Teaching Assistant in Digital Accessibility

Department Overview: The Department of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison was created as one of the university’s original academic units in 1850, when the Board of Regents established a Professorship of Ancient Languages and Literature. While remaining faithful to the linguistic, historical, and philological foundations of our field, students and faculty also conduct research in such varied areas as Gender Studies, Literary Theory, Translation Studies, and Classical Reception. We are a vibrant and supportive community of professors, graduate students, and undergraduates, committed to the study of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, and to the training of new generations of teachers and scholars. Anticipated Start Date: 07/20/2026 Anticipated End Date (If Applicable): 08/16/2026 Remote Work Eligibility Detail: All Remote Anticipated Hours Per Week: Minimum: 20 Schedule: Hours per week across all tasks will total approximately 20. Salary/Wage Range/Lump Sum: Minimum: $2,990 Number of Positions: 1 Qualifications: Must be an active graduate student at UW_Madison and in good standing within your academic program. Knowledge, Skills & Abilities : Basic understanding of Digital Accesability @ UW-Madison, https://digitalaccessibility.wisc.edu/ Basic knowledge of CANVAS platform, MS office products and Adobe Acrobat. Position Summary/Job Duties: The TA will help CANES instructors make 2026-27 course materials accessible; monitor, learn, and disseminate guidance from campus authorities about compliance; and compile and share guidance and tools especially suited for CANES instructors. Review and monitor campus guidance and policies on digital accessibility (5 hrs) Review and master the use of tools for checking and correcting digital course learning materials and platforms including Canvas’s UDOIT and built-in accessibility checkers for MS Word, Adobe Acrobat, MS Powerpoint, and other relevant software. (5 hrs) Review existing CANES guidance; revise and share guidance and tools for making CANES course materials accessible (10 hrs) Communicate with CANES instructors about the expectations surrounding digital accessibility and their anticipated needs for making their Fall courses accessible (10 hrs) For CANES instructors who wish to opt into summer support for making Fall instructional materials accessible, provide an equal number of hours of support in the form of running Canvas’s UDOIT and other digital accessibility checkers on course materials, with a view to making materials compliant within the time allotted. Note: the focus should be on document accessibility, the use of proper heading structure in Canvas, ensuring Canvas links are descriptive and contextual, and the use of accessible color schemes. Any accessibility issues requiring subject matter expertise e.g. alt-text for images, captioning of audio and visual content falls outside the purview of the duties of this appointment. (50 hrs) Physical Demands: None Institutional Statements: Equal Employment Opportunity Statement: UW-Madison is an Equal Employment, Equal Access Employer committed to increasing the diversity of our workforce. Institutional Statement on Diversity: Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals. The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background-people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world. For more information on diversity and inclusion on campus, please visit: diversity.wisc.edu Accommodation Statement: If you need to request an accommodation because of a disability, you can find information about how to make a request at the following website: https://employeedisabilities.wisc.edu/disability-accommodation-information-for-applicants/