All Senses Go

03/07/2025

"With new open caption technology, Davis worked with hard of hearing filmmaker Alison O’Daniel (“The Tuba Thieves”) to create all-new captions that opened up the film to a new world of storytelling possibilities."

'Compensation' director Zeinabu irene Davis on how new open caption technology improved her movie for both the Hearing Impaired and Hearing Audiences.

12/17/2024

"This is not work that sits quietly alongside performance or politely inserts itself at the end of the creative process but is instead integral to the way a performance makes sense of itself."

|Alison Kopit, Ann Marie Dorr, Maggie BridgerAccess dramaturgy is a practice of integrating access creatively and collaboratively in performance from the earliest moments of the creative process. Access dramaturg Alison Kopit, in collaboration with Ann Marie Dorr and Maggie Bridger, introduces the t...

12/17/2024

Cool new feature for Android users! Live Caption just added Expressive Captions, with bracketed captions for intensity, vocal bursts, and ambient sounds.

The new Live Caption feature gives you the full picture of emotion in what’s being said on your device.

11/11/2024

Audio Description creators and consumers are invited to an Audio Described Silent Film Showcase on Monday, November 18 at 2:30 PM Central Time on Zoom.

Students from DePaul University's Accessible Cinema course engaged in group projects to bring three early silent films by Edison Motion Pictures to a wider audience, by audio describing each film's visuals for the first time.

The three films in the program include:
- The Great Train Robbery
- Frankenstein
- Jack and the Beanstalk.

Lee Pugsley and Alex Howard, two legally blind cinephiles and co-hosts of The Dark Room podcast, will be sharing feedback on each film!

Those interested should email [email protected], who will share a Zoom meeting link.

We hope you can join us!

11/02/2024

DePaul students are invited to an Accessible Cinema Student Project Showcase on Monday, November 11 at 1:30pm on Zoom. Post 389/489 students engaged in a creative challenge of their own choosing. The only criteria? To bring creativity to the act of: a) taking pre-existing media; b) making it more accessible, in some key way, for a wider audience.

Options included: Captioning a piece of media for Deaf and Hard of Hearing audiences. Creating an Audio Description narration track for Blind and Low Vision audiences. Translating a piece of media from one language to another.

Access artist Cheryl Green will be sharing feedback on student projects!

Interested students should email [email protected], who will share a Zoom meeting link.

08/30/2024

Open Captioned short films in a wheelchair-accessible venue? Sweet!

These shorts, all featured at past Festivals, display the brilliance and variety of our city’s incredible filmmakers.

08/09/2024

"The FCC's new rules aim to make closed captioning a more seamless and enjoyable feature for everyone..."

Closed captioning, once primarily associated with individuals with hearing impairments, has seen a surge in usage across a wider demographic.

07/03/2024

"It's got to be an evocative, really powerful, artistic kind of accessibility."

Issue Eighteen

07/03/2024

"The industry is constantly looking for new, untold perspectives; disabled filmmakers have that as well as tangible skills built from having to trailblaze and make a path where there was none before.”

A recently published report on inaccessibility at leading film festivals shows that filmmakers with disabilities are being excluded at the grassroots of the industry.

06/03/2024

New recommendations for accessible captions in 360 degree video!

https://www.w3.org/community/reports/immersive-captions/CG-FINAL-360-captions-20240412/

05/24/2024

“I don’t think it is just a temporary blip,” said Minjeong Kim, the director of the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies at San Diego State University. “The trend has shifted.”

In Hollywood today, not only are Asian and Asian American narratives more prominent than ever, but they are also being told in increasingly dynamic ways through the artful use of Asian languages.

05/21/2024

VERY excited to dig into this research. "Accessibility should be given the same level of investment and creative freedom as any other part of a film... The industry needs to do better."

Our recent research shows that Deaf people aren’t getting an equal experience to hearing people in film. Where do we go from here? We have some ideas.