Spines, a film with EAD; screening and Q/A
Join us on Saturday 8th June in London for a screening of the short film Spines, written and directed by Joseph Inman, followed by a Q/A. Find out more.
The Enhancing Audio Description II project seeks to explore the potential of sound design practices and spatial audio to provide accessible film and television experiences for visually impaired audiences. It fuses audio technology and creativity to widen the notion of media accessibility and increase the quality and quantity of provision, providing cutting edge techniques to the UK cultural sector.
Enhancing Audio Description II: implementing accessible, personalised and inclusive film and television experiences for visually impaired audiences, is a project that proposes a new paradigm in accessible experiences, in which there is not an overreliance on a narrator's spoken word, as in traditional Audio Description practices. Instead it utilises new accessibility features that include: the addition of sound effects, the spatialisation of dialogue and sounding objects, and first-person narration, to provide accessible experiences that are seamlessly integrated to the soundtrack of a film or television programme. These techniques are integrated into film and television workflows from the development phase up to final delivery.
The project builds up from previous research which demonstrated the success of these methods, and explores them even further, by concentrating on the conveyance of cinematographic elements through sound, the exploration of the intricacies of using first-person narration across different genres and different cast sizes, as well as exploring how spatialisation techniques can be adapted for multi-listener scenarios for a variety of loudspeaker formats. The exploration of these methods will be conducted with an end-user centred approach, in which visually impaired audiences are consulted from the design process up to delivery. Furthermore, the project explores the creation of guidelines that will allow the incorporation of these methods to professional broadcasting pipelines and film workflows, by collaborating with a Project Advisory Panel representative of the different roles in film and television as well as end users.
Join us on Saturday 8th June in London for a screening of the short film Spines, written and directed by Joseph Inman, followed by a Q/A. Find out more.
We are delighted to announce Amble Skuse, one of our symposium speakers in Edinburg this May. This post features the abstract of her presentation and her bio. Find out more.
In this episode, Mariana interviewed Maria Oshodi whose work is experimental, intersectional, and pushes the artistic and aesthetic boundaries between experience, identity and place. She founded Britain’s leading performing arts company of visually impaired artists Extant and collaborates with other artists, freelancing on a number of independent arts projects. Find out more.
We are delighted to announce Aby Watson, one of our symposium speakers in Edinburg this May. This post features the abstract of her presentation and her bio. Find out more.
We are delighted to announce Sonia Allori, another one of our symposium speakers in Edinburg this May. This post features the abstract of her presentation and her bio. Find out more.
We are delighted to announce Emily Beaney, one of our symposium speakers in Edinburg this May. This post features the abstract of her presentation and her bio. Find out more.
On 6th December 2023 Mariana had the pleasure of being invited to join a panel organised by Suzie Cloves from Manchester Metropolitan University. Find out more.
In this episode Mariana interviewed Dr Anna Bramwell-Dicks, interdisciplinary lecturer in Interactive Media within the School of Arts and Creative Technologies. Find out more.
We are delighted to announce that in September 2025 we will be hosting the Conference on Disability, Accessibility and Representation in the Creative Industries (DARCI) at the University of York (UK). Find out more.
The EAD team is delighted to announce the symposium 'Removing barriers: disability and accessibility in the creative sector' taking place in Edinburgh on Saturday 18th May 2024. Find out more.
We are delighted to announce that we have a new logo thanks to the wonderfully talented Oswin Wan. Find out more.
In this episode Mariana interviewed Joseph Inman, a film director working in Cornwall, director of Spines. Find out more.
Congratulations to the Visible Mending Team on their BAFTA Nomination! Find out more.
In December 2023 we hosted our annual Advisory Board Meeting online, an opportunity to update our board on what we’ve been up to as well as seek advice on ways forward. Find out more.
We're pleased to introduce our new podcast, DARCI, which stands for Disability, Accessibility, and Representation in the Creative Industries. Our first episode is a brief introduction to what we hope DARCI will achieve and to what our team members have been working on. Find out more.
Last September, Michael got the chance to present some of our research from the EAD project at the Immersive and 3D Audio conference, at Bologna Italy. Find out more.
Delve into the journey of Spines, the first BFI Network-funded film to be written, directed, and starring an autistic person. Find out more.
We are excited to have had Jerome doing an internship through us. In this post he sums up his experience delving into the intricacies of sound mixing for high-budget films and TV with the London based Formosa Group. Find out more.
Our team carries out focus groups, interviews and other sessions on a regular basis. If you are visually impaired and are interested in participating you can sign up to our participants' mailing list below to find out about the opportunities available.