Senior Frontend Engineer - Design Editing Accessibility

Role Overview

Join Canva's mission to transform how the world experiences design by becoming a pivotal member of the Editing Accessibility team. This role is instrumental in developing accessible features for the Canva Editor, ensuring the design platform is usable by everyone, including those reliant on assistive technologies.

Core Responsibilities

• Create and implement accessible user interactions within the Editor, focusing on focus management, keyboard navigation, live regions, and applying accurate ARIA roles and states. This position demands deep technical engagement with the product's component structure alongside how assistive technologies interpret these elements.
• Regularly utilize screen readers as development tools to test and debug accessibility, gaining familiarity with practical differences and quirks among VoiceOver, NVDA, and JAWS.
• Collaborate across the Editing Group by reviewing design proposals and code requests, providing technical consultation, and assisting in the early identification and resolution of accessibility challenges.
• Detect systemic accessibility shortcomings in the Editor and develop architectural solutions that address root causes rather than superficial fixes.

Candidate Profile

• Proven industry experience in building web applications adhering to accessibility standards (WCAG), understanding the nuances beyond theoretical knowledge.
• Hands-on expertise with screen readers and ability to navigate technical inconsistencies across VoiceOver, NVDA, and JAWS as part of routine workflows.
• Comfortable managing a substantial, interconnected frontend codebase, appreciating the interplay of components, state, and rendering within accessibility design.
• Strong command of TypeScript and React, able to reason about component structures coupled with accessibility best practices.
• Effective communicator able to translate technical accessibility concepts between engineers and designers ensuring collaborative success.

Desirable Additional Skills

• Experience implementing WAI-ARIA authoring patterns for advanced widgets such as trees, grids, drag-and-drop interfaces, and dialog boxes.
• Expertise in accessibility for complex UI interactions like streaming, real-time updates, HTML5 canvas elements, data visualization, spreadsheets, and rich text editors.
• Familiarity with browser and platform-specific accessibility APIs, including accessibility tree structures and native behaviors.
• Exposure to integrating AI for accessibility improvements.
• Knowledge of mobile accessibility, particularly with React Native.
• Past collaboration with dedicated accessibility professionals, assistive technology users, or researchers focused on accessibility.

About the Team

The Editing Accessibility team operates within Canva's Design Experience supergroup, driven by the ambition to make Canva the most accessible design tool globally. This entails not only enabling confident use of Canva’s Editor for all users but also ensuring that creations are universally accessible by default.

The team works closely with engineers, designers, and product managers, valuing clear communication and cross-disciplinary trust as much as technical expertise. The role entails grappling with unique engineering challenges such as live collaborative editing accessibility and rich text editing in canvas-based environments, often requiring innovative solutions beyond established standards.

Work Environment and Culture

Screen readers are an integral part of daily development, with the team also engaging directly with assistive technology users to co-design effective solutions. The role involves extensive collaboration throughout the Editing Group to promote accessibility literacy and review accessibility features in emerging product developments.

Benefits and Perks

• Equity packages allowing employees to share in company success.
• An inclusive parental leave policy supporting all types of parents and carers.
• An annual allowance for wellbeing, social connections, and optimal office setups.
• Flexible leave to support personal recharge, social impact, and overall wellbeing.

Additional Information

Canva's hiring decisions prioritize your experience, skill set, enthusiasm, and cultural contribution. Applicants are encouraged to share preferred pronouns and any accommodations needed during interviews. The company values diversity and inclusivity in backgrounds and skill sets, welcoming applications even if all listed qualifications are not met. Interviews are conducted virtually.