Greetings to all,
Audio description may be used to describe many events to those who are blind or have low vision, including sports, performing arts, and art.
If you are not familiar with audio description, Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology (DO-IT) DO-IT offers a URL related to audio description that says, in part, "Audio description is a term used to describe the descriptive narration of key visual elements in a video or multimedia product. This process allows individuals who are blind to access content that is not otherwise accessible simply by listening to the audio. In audio description, narrators typically describe actions, gestures, scene changes, and other visual information. They also describe titles, speaker names, and other text that may appear on the screen." (https://www.washington.edu/doit/what-audio-description). Based at the University of Washington in Seattle, DO-IT is a terrific resource for anyone to identify resources to best support those with varied abilities.
In your research, make sure to distinguish between actual audio description (which in my experience is a live narrator giving the users a play by play of what's being looked at and listened to) and an audio tour, a headset or APP often available with special exhibitions or tours that was pre-recorded. Also, be aware that entities often use different names to describe the same thing! So, be clear in what you want when talking with providers.
The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C. and J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles have some of the most established, comprehensive offerings to make their programs, performances and collections accessible and inclusive for people, including audio description.
The Smith Center in Las Vegas offer audio descriptions for performing arts and the Stratz Performing Arts Center in Tampa for its Broadway series.
A few more art museums with which I am familiar and know offer audio description include the following: the Art in Motion program at The Metropolitan Art Museum in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the J. Paul Getty Museum (The Getty) with two locations -- in Los Angeles and in Pacific Palisades, and The Huntington Museum of Art in West Virginia,
The American Federation for the Blind offers many resources, including an article at the following URL about services for people with low vision and blindness: https://www.afb.org/aw/13/2/15848.
The American Council for the Blind has an Audio Description Project. More info may be found at the following URL: https://adp.acb.org/museums.html. This website offers an amazing list of sites, including the National Park Service and museums, that offer audio descriptions and other accommodations to visitors.
The website at Art Beyond Sight offers detailed descriptions for writing audio guides (which is truly an art in itself) at http://www.artbeyondsight.org/mei/verbal-description-training/writing-verbal-description-for-audio-guides/. Info on this site helps jump start your thinking as to how audio description can be used!
Glad you are exploring ways to offer this important service to your visitors. Let me know if you have additional questions! Am eager to learn from others who also post...
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Terrie Nolinske, Ph.D.
Principal, TNI Consultants LLC
Tampa, FL
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-01-2021 12:19 PM
From: Miriam Machado
Subject: verbal description training
Hello everyone,
I am seeking information on verbal description training. We have want to invite our community members to who are blind to visit our institution. Please share any information you may have
thanks