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Call for Nominations for the 2024 ADP Awards

What do a chef, a museum, and a very large telescope have in common? They were all recipients of a 2023 ADP Award! The ADP Awards recognize achievement in audio description in seven categories, including media, performing arts, museums, the public sector, and research and development. Nominations will be accepted from January 8 to April 21, 2024, and the winners will be announced in July at the American Council of the Blind’s Conference and Convention.

Who Can Submit a Nomination?
Everyone! You are welcome to nominate yourself, your local theatre or museum, or a well-known institution. Complete and submit the nomination form today.

Who Is Eligible for an Award?
Any person, organization, or institution that fits in one of the categories below and is involved in the research, development, production, design, creation, and/or delivery of great audio description is eligible.

What Are the Criteria?
The most important criterion is that the person or organization consistently develops, creates, and/or makes available high-quality audio description. But we encourage you to consider other vital accessibility and inclusivity elements, such as how easy it is to access the audio description; whether the website and/or physical spaces are accessible; and to what extent people on the blindness spectrum are involved in the creation of audio description, as writers, editors, sound engineers, or testers. You’ll want to include these details in your nomination.

What Are the Award Categories?
There are seven categories. The same individual or organization may not be nominated in multiple categories.

Media
Performing Arts
Museums, Visual Art, Visitor Centers
Public Sector (government agencies – federal, state, or local)
International (people and organizations working primarily outside the US)
Dr. Margaret Pfanstiehl Memorial Award for Audio Description Research and Development
Barry Levine Memorial Award for Career Achievement in Audio Description

Submit Your Nomination!

Help us celebrate the people and organizations that are contributing significantly to the growth of audio description. Submit your nomination on-line before April 21, 2024

Voices of Inclusion: Pioneering the Fusion of Dubbing and Audio Description

You know what dubbing is, and you know what audio description is. For a person with visual impairment, both must be available simultaneously to full enjoy a foreign film. Read this article by Dicapta CEO Maria-Victoria Diaz to learn more. (Posted Apr 9)

CMT Music Awards - Audio Description

Events

OK, Country Music fans, Sunday's CMT Music Awards on CBS Sunday April 7th starting at 8pm (in each time zone) will be audio described. The show will also be carried live on Paramount+ AD, but the streamed version later should have it (though perhaps not right away...). (Posted Apr 4)

ACB and ADP Recognize Women’s History Month

March is Women’s History Month, and we’re proud to honor Dr. Margaret Rockwell Pfanstiehl (pronounced FAN-STEEL), a lifelong advocate for people who are blind or have low vision and a pioneer in the fields of accessibility and audio description.

Margaret, who was almost entirely blind due to retinitis pigmentosa, was on the leading edge of the accessibility movement. In the early 1970s, after earning her Ed.D. degree, she garnered support and funding around the Washington, D.C., area and founded the Metropolitan Washington Ear, an organization that continues to provide services today.

In the early 1980s, Margaret and her husband Cody developed The Ear's audio description program, the first ongoing description service in the world. Margaret and Cody, along with a core group of Ear volunteers (including Dr. Joel Snyder, the founder of the Audio Description Project) began offering description at Washington's Arena Stage and other area theaters.

Margaret also worked to help make television accessible; for those efforts, she was awarded a national Emmy Award in 1990.

In 1991 Margaret took another innovative leap by launching one of the nation’s first dial-In newspaper services. Years later, she testified before the Federal Communications Commission about access for individuals with disabilities, which led to the requirement for broadcasters to adopt audio description technology through the secondary audio programming channel.

This Women’s History Month, please join ACB and the Audio Description Project in remembering and honoring the incredible impact Margaret had on the everyday lives of people on the blindness spectrum. If you’re interested in learning more about Margaret’s life and achievements, visit the Metropolitan Washington Ear’s website

Public Comment Period for the Draft Audio Description Specialist Certification Criteria Closing March 31

The Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation & Education Professionals (ACVREP) is establishing the Certified Audio Description Specialist (CAUDES) certification to formally recognize individuals who are proficient in audio description best practices across a wide range of formats and venues. Areas of practice include, but are not limited to, prerecorded media, performing arts, interactive displays, live events, museums, and education. The ACVREP is inviting the public to provide comments and feedback on the draft criteria for the CAUDES certification. View the criteria documents. The 60-day public comment period will close on March 31, 2024. Written comments can be submitted to comments@acvrep.org, putting CAUDES in the subject line. Related: Audio Description Specialist Certification With Kim Charlson & Lolly Lijewski(Outlook on Western Radio). (Updated Mar 29)

NAACP Image Awards Airing with Description

Events

For the first time in BET history, audio description will be available for a live telecast. The NAACP Image Awards airs live on Saturday, March 16, at 8:00 PM ET/PT on BET, CBS Television Network, BET Her, VH1, CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV, MTV2, Paramount Network, Pop, Smithsonian Channel™, TV Land, and streaming on Paramount+. It is not clear that all networks will carry description, though we know that Paramount+ will not. (Posted Mar 14)

Vudu is Now Fandango at Home

The transactional streaming service Vudu, owned by Fandango Media (which is in turn jointly owned by NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery), has changed its name to Fandango at Home. At least for now, the website is still vudu.com, which is pointed to from fandango.com (which is for movie tickets). We have changed the name in our navigation links (above). (Posted Mar 14)

Choreographer and Access Advocate Jess Curtis

Choreographer and access advocate Jess Curtis died suddenly in the San Francisco area on March 11. Not only was Jess an innovative choreographer for his company "Gravity," he actively explored ways in which his work benefited from the involvement of people who are blind or have low vision. He championed the use of audio description to make dance accessible. Read a tribute article by KQED. Photo by Sven Hagolani. (Posted by Dr. Joel Snyder on Facebook, Mar 14)

Audio Description Podcast with Tabitha

Canadian podcasters at AD Banter sit down with ADP Project Coordinator Tabitha Kenlon to discuss audio description, her background, and the Audio Description Project. Listen to the podcast or read the transcript. As a reminder, all the individual podcasts about audio description and all the ones dedicated to AD are listed on our Podcasts page. (Posted Mar 11)

Cardinal Rule Press Now Offers Children's Illustrated Books with AD

A second company is now offering some children's illustrated books with audio description. You can visit Cardinal Rule Press to read about the books and get links to Amazon to order. They are also listed on our Other Media page, along with Imagination Storybooks. (Posted Mar 7)