International lecturers Marta Żaczkiewicz and Ugo Marsili will participate In the afternoon section of the Latvian Academy of Culture ERASMUS+ project’s “Audio Description Against Exclusion” conference. They will share their experience and practical advice on how to adjust audiovisual art forms to people with visual impairment.
The aim of this talk is to unpack the terms of inclusivity and accessibility when referring to people with hidden disabilities such as blindness or visual impairments. They will encourage the audience to consider the diversity in disability, a term often wrongly associated only with wheelchairs users.
During the first part of the talk they will explore the advantages of creating and using Audio Description (AD) for cinema and the performing arts to enable barrier-free access to culture for everyone. To achieve this they will provide attendees with useful tools and literature to deepen their interest and practice in the field of AD.
During the second part of the talk they will analyse different kinds of audio descriptions according to the audio-visual genre (film, animation, documentary etc.) through “hands on” exercises and reflect in practice on how to make content effective and available to audiences.
Language – English, with no translation in Latvian
Entry – free of charge with no prior registration necessary
Marta Żaczkiewicz is an audio describer, caption writer and founder of the Open Culture Open Art Foundation. The foundation advocates on behalf of people with sensory disabilities who are at risk of social exclusion. She is a graduate of audio-visual translation studies who has been professionally active in the field of accessibility since 2010. Żaczkiewicz is a certified instructor of spatial orientation and safe movement of people with visual impairments and is very interested in congenitally blind people’s perception.
As the co-author of the Deaf and Blind awareness teaching programme, Żaczkiewicz has delivered many international workshops for public and private sector bodies together with her friend and colleague Ugo Marsili. She has provided, or supervised an introduction of accessibility services to film festivals, theatres, and museums, and has been working on a teaching programme for the blind people who want to become audio description consultants since July 2022. Żaczkiewicz loves nature, long walks in the forest with her dogs, and practising yoga – all these things help to maintain a healthy work life balance.
Ugo Marsili is a lecturer in modern foreign languages and the Diversity and Inclusion lead at the University of Reading where he introduced the British Sign Language Programme for undergraduate students. In his role of Diversity Lead, Marsili works closely with the blind and deaf communities and students with hidden disabilities. He is working on different projects related to accessibility and perception of disability with different departments and contributes to weblog to embed inclusive design into teaching and learning in the built environment, professional education, and beyond.
As an audio-visual translator, Marsili has worked in several European and international projects together with his friend and colleague Marta Żaczkiewicz and has designed and delivered Deaf and Blind awareness workshops and AD trainings for public institutions, the private sector, and practitioners in the field of visual arts and media. Marsili knows sign language, is a keen language learner, and is passionate about teaching and research – he believes that teaching skills makes you skilful.
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