Title
Changing it up. Audio description at large festivals and access strategies in a pandemic world
Conference name
9th International conference Media for all
City
Country
Spain
Modalities
Date
27/01/2021-29/01/2021
Abstract
The Luminato Festival is a dynamic large-scale multidisciplinary festival taking place every June in Toronto, Canada. The festival has offered audio description for internationally-renowned offerings in contemporary dance, theatre, large-scale visual art installations and other public programming.
This presentation is an audio describer’s case study of the Festival’s access strategies since 2012 and the services it has offered with blind and partially sighted viewers in mind. In June 2020, the Festival's (suddenly) virtual presentations were programmed with an additional layer of nuance and accessibility due to the COVID 19 Pandemic. This presentation will delve into how access, particularly for the Blind and partially sighted, was handled by the Festival historically and how it is being planned for 2021. Centred around an intention of making offerings as barrier-free as possible, this case study will offer practical tips and strategies that are especially helpful during this changing and challenging time.
The Festival has often presented works at new venues in different districts of Toronto. Audio Describers have had to work nimbly to make audiences feel welcome in eclectic locations such as a military fortification, entire urban neighbourhoods and even at an International Airport! Over the years the Luminato Festival has presented large-scale audio-described works from pioneering visual artists such as Philip Beesley and Lab(au), and live performance from Les Ballets C de la B, choreographer Yang Liping as well as numerous regional works and provocative new Canadian creations.
This presentation is an audio describer’s case study of the Festival’s access strategies since 2012 and the services it has offered with blind and partially sighted viewers in mind. In June 2020, the Festival's (suddenly) virtual presentations were programmed with an additional layer of nuance and accessibility due to the COVID 19 Pandemic. This presentation will delve into how access, particularly for the Blind and partially sighted, was handled by the Festival historically and how it is being planned for 2021. Centred around an intention of making offerings as barrier-free as possible, this case study will offer practical tips and strategies that are especially helpful during this changing and challenging time.
The Festival has often presented works at new venues in different districts of Toronto. Audio Describers have had to work nimbly to make audiences feel welcome in eclectic locations such as a military fortification, entire urban neighbourhoods and even at an International Airport! Over the years the Luminato Festival has presented large-scale audio-described works from pioneering visual artists such as Philip Beesley and Lab(au), and live performance from Les Ballets C de la B, choreographer Yang Liping as well as numerous regional works and provocative new Canadian creations.