Josh Kim

Josh Kim’s journey as an accessibility designer is driven by a mission for centering the experiences of disabled people. Growing up within a disabled Veteran household, Josh became deeply familiar with the consequences of systemic ableism.

This led him to jump at his first opportunity to work full-time on accessibility at the United States Veterans Affairs (VA). Through designing with, and not for, disabled Veterans, he co-led a twentyfold increase in research study inclusion of disabled Veteran and co-created VA.gov’s first Veteran-centered accessibility statement.

At CoLab, Josh brings a perspective grounded in intersectional qualitative research and trauma-informed design from his decade of work in civic technology. As an IAAP Certified Professional in Web Accessibility (CPWA), he can wear many hats – from architecting research studies to QA testing and building educational programs.

What excites Josh most is the opportunity to design products and experiences in community with disabled people. He strongly believes that compliance is an outcome, not the goal, and is an advocate for systemic, long-term, and community-driven solutions.