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Federal Work-Study (FWS) Internship… at UVA Licensing… · Charlotte…
Job Description
Federal Work-Study (FWS) Internship Program: Library Undergraduate Digital Accessibility Assistant (Student Wage)
Location: Charlottesville, VA
The Library Digital Accessibility Assistant contributes to the UVA Library's Digital Accessibility Student Team by performing production work in one of two focus areas: captioning and transcription of digital media, or remediation of PDF and other document files. Assistants work within a small sub-team led by a Graduate Library Digital Accessibility Lead, who provides day-to-day direction and quality review. Overall program supervision is provided by the Library's Digital Accessibility Specialist. This is a production-focused role for students who are detail-oriented, reliable, and committed to digital equity and information access. Specific responsibilities vary by track.
Primary Responsibilities
Production Work (approximately 80-85% of effort)
Assistants perform high-volume, standards-compliant production work in their assigned track. Track-specific responsibilities will be provided in the position supplement. Across both tracks, all Assistants are expected to:
Follow established workflows, style guides, and quality benchmarks
Submit completed work to their Graduate Lead for quality review and incorporate feedback
Apply quality control for complex content, flagging items that require escalation to the Graduate Lead
Maintain consistent throughput to meet team production targets
Maintain accurate work logs in the team tracking system
Maintain confidentiality of student and patron records accessed in the course of processing materials, consistent with FERPA and Library privacy policies
General Team Responsibilities (approximately 15-20% of effort)
Participate in onboarding and training during the first weeks of each semester
Attend team check-ins and contribute to workflow improvement discussions
Communicate proactively when questions, edge cases, or blockers arise
Captioning & Transcription Focus Area
The Student Accessibility Assistant (Captioning & Transcription) performs production captioning and transcription work for the UVA Library Digital Accessibility Student Team. This position focuses on creating and editing accurate, standards-compliant captions and transcripts for Library digital media collections, including a supplemental multilingual captioning pilot. Job functions include:
Create accurate captions and transcripts for Library digital media using captioning software tools
Edit and correct auto-generated captions to meet quality standards for timing, accuracy, speaker identification, and readability
Edit captions and transcripts for materials with multiple speakers, background noise, or technical vocabulary, applying judgment about clarity and speaker attribution
Follow established style guides and quality benchmarks for caption formatting
Submit completed work to the Graduate Captioning Specialist for quality review and incorporate feedback
Assist with quality review of LLM-generated captions for non-English language media as directed by the Graduate Captioning Specialist
Flag accuracy concerns and document recurring issues for pilot evaluation
PDF and Document Remediation Focus Area
The Student Accessibility Assistant (PDF & Document Remediation) performs high-volume remediation of PDF and document files for the UVA Library Digital Accessibility Student Team. This position focuses on making Library digital content accessible by correcting structure, tags, reading order, alt text, and metadata using professional remediation tools. Job functions include:
Remediate PDF and document files to meet WCAG 2.1 AA and PDF/UA accessibility standards
Correct and add reading order, semantic tags, heading structure, alt text for images, and document metadata using Adobe Acrobat Pro
Apply quality control for complex content types such as tables, charts, and multi-column layouts, flagging items that require escalation to the Graduate Remediation Specialist
Process documents through the established remediation workflow, including pre-processing steps in SensusAccess and Equidox as appropriate
Run quality checks using PAC 2024 or equivalent PDF accessibility validation tools
Submit completed files to the Graduate Remediation Specialist for final review and incorporate feedback
Maintain consistent throughput to meet team production targets
Maintain confidentiality of student and patron records accessed in the course of processing materials, consistent with FERPA and Library privacy policies
Submit a CV/resume as well as a cover letter detailing your experience with accessibility, attention to detail, or related skills, and your commitment to digital equity and information access. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
Education: Current undergrad UVA student
Licensure: None
Federal work-study students are eligible to apply.
PREFERRED EXPERIENCE
Prior experience with captioning, transcription, or audio/video editing
Familiarity with captioning platforms such as YouTube Studio, Verbit, 3Play Media, or Amara
Experience with or interest in linguistics, a second language, or translingual content — particularly relevant for supporting the multilingual captioning pilot
Prior experience with PDF editing, document formatting, or accessibility remediation
Familiarity with Adobe Acrobat Pro, Microsoft Word accessibility features, or HTML/document structure concepts
Background in a STEM field or familiarity with technical notation (formulas, equations, diagrams) is a plus, given the volume of STEM content in Library collections
Familiarity with version control or document management practices, such as tracking file versions, naming conventions, and organized handoffs
Interest in disability studies, media accessibility, or library and information science
In addition to the job duties and responsibilities outlined above, this position will participate in a structured internship experience through the Internship Placement Program (IPP). If selected, interns must enroll in either UNST 3910 (1 cr.) or UNST 3920 (1 cr.). The courses are offered 9+ times during the fall, offering plenty of options to choose from. If the course does not work for your schedule, we also offer an asynchronous co-curricular workshop series through Canvas. Through this robust internship experience, students will receive dedicated career support from their supervisor and gain key skills and competencies that align with future job interests. The FWS Internship will look great on your resume and provide the student with impactful stories to share in interviews. TFWS Internships are best suited for students in their 2nd – 4th years.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
This is primarily a sedentary job involving extensive use of desktop computers. The job does occasionally require traveling some distance to attend meetings and trainings. Hybrid work might be possible after initial training period.
The University of Virginia is an equal opportunity employer. All interested persons are encouraged to apply, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Learn more about UVA’s commitment to non-discrimination and equal opportunity employment.