For Immediate Release
Contact: Joel Snyder, Director, Audio Description Project
(202) 467-5083
WASHINGTON, July 10, 2018 - The American Council of the Blind (ACB) proudly announces the 2018 Achievement Awards in Audio Description, an initiative of the Council’s Audio Description Project (ADP).
In conjunction with ACB’s 57th annual conference and convention in St. Louis, MO, the awards were presented at a plenary session of the conference before over 1000 people who are blind, ACB members/convention attendees. The prestigious awards included:
- Achievement in Audio Description – Performing Arts: MindsEye Radio, Belleville, IL (for its work providing description for the MUNY in St. Louis, the St. Louis Shakespeare Theater, Shakespeare in the Streets, The Rep, the Black rep, Straydog Theater, Inevitable Theater Company, Metro Theater Company, the Tennessee Williams Festival and its work with LAMP Interpreting Service providing audio description for a series of medically-oriented films produced in several languages--its description activity extends to audio description at the St. Louis Zoo, the Missouri Botanical Gardens, the Molah Shrine circus, Disney on Ice, the VIP Parade, the solar eclipse, and the establishment of a seminar on website accessibility through its Arts & Culture Accessibility Cooperative)
- Achievement in Audio Description – Media: Rooted In Rights, Seattle, WA (for its video and social media advocacy program focused exclusively on stories about disability rights—all of the nearly 200 original videos produced since 2015 have featured audio description)
- Achievement in Audio Description – Visual Art / Museums / Visitor Centers: Tennessee School for the Blind and Julia Cawthon, Nashville, TN (for their hosting of a unique event on August 21, 2017 to bring a live audio description of the Solar Eclipse to all the blind and visually impaired students at TSB and to thousands of blind people around the world through the live broadcast on ACB Radio)
- Achievement in Audio Description – International: Amos Be’er, CEO, The Central Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals, Tel Aviv, Israel (for work establishing an audio description service, an operation that allows the inclusion of hundreds of blind and visually impaired people in theater performances, movies, museums, ceremonies and live events)
- Special Recognition Achievement in Audio Description — International: Antonio Vazquez Martin, Aristia Producciones SLU-Madrid, Spain (for his work with students in the Spanish Translation Program at Montclair State University developing a free-of-charge 20 hour training course on audio description)
- Dr. Margaret R. Pfanstiehl Memorial Achievement Award in Audio Description – Research and Development: Dr. Francisco Lima, Recife, Brazil (for his work developing guidelines for scientific audio description, focusing on entomology descriptions. Dr. Lima details how audio description in scientific settings differs from audio description for films and theater and can benefit audio describers who are interested in applying their skills in a science setting. He also developed an app--Snap Sects—designed to make it easier for people who are blind or hEave low vision to access scientific audio description. This app promises to greatly facilitate access to scientific exhibits from museums to zoos)
- Barry Levine Memorial Award for Career Achievement in Audio Description: The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH (NCAM) (for its more than twenty years researching, developing, and customizing tools, guidelines, and technology that lowers the barriers to providing and accessing high-quality image and audio description)
The Achievement Awards are made to individuals and/or organizations for outstanding contributions to the establishment and/or continued development of significant audio description programs. The Barry Levine Memorial Award for Career Achievement in Audio Description recognizes an individual for outstanding contributions to the field of audio description over an extended period of time, leading, inspiring or providing significant service to others.
“Audio Description uses words that are succinct, vivid, and imaginative to convey the visual image from television, film, DVDs, theater, museums and many other settings,” stated Kim Charlson, president of the American Council of the Blind. "The organizations and individuals honored with these awards are among the leaders in description. They help make so many aspects of our culture accessible to people who are blind or have low vision; they deserve this special recognition.”
Additional information about ACB’s Audio Description Project is available at: www.acb.org/adp.
About the American Council of the Blind
The American Council of the Blind is a national membership organization. Its members are blind, visually impaired, and fully sighted individuals who are concerned about the dignity and well-being of blind people throughout the nation.
Formed in 1961, the ACB is one of the largest organizations of blind people in the world, with more than 70 state and special-interest affiliates and a nationwide network of chapters and members spanning the globe.
For more information about the American Council of the Blind, contact: Eric Bridges, Executive Director, American Council of the Blind, 1703 N Beauregard Street #420, Alexandria, VA 22311; phone (202) 467-5081 or toll-free, 1-800-424-8666; or visit the web site, www.acb.org.