Hi there,
Welcome to our Enhancing Audio Description Newsletter, where we’ll keep you updated on our latest events, podcast releases, and research progress.
DARCI 2025 Conference News
We are excited that we are only a few weeks away from the start of our conference. We are working on making the conference as accessible, inclusive and environmentally sustainable as possible. Please read the Accessibility and Inclusion Information and the Environmental Sustainability Statement sections on our conference page for more information.
Registrations close on 3rd September, secure your spot through our Ticketsolve page.
New: Conference Bursaries for Attendees
We have very recently acquired a small pot of funding which we are now able to use to support D/deaf and disabled attendees (not presenters, as we’ve already had bursaries for presenters) who are facing financial difficulties and would benefit from attending the event. We are able to cover up to £250 in travel/accommodation expenses plus a free ticket for the event. If you’d prefer to attend online rather than in person you are also welcome to apply just for the free ticket. The deadline for applications is Friday 29th August 9am UK time. Please fill in this Google Form to apply.
DARCI Podcast and Blog Posts
In last month’s podcast episode, you can hear Dr Jen Beeston discussing her work on game accessibility. In her discussion with Mariana, she highlights how disabled people interact with games, often leveraging their unique strengths and strategies to navigate gameplay. The August episode features an interview with Jay Pocknell, a mixing engineer and founder of Sound Without Sight, an online hub connecting visually impaired musicians and audio professionals. He discusses inclusive design and screen reader‑friendly software, and the importance of community‑driven accessibility initiatives.
You might remember listening to one of our previous podcast episodes with James Edward Kilpatrick and Jack Morris where they talked about their experiences working with the EAD team to make their film Aspectum accessible. Aspectum is now available on our website. The soundtrack is best experienced over headphones.
Last year, in a blog post, Dr Monika Zabrocka introduced her work on audio description, and autistic children. Last month, we published a new post by her in which she continues outlining her research, this time focusing on the work carried out at York comparing different types of accessibility for visually impaired children, including work on EAD.
Research News
We are excited to have had Bob Tsang do an internship with us. In this post he sums up his experience working on a promotional film and a demo reel for the EAD methods.
Any questions, please feel free to email us on enhancingad@gmail.com. Social media updates on the project are added on Twitter/X @Mariana_J_Lopez on Bluesky @marianajlopez.bsky.social and on Mariana’s LinkedIn account.
Thanks!