Sonali Rai
Broadcast Relationships and Audio Description Manager, Royal National Institute of Blind People. Sonali is a Senior Manager with substantial experience in designing accessible viewer experiences for audiences with varying degrees of sight loss.
Some of Sonali’s recent work has included:
– Viewer assessment of synthetic speech for audio subtitles for TV content
– Viewer assessment of receiving access services via companion apps.
– Helping develop and adapt traditional audio description for different formats on TV
– Producing a toolkit on Audio Description and User Requirements for Digital Television for People with Sight Loss (available on request from the World Blind Union and RNIB)
Research Projects:
- Representing RNIB on the Immersive Accessibility Consortium that is working to establish viewer preferences of people with sensory loss in relation to broadcast content produced in 360 and VR with specific focus on adapting traditional access tools. More information on www.imac-project.eu
- Part of the ADLAB PRO Consortium that was funded to produce teaching materials for professionals seeking to build up an expertise in the production and delivery of audio description
Sonali has a Master’s Degree in Communication and Broadcast Media. She started her career at CNBC – Business TV News Service and worked in the sector for eleven years before moving to the third sector to work on the accessibility of broadcast services.