Audio descriptionseeing with the mind¿s eye¿ a comprehensive training manual and guide to the history and applications of audio description

Resumo

- To develop an overarching (applicable to all genres/formats, e.g., performing arts, media, visual art, special events, etc.) guide or manual for the training of describers based on my background as the most experienced trainer of describers worldwide including a review of standards as they currently exist (what constitutes quality description and how can it best be taught). Over the last three decades, having introduced description techniques and trained prospective describers in thirty-four nations and more than thirty states in the U.S., I have developed a range of exercises and practices that I will share in a structured approach to building an awareness of the audience for whom description is intended and creating effective methodologies for conveying visual images with language. As noted above, this Ph.D. project is grounded in my training approach developed in part by my review of extant material and development of overarching audio description guidelines, applicable to various genres: media, performing arts and visual art. A variety of documents already exist that address aspects of audio descrisption technique. My aim is not to ¿reinvent the wheel"; I want to cull from these documents¿pull together the "best of the best"¿and through a ¿wiki-dot¿ post of my dissertation material on the Internet potentially allow description enthusiasts to provide comments on my compilation of material. I believe that this approach will best reflect a broad diversity of opinion, process, practice and involvement. -To develop a hypothesis regarding the development of literacy and the use of audio description in connection to picture books for small children and children¿s videos. -To develop a hypothesis suggesting that audio description for dance performance can be informed and enhanced by Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) and determine whether LMA techniques are effective tools for the dance or movement describer.