Hello!
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.
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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.
Newsletter
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The Screening at TATE Britain
On 23 Sep 2017 we hosted a digital exhibition in the TATE Britain, London to showcase the research of the project into how sound design techniques can be used to rethink accessibility to film and television for visually impaired audiences. Find out more.
Interview with Kate Dangerfield
Interview with Anne Hornsby
Interview with Emily Giles
EAD Video Trailer
In this post you can see and hear our first video trailer for the project featuring Mariana, Gavin, Warren and Maxine. Find out more.
Interview with Josh Branson
Interview with Olga Davis
Interview with Alex Drioli
Interview with Zoe Moores
Interview with Mike Armstrong
Interview with Sarah McDonagh
Interview with María Olalla Luque and Silvia Soler
Interview with Kira Foglesong
Interview with Nat Barrett
Interview with Kerr Castle
Interview with Harel Chait
How can we combine touch and sound...
– as well as visual qualities – in interaction? A guest post by Emilie Giles. Find out more.
142nd International Audio Engineering Society Convention
On 20 May 2017 Mariana and Gavin gave a tutorial titled Using Binaural Audio to increase accessibility to Film and Television How Digital at the 142nd International AES Convention held in Berlin. Find out more.
Stereo vs binaural
Would you like to hear the difference between an binaural and a regular stereo soundtrack? Listen to these two audio clips from Pearl’s opening sequence. Find out more.
Participate
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.