On January 26, 2017, in San Francisco, the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute’s Rehabilitation and Engineering Research Center (RERC) hosted DescribeAthon 17 -- an event that used the Institute’s YouDescribe technology, developed by scientist Dr. Josh Miele, to raise awareness about video accessibility on the web for blind viewers. YouDescribe is an enhanced video program for YouTube in which recorded voices describe what cannot be seen.
On this Day of Description, in a single day, amateur and professional volunteer describers from all over the world used YouDescribe to add as much accessible video material to the web, describing YouTube and other videos. Small prizes were offered to those volunteers who made the most outstanding contributions in a variety of video genres and categories. Describers joined the Institute from their homes or workplaces, or by gathering with other volunteers at one of the in-person DescribeAthon meet-ups. In-person locations included the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute on Fillmore Street in San Francisco and at the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library in Manhattan.
Dr. Miele’s scientific acumen has enabled Smith-Kettlewell to become a leader in designing, developing, and advocating improved tools for making video on the web more accessible for blind and visually-impaired viewers, and DescribeAthon17 was just one of the ways of doing it.
Learn more about YouDescribe by visiting the following sites:
Twitter: http://twitter/SKERI_YD
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/youdescribe