The What, How, and Why of Audio Description with Dr. Joel Snyder

Today, we’re joined by Dr. Joel Snyder, who is known internationally as one of the world’s first “audio describers.” He is a pioneer in the field of Audio Description, a translation of visual images to vivid language for the primary benefit of people who are blind or have a vision impairment. 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, Dr. Snyder was named a Fulbright Scholar to train audio describers in Greece over a four-week period in 2019.

In 2014, the American Council of the Blind published Dr. Snyder’s book, The Visual Made Verbal – A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description, now available as an audiobook and in Braille from the Library of Congress, in screen reader accessible formats, and in English, Polish, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Chinese print editions; a version in Italian is planned for 2022. His PhD is from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona with a focus on audiovisual translation/audio description. Dr. Snyder is the President of Audio Description Associates, LLC and he serves as the Founder/Senior Consultant of the Audio Description Project of the American Council of the Blind.

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