AVT Masterclass

“Joel Snyder is known internationally as one of the world’s first “audio describers,” a pioneer in the field of Audio Description. Since 1981, he has introduced audio description techniques in over 40 states and 64 countries and has made thousands of live events, media projects and museums accessible. Most recently, Joel Snyder was named a Fulbright Scholar to train audio describers in Greece and Ukraine over a four-week period in 2019.”

“Eliana Franco is a translator for the visual, audiovisual and performing arts, with a doctorate in Letters by KULeuven (2000). She has taught at the Federal University of Bahia, in the city of Salvador, Brazil, where she has coordinated the research group Tramad (Translation, Media and Audio Description) for ten years (2004 – 2014). In 2000, Eliana started her accessibility trajectory as a trainer and researcher in SDH, and in 2004 she gave her first steps into audio description, becoming one of the pioneers in her country. Since 2020 she has lived mostly in Portugal, where she works as an AD and SDH trainer and coordinator of projects for the cinema and the theatre.”

“Wojciech Figiel is assistant professor at the Institute of Applied Linguistics, interpreter and translator, as well as audio description and accessibility consultant. He published numerous papers on, among other subjects, accessibility of translational professions for the visually impaired persons. That was also the subject of his Ph. D. thesis. He has cooperated with public and private sector institutions (museums, media organisations, NGOs etc.) to ensure access for the visually impaired persons through the provision of audio description, but also by guaranteeing accessible mobile apps and safe physical environments.”

“Bernd Benecke is the Head of Audio-Description at Bayerischer Rundfunk BR – one of the main producers of Audio-Description in Germany. BR delivers AD for German Public TV, DVDs, VoD and cinema. Bernd Benecke started with Audio Description in 1989 when the first movie was described in Germany. He worked as an Audio Description author and narrator for movie distributors and different TV-stations. In 1997 he built up the AD department at Bayerischer Rundfunk. Today he mainly trains the authors, revises Audio Descriptions and directs the narrating and sound mixing process. He is one of the authors of the German Audio Description guidelines and headed workshops in countries around the world. ”

“Fern Lulham is a blind communication specialist. She studied for her degree in Radio Broadcast Communication both in the UK and North Carolina, USA. She works as a freelancer and as well as narrating audio description for major broadcasters, her CV includes reporting, presenting and producing for BBC Radio, public speaking, including a TEDx talk entitled "What Online Dating Looks Like When You're Blind" and delivering her accredited Disability Awareness training course. She has also recently qualified as a psychotherapist. When Fern's not working, her favourite leisure activities include watching true crime documentaries and going for walks with her beautiful guide dog, Nancy.”

“Shak Yousaf is the Audio Description Manager at Iyuno (previously SDI Media), a position he’s held for ten years. He coordinates AD projects from start to finish, from helping colleagues with costs and timelines to supervising the writing, recording and delivery of the productions. Shak has managed AD projects for 14 languages and continues to hire and train freelancers to help him fulfil the company’s projects. In addition to Iyuno, Shak teaches Audio Description at the UK universities UCL and Leeds in courses he created and designed himself from his years of experience and knowledge.”