IDEA: Inclusive Description for Equality and Access

Audio Introductions are used by many theatres to provide blind and partially sighted theatre goers with essential information about a play's setting, costumes, props and characters. Despite their obvious benefits for audience comprehension, engagement and enjoyment, audio introductions are not currently provided by film and television makers although there is nascent interest in adding them. The fellowship will engage theatre professionals, audio describers and BPS people with the creation and promotion of inclusive audio introductions which celebrate actors' diversity. References to actors' or characters' protected characteristics such as race, gender, sexuality, disability and age are not always made in inclusive and equitable ways in audio introductions. Either describers erase markers of diversity by avoiding mention of certain characteristics for fear of 'saying the wrong thing', or they inadvertently use loaded or negative language to describe them. In both cases, the improved inclusion of disabled people in the audience achieved through the provision of audio description is undermined when people on stage are either erased or treated unfairly. Inclusive audio introductions, particularly those created after consultation with actors and the creative team, are a means of improving accessibility, diversity and inclusion for both audience members and members of the theatre company. The Fellowship will disseminate the findings of the report Describing Diversity: An Exploration of the Description of Human Characteristics Within the Practice of Theatre Audio Description which was published by Royal Holloway and VocalEyes in September 2020. The report's findings address the current lack of inclusive audio introductions by presenting a set of 12 recommendations about best practice in inclusive audio description for both audio describers and theatre professionals. These recommendations are designed to promote equality, diversity and inclusion both for people being described (actors and their characters) and for people listening to the descriptions (including but not limited to BPS theatre goers). The fellowship will enable, support and encourage the implementation of these recommendations through a programme of workshops to co-create audio introductions for 10 productions, chosen to include a wide range of protected characteristics; activities to engage diverse theatre audiences with the benefits of inclusive audio description; and the development of training materials and resources about the value of audio introductions both in and beyond theatrical settings. The fellowship will support and enable theatre professionals and audio describers to engage with and explore the research findings in order to promote the creation of inclusive descriptions which celebrate diversity in accessible ways. We will work with casting directors, actors, access professionals, front-of-house teams and producers from 5 producing theatres to promote the benefits of inclusive audio introductions for theatre professionals and audience members. We will enable audio describers to work with theatre professionals on the creation of inclusive audio introductions and we will involve BPS theatre goers and members of the communities depicted in the productions through a process of consultative co-creation. The fellowship aims to promote the value of the inclusive audio introduction as both a communicator and a driver of equality and diversity. As part of its promotion of inclusive audio description, the fellowship will also seek to increase the diversity of audio describers, BPS theatre goers and theatre professionals by engaging under-represented groups with the creation and reception of inclusive audio description. By showcasing the benefits of inclusive audio introductions in the project MOOC, the fellowship will also encourage the wider creative industries, particularly film and television companies, to add audio introductions to their access provision.