UI/UX Design Volunteer

Volunteer UI/UX Designer

Organization: accesSOS

Type: Volunteer, remote

Hours: Flexible — typically 5–20 hours per week, discussed individually

Commitment: 3+ months

Works with: Design Lead

About accesSOS

accesSOS is a tech nonprofit on a mission to make emergency help accessible to people who can't make traditional voice calls to 911 — including people who are deaf or hard of hearing, non-English speakers, and people in situations where speaking aloud isn't safe. Our free mobile app translates text messages into 911 emergency calls, delivering critical information quickly and clearly.

We're supported by partners including the OpenAI Foundation, PagerDuty.org, Twilio.org, and Fast Forward.

About this role

We're looking for a passionate designer to volunteer with accesSOS and help us grow our product and visual presence. This is hands-on work — you'd be contributing directly to surfaces that real people rely on in emergencies, not producing concepts that sit in a deck. We're a small team, which means your work goes in fast and your contributions are visible.

What you'd work on

The exact mix depends on your strengths and what's active on our roadmap, but typical work spans:

• Marketing and outreach assets — visual content that helps us reach more people who need accesSOS, share our impact, and grow awareness of our mission across channels
• Design system optimization and expansion — refining components, adding new ones, and keeping our active Figma library consistent and scalable
• Mobile app improvements — designing new features, refining flows, and helping us think through how users in crisis experience our product
• Prototyping and iteration — turning ideas into testable prototypes and iterating based on feedback
• Brand and visual identity work — keeping our public-facing presence cohesive and aligned with the product

Who we're looking for

You'd be a strong match if:

• You have professional or substantive design experience — agency work, in-house product design, freelance, or portfolio projects that show production-quality output
• You bring real visual design strengths — typography, color, composition, brand sensibility. Visual craft matters to us, not just UX flows.
• You're fluent in Figma, including components, variants, and shared libraries. You'd be working in our active files.
• You think about accessibility as part of design, not as a final-pass check. WCAG familiarity is a plus; commitment to inclusive design is the requirement.
• You work autonomously with light direction — we'll point you at what we need and trust you to deliver
• You communicate clearly in writing — most of our collaboration happens async

Nice to have

• Mobile design experience (iOS, Android, or PWA)
• Experience with iterating on existing design systems
• Prior nonprofit, civic tech, healthcare, or accessibility-focused work
• A point of view on emergency communication, accessibility, or inclusive design

What this role offers

• Real product impact. Your work goes into a product people genuinely rely on in emergencies.
• Substantive portfolio material. Shipped surfaces, not concept pieces.
• Collaboration with a small, mission-driven team that respects volunteer time and gives you real say in the work you take on.
• A reference and recommendation from a tech nonprofit doing meaningful work in accessibility.
• Flexibility. Remote, async-friendly, and structured around your availability.

How to apply

Send us your resume with these supporting materials to hiring@accessos.io:

• A short note telling us what draws you to accesSOS and a bit about your design background
• A link to your portfolio — please include at least one project you can talk through in detail
• Your realistic weekly availability and how long you can commit
• Your LinkedIn if you have one

We review applications weekly and aim to respond within 7–10 days. If we think there's a good fit, we'll reach out to schedule a short intro conversation.

Thank you for considering us!