ACB Audio Description Project 2020 VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

The American Council of the Blind's

Audio Description Project

Announces its

2020 VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

July 3-10, 2020

The Audio Description Project (ADP)--now in its eleventh year--is a wide-ranging audio description promotion and production initiative. We sponsor a range of activities including:

- the ADP website - www.acb.org/adp

- the BADIE contest (Benefits of Audio Description in Education) - encouraging kids to write reviews of audio described video

- the twice-per-year Audio Description Institute (to date, we've conducted 17 ADIs training audio describers from around the world)

- the annual Audio Description Awards

- special production projects including AD tours of The White House, the United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum and the Smithsonian Institution's "Insect Zoo", special performing arts AD projects with Arena Stage and AXIS Dance Company, and media projects including AD for the last three presidential inaugurals and a special broadcast of AD for the 2017 solar eclipse

- the convening of focus groups in support of the National Park Service's UniDescribe effort and the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Center and its Video Description Research and Development Center

- advocacy on behalf of AD with the U.S. Congress, the FCC and the Access Board

- collaboration with the World Blind Union on the first-ever survey of AD activity world-wide

- work with the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation & Education Professionals on the development of a certification program for audio describers

- publication of Dr. Joel Snyder's "The Visual Made Verbal: A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description" (now available from the Library of Congress in Braille, as an audio book, in screen-reader accessible formats and in print in English, Portuguese, Polish and Russian with editions in Spanish, Chinese and Greek under development) -- a second edition in English is planned for late 2020

AND

- the every-other-year Audio Description Project Conference convened as a part the American Council of the Blind's Conference and Convention. Our sixth ADP Conference, in 2020, will be VIRTUAL!

THE 2020 AUDIO DESCRIPTION PROJECT

VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

July 3-10, 2020

This year's Audio Description Project Conference will be held as a virtual conference (via Zoom) daily (except for Monday, July 5) starting July 3 (see the agenda below). The cost to attend the ADP Zoom sessions will simply be the $25 fee required to register for the overarching ACB Conference. Your $25 registration fee includes admission to all of the Audio Description Project events outlined below as well as all ACB Conference sessions.

AND -- an Audio Described Tour channel will be available on ACB Radio: the airing of recorded AD tours of selected sites including The White House; the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History's "The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag That Inspired the National Anthem" and selected presidential portraits--George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon, Jimmy Carter, William Jefferson Clinton--from the National Portrait Gallery; the United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum's Hall of Witness and Hall of Remembrance; Mount Rushmore, the Wright Brothers National Memorial and more!

Registration will open on May 21 at 7:00 AM eastern time for ACB members and May 28 for nonmembers. Registration closes at 11:59 PM eastern time on June 21.

To register online visit: www.acbconvention.org

Or call (612) 332-3242 and select option 5 for convention. Your phone call will be returned as quickly as possible; leave your name, telephone number and time zone.

Feel free to contact Janet Dickelman for questions regarding the ACB Conference and Convention either via phone (651) 428-5059 or email: janet.dickelman@gmail.com

For more information on the Audio Description Project events listed below, contact Joel Snyder, PhD at jsnyder@audiodescribe.com or jsnyder@acb.org or by phone at 301 467-5083.

AGENDA

All times EST

Friday, July 3, 2020 - 6:00 pm-8:30 pm

6:00 pm-8:30 pm - Airing of the 2020 Academy Award winning Best Picture "Parasite" soundtrack with audio description. "Parasite" follows the members of a poor family who scheme to become employed by a wealthy family by infiltrating their household and posing as unrelated, highly qualified individuals. The film received unanimous critical acclaim and was considered by many critics as the best film of 2019 as well as one of the best films of the 2010s.

Saturday, July 4, 2020 - 7:00 pm-8:30 pm and 9:00 pm-9:30 pm

7:00 PM to 8:30 PM - Go Behind the Scenes with Disney's "Pick of the Litter'. Join the Audio Description Project and Guide Dog Users Inc. for this interesting program featuring ACB's Advocacy and Outreach Specialist Claire Stanley who was profiled in two episodes of "Pick of the Litter". We will be listening to Episode 3: Training Begins After returning to Guide Dogs for the Blind, the dogs begin formal training; and Episode 5: Meet Your Match The dogs in advanced training take their final exams in the hopes of being matched with clients. Claire will answer questions and tell us some behind-the-scene stories of what it was like filming the episodes.

9:00 pm-9:30 pm FIREWORKS! Listen to this exciting display via an audio described version of the 2019 Fireworks on the Mall in Washington, DC. Joel Snyder, PhD, ADP Director, Takoma Park, MD

Monday, July 6, 2020 - 4:30 pm-5:45 pm and 7:30 pm-9:30 pm

4:30 pm-5:45 pm Get Acquainted with the ADP Website: Learn about Described TV, Movies, DVDs, Streaming Videos, Performing Arts, Museums, and More! - Fred Brack, ADP Webmaster - Fred Brack, ADP Webmaster, Raleigh, NC

7:30 pm-9:30 pm Entertainment and Media Industry Update - A review of the opportunities for Audio Description at the movies, on broadcast television, via streaming or by smart phone apps. Moderator: Carl Richardson, Audio Description Project Steering Committee Co-Chair, Boston, MA Panelists: John Sweet, Charter Communications, Denver, CO; Tom Wlodkowski, Comcast, Philadelphia, PA; Susan Mazrui, AT&T, Seattle, WA; Josh Miele, Amazon, San Francisco, CA; Mitch Ginsburg, Disney+, San Francisco, CA; Sarah Herrlinger, Apple, Cupertino, CA; and Allison Smith, Netflix, Los Angeles

Tuesday, July 7, 2020 - 12:30 pm-1:00 pm and 3:00 pm-4:15 pm

12:30 pm-1:00 pm Announcement of 2020 ACB-ADP Audio Description Achievement Award winners - Jeff Thom, ADP Awards subcommittee chair, Sacramento, CA; Audio Description Project Update - Kim Charlson, Co-Chair, ADP Steering Committee, Watertown, MA and Joel Snyder, PhD, ACB ADP Director, Takoma Park, MD

3:00 pm-4:15 pm Legislative Update -- What's the status of FCC regulations for audio description on broadcast television? Is planning underway for a refresh of the 21st Century Video Accessibility and Communications Act? What about the ADA's provisions regarding audio description? Moderator: Clark Rachfal, ACB Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, Alexandria, VA. Panelists: Suzy Rosen Singleton, Chief, Disability Rights Office, and Will Schell, Attorney Advisor, Disability Rights Office, Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC; Claire Stanley, ACB Advocacy and Outreach Specialist, Alexandria, VA; and Carl Richardson, ADP Steering Committee Co-Chair/ADA Coordinator, Massachusetts State House, Boston, MA

Wednesday, July 8, 2020 - 4:30 pm-5:45 pm

4:30 pm-5:45 pm The National Park Service and Audio Description - An outline of the myriad access features incorporated with the National Park Service's hundreds of locations. Moderator: Denise Decker, PhD, ADP Performing Arts/Museums/Parks subcommittee chair, Washington, DC - Panelists: Michele Hartley, National Park Service, Harpers Ferry, WV; Ray Bloomer, National Center on Accessibility, Bloomington, IN; Brett Oppegaard, The UniDescription Project, University of Hawaii, Manoa, HI

Thursday, July 9, 2020 - 3:00 pm-4:15 pm

3:00 pm-4:15 pm Strategies for Cord-Cutting or Do You Stream? - A review of the current status of network description via broadcast and/or the multitude of streaming services or apps. Moderator: Kim Charlson, ADP Steering Committee Co-Chair, Watertown, MA. Panelists: Carl Richardson, ADP Steering Committee Co-Chair/ADA Coordinator, Massachusetts State House, Boston, MA; Judy Dixon, National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Washington, DC; Timothy Wynn, ADP Media subcommittee, Miami, FL; Fred Brack, ADP webmaster, Raleigh, NC

Friday, July 10, 2020 - 3:00 pm-4:15 pm and 8:00 pm

3:00 pm-4:15 pm Audio Description and Quality Control-the Hiring of Description Producers/Describers and Audio Editors Listen to the decision makers among content producers in charge of contracting audio description services. Moderator: Joel Snyder, PhD, Director, ACB Audio Description Project, Takoma Park, MD. Panelists: Evan Meeker, Amazon, Seattle, WA; Margo Tone, Deluxe Entertainment, Los Angeles, CA; Rick Boggs and Chris Snyder, Audio Eyes, Los Angeles, CA; Ian McDonald, WGBH Media Access Group, Boston, MA

8:00 pm ACB's banquet speaker: Roy Samuelson - Audio Description Narrator, Los Angeles, CA With audio description narration credits from over 600 network, streaming, and big budget films, and hundreds of additional voice over projects, including national commercials, video games, and promos, billions of ears have heard Roy's voice. He is a leading and well-respected Hollywood Voiceover artist and advocate for audio description. He'll be sharing how his firm informs, inspires, and recruits relevant organizations into a new initiative in blind audience empowerment.