In this episode, Brian and Carl have the pleasure of talking with Dr. Barry Cronin, the person who invented audio description for television broadcast, and the person that the recent Barry Award given by the Audio Description Project was named for.  Also you find out how the sport of bowling gave him the idea. So sit back and hear about how audio description came about in the early days.

To leave feedback, suggestions, or ideas for a future podcast on Picture This, please get in touch with the Picture This team by emailing your comments to picturethis.audiodescription@gmail.com, or leave a voicemail at 857-302-2817. We may use your email or voicemail in a future episode.

In this episode, Brian and Carl meet with Jessica Doonan, Manager of Accessibility for the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston, to discuss how audio description works in a museum setting.

To leave feedback, suggestions, or ideas for a future podcast on Picture This, please get in touch with the Picture This team by emailing your comments to picturethis.audiodescription@gmail.com, or leave a voicemail at 857-302-2817. We may use your email or voicemail in a future episode.

Show Notes:

MFA Access Webpage: https://www.mfa.org/visit/accessibility

Contact info- Email: access@mfa.org

Contact info-phone: 617-369-3189

Next Virtual Feeling for Form Tour (Descriptive tour):

Saturday, December 18th, 2021, 3-4:15 pm.

To register email access@mfa.org or call 617-369-3189

Fabric of a Nation Audio tour with Audio Description: https://web-app.cuseum.com/?3#!/tour-overview/1866

Join Brian and Carl as they delve into the world of audio description of children’s books. They speak to Richard Rieman, founder of Imagination Videobooks, a service that makes children’s books accessible to children of all backgrounds and abilities. Richard Rieman (Ree’man), “The Audiobook Wizard,” is an acclaimed authority on audio self-publishing. He has narrated and produced hundreds of Indie-published audiobooks. He is the author of the Global eBook Awards Gold Medal Winner in Writing/Publishing, “The Author’s Guide to Audiobook Creation.”Richard is a Gold Medal National Ben Franklin Independent Book Publishers Assn. (IBPA) Award Winner for Audiobook Nonfiction, an Audible Approved Audiobook Producer and a 5-time winner of the EVVY Award for audiobook narration and production. Richard created the “Imagination Videobooks” Nonprofit to make children’s illustrated books accessible to all children by creating audiobooks with audio description of the pictures for blind children, and videobooks with captions and sign language for deaf children.

To leave feedback, suggestions, or ideas for a future podcast on Picture this, please get in touch with the Picture this team by emailing your comments to picturethis.audiodescription@gmail.com, or leave a voicemail at 857-302-2817. We may use your email or voicemail in a future episode.

Show Notes:

Imagination Videobooks: www.imaginationvideobooks.org

The Described and Captioned Media Program: www.dcmp.org

In this episode, Brian and Carl talk about what it is like to go to the movies. First we talk about the obligations of the movie theaters under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as it pertains to the world of audio description. After that we offer some advocacy tips on how to ensure a successful and pleasant trip to the movies. So get your favorite beverage, your favorite candy bars, and of course the buttered popcorn from your concession stand, get settled into your seat and enjoy the show!

To leave feedback, suggestions, or ideas for a future podcast on Picture this, please get in touch with the Picture This team by emailing your comments to picturethis.audiodescription@gmail.com, or leave a voicemail at 857-302-2817. We may use your email or voicemail in a future episode.

Show Notes:
Department of Justice’s Rule on Captioning and Audio Description for Movie Theaters:  https://www.ada.gov/regs2016/movie_rule.htm.
Questions and Answers about DOJ’s Rule on Captioning and Audio Description for Movie Theaters: https://www.ada.gov/regs2016/movie_captioning_qa.html.

Do you get annoyed when a show that you previously watched with audio description switches platforms and then does not have audio description? On this second and final installment of our interview with Dr. Maria Diaz of the Dicapta Foundation, we talk about Dicapta’s dream project which is to create a clearinghouse and one-stop resource for audio description files to be housed so content creators can access the AD files.  Dicapta’s dream project is Access4All, a clearinghouse of accessibility assets that they initiated with funds from OSEP. They were really tired that their AD production couldn’t be available for those that rely on it to have access to video, so they decided to start building a clear, real, and strong bridge to offer AD for All while inviting the content providers to share/exchange their accessibility assets. The problem Dicapta wants to solve is illustrated in the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTIIGocRWNc. The big news here is the clearinghouse. It gives the option to exchange accessibility assets and has the potential to increase the availability of those assets no matter where the user is watching the media. The catalog for now is made up of around 300 titles – most of them educational. Now that Maria talks about expanding this model to include entertainment and streaming services as well.  Follow this link for the general presentation of Access4All: https://youtu.be/bF1PvzP7PLM. You can download the Access4All app on either Android or iOS devices. Once you do so you can sync the audio description with any of the titles listed below. The movie “FeelingThrough”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1CqzntEZZ8&t=77s; Learn to Count with Max the Glow Train: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrX9To4bjFk; Ask an Astronomer How You Discover an Asteroid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW7gUqdX_zs; Documentary Film Detroit https://www.pbs.org/video/detroit-48202-conversations-along-a-postal-route-tzx2ee/; ( Spanish) El requesón: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS41NJDfzHg&t=20s&ab_channel=%C2%A1ClicClac%21. 

To leave feedback, suggestions, or ideas for a future podcast on Picture this, please get in touch with the Picture this team by emailing your comments to picturethis.audiodescription@gmail.com, or leave a voicemail at 857-302-2817. We may use your email or voicemail in a future episode.

In the first of a 2-part episode, Brian and Carl are excited to interview Dr. Maria Victoria Diaz of the Dicapta Foundation. Dicapta has been producing audio description in Spanish for the last 15 years mainly with funds from the US Department of Education Office of Special Education (OSEP). They have been pushing and advocating for Spanish audio description to be incorporated as part of the implementation of the CVVA. Hear about the many issues they face regarding passing through the Spanish AD in the video stream, even though they have fantastic broadcast and cable partners such as Canal 22 International, Senilities, PBS, POV, New Day Films, and NickLA among others. Despite these issues, they have delivered more than 3,000 hours of audio description in Spanish. Additional information regarding Dicapta’s work with OSEP can be found following this link: https://dicapta.com/tvaccess/.

In our next episode with Dr. Diaz, we will discuss the need for an audio description clearinghouse! This has been on Brian’s and Carl’s wish list for a long-time, so come back!

To leave feedback, suggestions, or ideas for a future podcast on Picture This, please get in touch with the Picture This team by emailing your comments to picturethis.audiodescription@gmail.com, or leave a voicemail at 857-302-2817. We may use your email or voicemail in a future episode.

Roy Samuelson, a veteran voice talent who has done narration for over 1,000 titles which include episodic television, theatrical releases, and streaming services, joins us today to tell us about his advocacy beyond being a voice talent.  We will discuss his work on increasing awareness of audio description with the Television Academy and the Emmys, his advocacy for quality audio description, and his belief that you cannot have quality audio description without the inclusion of blind and low vision talent, consumers, and professionals in the creation of audio description.

To leave feedback, suggestions, or ideas for a future podcast on Picture This, please get in touch with the Picture This team by emailing your comments to picturethis.audiodescription@gmail.com, or leave a voicemail at 857-302-2817. We may use your email or voicemail in a future episode.

Show Notes:

Audio Description Network Alliance: https://theadna.org.

https://www.emmys.com/events/210809-audio

https://www.roysamuelson.com/audio-description-narration-included-in-the-home-of-the-primetime-emmys-the-television-academy/

Facebook Audio Description Discussion Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AudioDescriptionDiscussion

On this episode of Picture This, we feature the final installment of a panel discussion from the ACB Conference and Convention.  Carl Richardson, Co-Chair of the Audio Description Project, speaks with representatives from the major streaming services to discuss their products, services, programming, and offerings.  Featured guests include Melanie Goodman from Hulu, Martha Heller from CBS Viacom and Paramount+, Sarah Herrlinger from Apple, Mirka Pavlikova from Disney Studios, Allison Smith from Netflix, Andrew Larkin from HBO MAX, Thomas Wlodkowski from Peacock, and Daniel Kocmarek from Prime Video. 

To leave feedback, suggestions, or ideas for a future podcast, please get in touch with the Picture This team by emailing your comments to picturethis.audiodescription@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at 857-302-2817.  We may use your email or voicemail in a future episode.