Joel Snyder Releases New Book About Audio Description

TAKOMA PARK, Md.

People with vision impairments experience the world aurally, to a great extent, and for the last few decades they've had help "seeing" plays, art exhibits, media events and television shows - thanks to audio description. In this new book, audio description pioneer Dr. Joel Snyder offers an overview of the field, based on his extensive experience. That experience wasn't just with clients: Snyder's own father developed macular degeneration at age 80 and was legally blind the last 16 years of his life, but he enjoyed audio description provided by his son on nationally broadcast television, on DVDs, at live performing arts events and museum exhibitions.

With more than 21 million U.S. residents with vision loss, according to the American Foundation for the Blind, audio description - which uses succinct, vivid and imaginative words to describe visual images - is more important than ever. Its concise, objective translation of key components of art and body movements can benefit others as well, enhancing powers of observation. In "The Visual Made Verbal: A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description" Snyder includes audio description's history, application to a range of mediums, description of fundamental training techniques and how audio description can brought to a community. Snyder's passion for the subject is clear, and he likens audio description to the literary art of haiku, with a few words conveying visual images for those who can't see for themselves.

Written in terms easily understood by laymen, the book offers a list of resources and extensive appendices, including a list of what people around the world are doing in the field, as well as equipment needs for potential describers.

Author Joel Snyder, president of Audio Description Associates, LLC, has a Ph.D. in accessibility-audio description from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. Known around the world as one of the first "audio describers," Snyder helps make theater events, museum exhibitions, television shows and live events accessible to people who are blind or have low vision through his company. As director of described media for the National Captioning Institute he supervised production of description for "Sesame Street" and dozens of feature films and national television broadcasts, as well as displays at The Getty Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Albright-Knox Gallery and National Park Service visitor centers.

Snyder has introduced audio description techniques in 36 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 35 countries. As director of the American Council of the Blind's Audio Description Project, Snyder voiced description for network coverage of President Obama's inaugurations in 2009 and 2013 and produced the first audio-described tour of the White House. His professional memberships include the Actors' Equity Association, American Federation of TV and Radio Artists, and the Screen Actors Guild.

For additional information, please visit http://www.thevisualmadeverbal.net.

The Visual Made Verbal: A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description
Joel Snyder
American Council of the Blind and Dog Ear Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-4575-2722-7 180 pages $19.95 US

Available at Ingram, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and fine bookstores everywhere.

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: Melanie Brunson, Executive Director, American Council of the Blind, 2200 Wilson Blvd., Suite 650, Arlington, VA 22201; phone (202) 467-5081 or toll-free,
(800) 424-8666; or visit http://www.acb.org.

About Dog Ear Publishing, LLC
Dog Ear Publishing offers completely customized self-publishing services for independent authors. We provide cost-effective, fast, and highly profitable services to publish and distribute independently published books. Our book publishing and distribution services reach worldwide. Dog Ear authors retain all rights and complete creative control throughout the entire self-publishing process. Self-publishing services are available globally at http://www.dogearpublishing.net and from our offices in Indianapolis.

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