Some of the things you will work on:

• Immediate accessibility improvements for our highest-priority learning components needed for Assessments.
• Developing an accessibility roadmap to comply with state standards.
• Bake accessibility into product design and development.
• Educating the product org on accessibility best practices.

You will play a vital role on an inclusive, collaborative, small but mighty Design team, helping us fulfill the mission of the organization: to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. We genuinely care about people and value compassion in our everyday interactions. You’ll be able to be yourself, feel valued, supported, learn and grow, no matter how experienced you are.

If you’re looking for the opportunity to make learning accessible and ship high-quality products that solve real problems for learners and educators, we'd love to hear from you. Even if you don’t check every box (no one does), we encourage you to apply!

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Design and deliver accessible, AA-compliant product improvements and new features, with an incredible attention to detail.
• Drive high-impact accessibility initiatives and cross-team alignment in partnership with Design, Product, Engineering, Community Support, and Legal.
• Communicate accessibility goals and priorities that are aligned to company objectives and generate buy-in across the product org.
• Document and roll out a11y processes at scale, including for design systems, in collaboration with your Product, Design, and Engineering partners.
• Actively participate in our Accessibility Guild, sharing knowledge and best practices.
• Play an active role in how we create accessible experiences as a Design team, including participating in team critiques.
• Act as a strategic thought partner/consultant across the organization on accessibility questions, as time and priorities allow.
• Write about, present, and share what you have learned, both internally and with the wider Design community via our blog and industry events.

WHAT YOU BRING

• 8+ years of experience as a product/UX designer.
• 2+ years of experience in an accessibility design role.
• Outstanding in interaction design, prototyping and information architecture, with visual design chops and close attention to all the details.
• Expert-level understanding of WCAG 2.1 AA and how to apply it to web apps across mobile and desktop.
• Proven record of successfully leading a11y efforts through all phases of development, with large-scale projects involving multiple cross-functional teams.
• Experience creating documentation and deliverables for accessibility initiatives at scale (roadmaps, project plans, playbooks, communications).
• Patience and the ability to balance sprints and marathons: you know how to simultaneously move quickly with a bias for action, and advance steadily towards long-term, org-wide change.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Comfortable in ambiguous situations and dynamic environments that run similar to a startup.
• Eager to learn a lot about generative AI-driven products and how to make them accessible.
• Prior experience with educational products or designing for content-forward experiences is a plus.

Qualities we value in ourselves, and those who join our team:

• Introspective, mature, and emotionally intelligent.
• Invested in your own growth and the growth of our Design team.
• Proactively seek out the people/information you need to move work forward and unblock yourself.
• High comfort level working within a strong product and pedagogical vision from our CEO Sal Khan and our Chief Learning Officer, Kristen DiCerbo, PhD.
• Able to balance the immediate tactical needs of helping deliver and ship features with scouting ahead for what’s next.
• Willing to roll your sleeves up and pitch in when a project goes off-script.
• Passionate about education and designing engaging learning experiences, deeply curious about how and why people learn.
• Huge bonus if you’ve worked in a K-12 classroom before.

NOTE: Submitting a portfolio with your application is required. We're looking for a portfolio that demonstrates exceptional, accessible design solutions that are aligned to business objectives within tight timeframes and constraints.

MORE ABOUT DESIGN AT KHAN ACADEMY

The Design Team is a diverse, close-knit group of Designers and Researchers that spans many disciplines. We’re passionate about designing for the complexities of education and solving real problems for real people. We regularly make time to share, learn, create, and play as a team. What keeps us here: dedication to learners, our craft, and nurturing our unique, low-ego, rigorous culture. We listen carefully, think deeply, and move quickly, to help millions of learners all over the world.

PERKS AND BENEFITS

We may be a non-profit, but we reward our talented team extremely well! We offer:

• Competitive salaries
• Ample paid time off as needed – Your well-being is a priority.
• Remote-first culture - that caters to your time zone, with open flexibility as needed, at times
• Generous parental leave
• An exceptional team that trusts you and gives you the freedom to do your best
• The chance to put your talents towards a deeply meaningful mission and the opportunity to work on high-impact products that are already defining the future of education
• Opportunities to connect through affinity, ally, and social groups
• And we offer all those other typical benefits as well: 401(k) + 4% matching & comprehensive insurance, including medical, dental, vision, and life

At Khan Academy we are committed to fair and equitable compensation practices, the well-being of our employees, and our Khan community. This belief is why we have built out a robust Total Rewards package that includes competitive base salaries, and extensive benefits and perks to support physical, mental, and financial well-being.

The target salary range for this position is $152,908 - $162,465 USD / $191,135 - $203,081 CAD. The pay range for this position is a general guideline only. The salary offered will depend on internal pay equity and the candidate’s relevant skills, experience, qualifications, and job market data. Exceptional performers in this role who make an outsized contribution can make well in excess of this range.  Additional incentives are provided as part of the complete total rewards package in addition to comprehensive medical and other benefits.

• Sal’s TED talk from 2011
• Sal’s TED talk from 2015
• Sal's TED talk from 2023
• Our team:  http://www.khanacademy.org/about/the-team

Live & breathe learners

We deeply understand and empathize with our users. We leverage user insights, research, and experience to build content, products, services, and experiences that our users trust and love. Our success is defined by the success of our learners and educators.

Take a stand

As a company, we have conviction in our aspirational point of view of how education will evolve. The work we do is in service to moving towards that point of view. However, we also listen, learn and flex in the face of new data, and commit to evolving this point of view as the industry and our users evolve.

Embrace diverse perspectives

We are a diverse community. We seek out and embrace a diversity of voices, perspectives and life experiences leading to stronger, more inclusive teams and better outcomes. As individuals, we are committed to bringing up tough topics and leaning into different points of view with curiosity. We actively listen, learn and collaborate to gain a shared understanding. When a decision is made, we commit to moving forward as a united team.

Work responsibly and sustainably

We understand that achieving our audacious mission is a marathon, so we set realistic timelines and we focus on delivery that also links to the bigger picture. As a non-profit, we are supported by the generosity of donors as well as strategic partners, and understand our responsibility to our finite resources. We spend every dollar as though it were our own. We are responsible for the impact we have on the world and to each other. We ensure our team and company stay healthy and financially sustainable.

Bring out the joy

We are committed to making learning a joyful process. This informs what we build for our users and the culture we co-create with our teammates, partners and donors.

Cultivate learning mindset

We believe in the power of growth for learners and for ourselves. We constantly learn and teach to improve our offerings, ourselves, and our organization. We learn from our mistakes and aren’t afraid to fail. We don't let past failures or successes stop us from taking future bold action and achieving our goals.

Deliver wow

We insist on high standards and deliver delightful, effective end-to-end experiences that our users can rely on. We choose to focus on fewer things — each of which aligns to our ambitious vision — so we can deliver high-quality experiences that accelerate positive measurable learning with our strategic partners.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or Veteran status. We value diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we encourage candidates from historically underrepresented groups to apply.