Digital Tactile Tours – a contradiction in terms?

How do you host a tour of an installation for a group of blind and low-vision art appreciators when the artwork is entirely digital and all that can be felt is a screen? Well, the good people at Campbelltown Arts Centre thought they'd give it a go - they weren't going...

How lockdown is unlocking new spaces

How lockdown is unlocking new spaces

For so many around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant unprecedented restrictions on their freedom to travel, gather, get to work or play, or even to simply leave the house. For others who have always faced restrictions such as these because of disability, it...

It’s finally here!!

Could it really be happening? Legislation - or funding, at least - to get Audio Description on Australian television? Check out today's media release from the government's Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts: Paul Fletcher Media...

Poetry in Motion: A new kind of Audio Description

I realise a lot of traditional Audio Description leaves the user wanting a bit more. Manuals and style guides for describers usually contain a lot of rules about what kind of language should be used (or avoided) and what kind of tone should be struck by the...

Wide Angle Film Festival

I'm delighted to be describing the line-up of wonderful shorts for this year's Wide Angle Film Festival (previously known as Access All Areas Film Festival). Jacqueline and the team at the Bardic Studio have put together another winner of a festival, proving just...

What’s In A Name?

When it comes to AD, a name can be, well, just about everything. There's really no way to describe things without naming them, and this applies to people too. I recently described a film where, for stylistic reasons, the writer had chosen not to give the...

AD in Australia – Where it’s at

Check out this article in Policy Forum by Katie Ellis, an author and senior research fellow at Curtin University. It's a great overview of AD in Australia and the government legislation (or lack thereof) in this particular aspect of media accessibility. Read Katie's...

Audio Description – A User’s Response

It's great when AD-users publicly weigh in on their experiences of Audio Description in action, because even though AD producers are sometimes lucky enough to get useful praise or criticism from consumers, it's usually privately offered and can therefore...

An Audio Description love story

Films have been audio described for decades now, but rarely do we get a film ABOUT Audio Description, or in this case, about an audio describer. 'Radiance', the new offering from Japanese film-maker Naomi Kawase, is just that, and what's more it concerns...

What is Audio Description anyway?

Audio Description (or AD) is essentially a kind of descriptive narration that conveys visual information in the form of words to people who are blind or have low vision, or who for whatever reason can't fully appreciate visual content. In the USA, it's...