“Access,” a Short Film About Accessibility

It took Chris Higgins nearly four years to complete "Access," a short documentary which "follows Cory Joseph through a typical day, showing how he uses his smartphone, Braille display, tactile watch, and guide dog (named Vine) to navigate the world."  He struggled with editing to allow for audio description, but here's the great point of all this:  "Ultimately I decided that there should be only one version of this film, and it should include Audio Description, because that makes the film accessible to a wider audience.  I think there’s a lesson for creative people:  Even if you think you 'get it,' you might not be getting it.  Leave room to reconsider."  Wow!  Thank you Chris.  Read the Article and Watch Access.  (Posted Feb 15)

European Audio Subtitles Day

An Audio Subtitles Day will be held in Barcelona on March 4 "to raise awareness of the accessibilty possibilities of existing subtitling assets."  (You may need to click through several lead-in pages,)  (Posted Feb 15)

From Our Friends in the UK:
Where is TV Audio Description Heading in 2019

This article from the BroadcastNow website in the UK addresses the same frustration visually impaired TV watchers have in the USA and elsewhere:  a lot of top shows are not audio described or fail to be described later on other platforms.  (Posted Feb 15)  Also in the UK (From Jan 9):

• Ofcom seeking extension of accessibility rules to VOD providers
• Ofcom target video-on-demand accessibility

Theater of the Mind

In the article, Theater of the Mind: Washington Ear brings live theater to visually impaired, the accomplishments of The Metropolitan Washington Ear are discussed.  The first audio description of live theater took place in Washington in 1981.  Now, a team of 21 audio describers covers upwards of 60 plays a year in nine theaters.  This article is a great introduction to what audio description is and its benefits!  (Posted Feb 5)

2019 BADIE Contest Winners Announced

The 2019 winners of the Benefits of Audio Description In Education have been announced.  Congratulations to Grand Prize Winner John Holstein from the West Virginia School for the Blind for his review of Snowflake Bentley and Voyage to Mars -- and to all the other winners.  Read the BADIE Press Release.  (Posted Feb 5)

Audio Describer Training

The ADP's next Audio Description Institute will be held in the DC area February 23-25.  The next class after that will be in NC from May 16-20 (the March class sold out, so they scheduled an additional offering), offered by Audio Description Training Retreats.  (Updated Feb 3)

Marilee Talkington Luncheon Address

Finally, we have excerpted the luncheon address by Marilee Talkington at our ADP Conference last July from an otherwise damaged conference recording.  Marilee is an actress with significant visual impairment.  She recounted for us her experience trying to break into the commercial world of acting, and we play (on the recording) an excerpt of her role in an NCIS episode last year.  Listen to the 40-minute MP3 file by clicking the link above.  (Posted Jan 18)

CVAA Accessibility Rules Now Apply to Video Games

A waiver offering video games temporary exemption from the Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 has expired, meaning that games released after the expiration date of December 31, 2018 have a set of new communication-focused rules to keep in mind to stay on the up-and-up with the Federal Communications Commission and dodge potential fines.  Read CVAA accessibility rules come into effect for games as FCC waiver expires.  (Posted Jan 9)

Inaccessible Specialty Video Websites

As a visually impaired gay man, author/journalist Belo Cipriani was excited when he "heard about GayMovie Database — a new, online database of over 1,000 TV shows, as well as short and long movies of interest to the LGBTQ community."  Unfortunately, it wasn't very accessible.  In this article, he discusses his frustration with the pervasive problem about websites ignoring accessibility upfront and the difficulties of retrofit.  Read Seeing in the Dark: Debunking digital inclusion.  (Posted Jan 9)