Career Center

The University of Washington (UW) is proud to be one of the nation’s premier educational and research institutions. Our people are the most important asset in our pursuit of achieving excellence in education, research, and community service. Our staff not only enjoys outstanding benefits and professional growth opportunities, but also an environment noted for diversity, community involvement, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits, and natural beauty.

At the University of Washington, diversity is integral to excellence. We value and honor diverse experiences and perspectives, strive to create welcoming and respectful learning environments, and promote access, opportunity and justice for all.


The Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington educates tomorrow’s innovators, conducts cutting-edge research in core and emerging areas of the field, and leads a broad range of multi-disciplinary initiatives that demonstrate the transformative power of computing. Consistently ranked among the top computer science programs in the nation, the Allen School is widely recognized for the excellence and impact of our research and teaching across the region and around the globe. As a leader in efforts to broaden participation in computing, we are committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in our program and in our field. Members of the Allen School actively work to cultivate a welcoming community in which students, faculty and staff with diverse backgrounds, identities and experiences can thrive. The Allen School occupies two spectacular buildings — the Paul G. Allen Center and the adjacent Bill & Melinda Gates Center — located at the heart of the UW campus in Seattle.


The Taskar Center for Accessible Technology (TCAT), housed by the Allen School, develops, translates and deploys open source universally accessible technologies, with a focus on benefiting populations with motor limitations or speech impairment.  TCAT's academic mission is to engage undergraduate design and engineering students in participatory design and inclusive design practices.  TCAT is joining the AI4Accessibility effort in scaling artificial intelligence efforts for public social good, with a focus on inclusive technologies.


TCAT has an outstanding opportunity for an Instructional Design & Communications Assistant (Program Assistant).  This is a Temporary, Hourly, part-time, approximately 20 hours per week to begin as soon as possible and continue until August 31, 2022.


The Instructional Design & Communications Assistant will be part of the AI4Accessibility team, composed of students, researchers, industry partners, municipal entities and disability advocacy groups worldwide.  The team will create high-quality goals-based digital content that is engaging and relevant to students who are learning how to assess and map accessibility features in the built environment. The ID Assistant will support the team, and will be responsible for ensuring that TCAT educational content meets both the educational goals and learning objectives as well as TCAT's requirements for quality and accessibility.  This position will report to the Director.


This position will also support the team by assisting in all stages of the curriculum development and measurement process, including outside communications reporting on the teams’ progress — from planning through production and program assessment. This includes assisting with course design that meets standards, assisting with writing and editing communications content about the program, assisting with writing and editing instructional content, contributing to effective active-learning exercises, contributing to devising student assessment tools and assisting with the design of post-lesson and post-course surveys.


Job Responsibilities:

• Assist with the design of a multi-module curriculum to align with AI4Accessibility program goals and TCAT's accessibility standards
• Assist with developing an instructional framework approach document based on individual research, team feedback, and external subject-matter-expertise
• Contribute to writing, editing, and revising content (instruction and assessment, as well as outside communications) in multiple formats to accommodate the needs of students with various abilities
• Assist with the development of clear and concise active-learning assignments to ensure that educational objectives and quality expectations are met
• Work with international teams to help ensure that educational materials and their presentation incorporate multiple formats, learning styles and are appropriate for our target audiences
• Contribute to editing content and assist with subject-matter research for discipline-specific projects
• Maintain documentation of best practices for use of the curricula in various classroom and online environments
• Respond to requests for information about lesson plans


Minimum Qualifications:

• High school graduation or equivalent AND two years of full-time clerical experience, OR equivalent education/experience
• Strong attention to detail, planning, and time management skills
• Ability to meet timelines without compromising quality
• Knowledge, experience and/or training in the following areas:

- Instructional Design with visual aid

- Writing educational content clearly, concisely, and at the appropriate reading level for students in grades 6-12

- Designing or adapting educational material for accessibility

- Developing educational assessment materials

• Demonstrated commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment


Desired Qualifications:

• 2 years of college coursework in education, writing, communication, or related fields AND 2 years of related experience, OR equivalent combination of education and experience
• Interest in GIS, mapping, cartography, environmental assessment for accessibility, landscape architecture, civic planning or transportation planning
• Interest in learning about survey construction, educational research, data analysis and data summarization
• Demonstrated interest in developing accessible digital content, including in the context of use with assistive digital services and alternative augmentative devices
• Interest in understanding diverse learning styles in a digital environments
• Demonstrated interest in editing accessible digital content, including in the context of use with assistive digital services and alternative augmentative devices
• Experience developing experimental validation surveys to evaluate the efficacy of educational tools and other interventions strongly preferred
• Passion about social justice, with the ability to adapt materials for students with disabilities and diverse backgrounds
• Ability to quickly learn new processes and technologies
• Willingness to dive into diverse subjects


This job description is a summary of the typical functions of the job and is not intended to be a comprehensive or exhaustive list of all possible duties and responsibilities. The particular job duties of this position may change based upon the needs of the program.


Application Process:

The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process.  These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter, and/or others.  Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.