Programme: Wednesday / Thursday / Friday

This is a provisional programme subject to changes (chairpersons for each session are still pending). Updated 12-10-2026.

Wednesday 7th April 2027

08.15-09.00. Registration.

09.00-09.15. Opening remarks.

09.15-10.00. Keynote by Anita Lamprecht.

10.00-11.00. Session 1: Artificial Intelligence in Audio Description (I). Chair: Estel·la Oncins (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona).

  • Brett Oppegaard (Oregon Institute of Technology). Coaches, Personas, and Experts: Building Generative AI Agents for Audio Description to Support Human Describers Rather Than to Replace Them (15 minutes).
  • Anna Jankowska (University of Antwerp). Co-authors: Harun Dalli, César González Fernández, Nina Reviers, Zoe Moores (University of Antwerp). What Does AI Think We Need to See? Exploring Quality in AI-Generated Audio Description (15 minutes).
  • Sabine Braun (University of Surrey). Modelling the audio description task: Conceptual challenges in AI-generated audio description and its evaluation (15 minutes).
  • Discussion: 15 minutes.

11.00-11.30. Coffee break

11.30-13.15 Session 2: Artificial Intelligence in Audio Description (II). Chair: Estel·la Oncins (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona).

  • Puri Meseguer Cutillas (University of Murcia). Co-author: Marina Ramos Caro (University of Murcia). Sexual Violence through the Lens of AI: Meaning Negotiation in Audio Description (15 minutes)
  • Bridget Melton (freelance audio describer). What Does AI Leave Unsaid? Checking Default Bias in Audio Description (15 minutes).
  • Verónica del Valle Cacela (Maria Curie-Skłodowska University). Audio Description for Children: Comparing Professional and AI-Generated Scripts (15 minutes).
  • Francesca Foglietti (University of Bologna). Can AI Generate Emotional Audio Description? A Discussion of Prompt Engineering, Datasets, and Human-in-the-Loop Intervention (15 minutes).
  • Alexa Lintner (Zurich University of Applied Sciences). Co-author: Martin Kappus (Zurich University of Applied Sciences). Prompting LLMs for Audio Description-Appropriate Translation: A Pilot Study (15 minutes).
  • Discussion: 30 minutes.

13.15-14.30 Lunch break

14.30-16.00. Session 3: AD training. Chair: Brett Oppegaard (Oregon Institute of Technology)

  • Irene de Higes Andino (Universitat Jaume I). Co-authors: Lucía Pintado Gutiérrez (Dublin City University), Alejandro Romero Muñoz (Universitat Jaume I). Quality control and training assessment in audio description in Spain: A comparative study of criteria in industry, higher education, and vocational training (15 minutes).
  • José Luis Castillo-Flores (Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria). Co-author: Laura Cruz-García, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. From AD Quality Standards to Assessable Criteria: Towards an Adaptable Assessment Framework for Introductory AD Training (15 minutes).
  • María Isabel Rivas Ginel (UCLouvain) & Lucía Pintado Gutiérrez (Dublin City University). Audio Description Education in Transition: Curriculum, Technology and Collaboration Across European Universities (15 minutes).
  • Floriane Bardini (Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya). Coauthors: Eva Espasa (Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya), Lucía Pintado Gutiérrez (Dublin City University). Didactic Audio Description in Minoritised Language Settings: from Teacher Training to Implementation in the Classroom (15 minutes).
  • Discussion: 30 minutes.

16.00-16.30 Coffee break

16.30-18.00. Session 4: Museum AD. Chair: Sarah McDonagh (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona).

  • Zou Lilei (City University of Hong Kong). Co-author: Jackie Xiu Yan (City University of Hong Kong). Between Neutrality and Engagement: Comparing Audio Guide and Audio-Descriptive Guides in Hong Kong Museums (15 minutes).
  • Agata Hołobut (Jagiellonian University in Kraków). Co-author: Szymon Pindur (Jagiellonian University in Kraków). Mimicries – Detecting Art Movements in Museum Audio Descriptions (15 minutes).
  • Georgea Fernanda Rodrigues (Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (PUC Minas). Co-authors: Aparecida Pereira Leite, Eliane Camolesi. Between the visible and the sensible: creative audio description in museum spaces (10 minutes).
  • Miloslava Hruba (Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachussetts). Redefining Digital Access: Leveraging Generative AI, Student Collaboration, and Multilingual Art Descriptions to Engage Blind and Low Vision Audiences in Academic Museum Art Collections (15 minutes).
  • Theodora Psoma (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) Describing Thessaloniki: A Corpus Study of Audio Description Language across Cultural Heritage Museums (10 minutes).
  • Discussion: 25 minutes.

Thursday 8th April 2027

09.00-10.45. Session 5: Research and theoretical approaches. Chair: Nina Reviers (University of Antwerp).

  • Monika Zabrocka (Jagiellonian University in Krakow). Whose Vision Is It? Filmmakers’ Perceptions of Audio Description as Artistic Intervention (15 minutes).
  • Iwona Mazur (Adam Mickiewicz University). Who Says What to Whom? Introducing the Mediated Intersemiotic Translation Model for Audio Description (15 minutes).
  • Gert Vercauteren (University of Antwerp). Other-revision in Audio Description – Insights from a Flemish case study (15 minutes).
  • Jarno Wuijts (University of Antwerp). Filling the blind spot: Insights from a validation study on psychophysiological measures of cognitive effort during AD processing (15 minutes).
  • Jordi Cabrera (Pompeu Fabra University). The semantic profile of action AD: A contrastive corpus-based study (15 minutes).
  • Discussion: 30 minutes.

10.45-11.15. Coffee break

11.15-12.55. Session 6: AD across the world. Chair: Monika Zabrocka (Jagiellonian University in Krakow).

  • Lucinea Marcelino Villela (Sao Paulo State University). Audio description in Cinema: Access and Inequalities (10 minutes).
  • Bárbara Barros Lustosa da Silva (Permear Arte e Acessibilidade). Co-author: Hiane Carolina Martins da Silva (Permear Arte e Acessibilidade). Audio Description in App Tela Brasil Films: A Practitioner’s Experience (10 minutes).
  • Jackie Xiu Yan (City University of Hong Kong). Co-authors: Su Lin, Lok Yiu Cheung (City University of Hong Kong). Audio Description Management and Policies: A Comparative Study of Hong Kong, Spain, and the UK (10 minutes).
  • Marzieh Izadi (University of Antwerp). User-Generated Audio Description in Iran: Findings from an Interview-Based Study (10 minutes).
  • Mira Kainulainen (Tampere University). The Finnish Handbook of Audio Description (10 minutes).
  • Su Lin (City University of Hong Kong). Co-author: Jackie Xiu Yan (City University of Hong Kong). Audio Description Policies and User Needs: A Survey Study in China (10 minutes).
  • Jan Pedersen (Stockholm University). Co-authors: Jana Holsanova (Lund University), Joel Snyder (Audio Description Associates, LLC). AD in Sweden: practice, research, training and collaboration (10 minutes).
  • Discussion: 30 minutes.

12.55-14.15 Lunch break

14.15-15.15. Session 7: Gender and diversity. Chair: Rebecca Singh (Superior Description Services).

  • Blanca Serrano (Universidad de Murcia). Gender Bias and Diversity in AI-Generated Audio Description: An MQM-Based Evaluation Framework (10 minutes).
  • María Inmaculada Vicente López (Universidad de Murcia). Co-authors: Ana María Rojo López, Marina Ramos Caro, Puri Meseguer Cutillas, Blanca Serrano Alcaraz, Cristina Roldán Torralba, María Gabarrón Pascual (Universidad de Murcia). Audiodescribing Diversity: Exploring Training Needs for Inclusive Gender Representation (10 minutes).
  • Iris Cristina Permuy Hercules de Solas (Universitat Jaume I). Co-author: Gonzalo Iturregui-Gallardo (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). Queer representation in the audio description of visual arts: three case studies (10 minutes).
  • Liz Gutman (Descriptive Video Works). Co-author: Nefertiti Matos Olivares (Descriptive Video Works). Describing Identity: Perspectives from AD Users and Under-Described Communities (10 minutes).
  • Discussion: 20 minutes.

15.15-16.00 Session 8: AD in silent films. Chair: Kari Seeley (Adelaide University)

  • Jūlija Rastorgujeva (Ventspils University of Applied Sciences, Baltic International Academy). Translating Between Technologies: Intertitles and Audio Description in Silent Film (10 minutes).
  • Matt Kaplowitz & Wendy Sapp (Bridge Multimedia). Voicing the Silent Screen: Focus Group Findings on Audio Description for Silent Films (15 minutes).
  • Discussion: 15 minutes.

16.00-16.30 Coffee break

16.30- 18.00. Session 9: AD across genres. Chair: Blanca Arias-Badia (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

  • Milena Schneid Eich (Imaginativa Acessibilidade e Educação). Between Images and Narration: Audio Description in an Accessible Video Book (15 minutes).
  • Kangte Luo (Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University). Co-author: Jackie Xiu Yan (City University of Hong Kong). Audio Description in Chinese Online Media: Provision, Reception, and Emerging Trends (15 minutes).
  • Andreea Deleanu (University of Antwerp). Co-author: Gert Vercauteren (University of Antwerp). Insights from a survey exploring gaming habits and access needs of Partially Sighted and Blind Players in Dynamic AD for video games (10 minutes).
  • Barbara Viotto do Carmo (São Paulo State University, Unesp). Co-author: Suely Maciel (São Paulo State University, Unesp). Recommendations on audio description scripts for images exhibited on Brazilian fashion retailers’ websites (10 minutes).
  • Alison Myers (Curtin University). Co-author: Kathryn Locke (Curtin University). The Accessibility Gap: Audio Description Implementation in Television Commercials (10 minutes).
  • Discussion: 30 minutes.

20.00 Social dinner at Rei de Copes (Plaça Reial, Barcelona).

Friday 9th April 2027

09.00-11.00. Session 10: Industry perspectives. Chair: Jonathan Penny (Visual Data Media Services)

  • Rebecca Singh and Janis Mayers (Superior Description Services). Indigenizing Audio Description: Five Years of Industry-Led Practice, and an Emerging Question About AI (15 minutes).
  • Joel Snyder (Audio Description Associates, LLC / Audio Description Project of the American Council of the Blind). Audio Description At Every Performance: Parity with Sighted People (15 minutes).
  • Marie Campbell (Red Bee Media). The Audience In Every Room: Co-creating Broadcast Audio Description with Blind and Partially Sighted Users (15 minutes).
  • Darla Biccum (Descriptive Video Works). Co-author: Fern Lulham (Descriptive Video Works). Nothing Without Us: Notes on a Blind Coauthorship Initiative (15 minutes).
  • José Ednilson Almeida do Sacramento (Universidade Federal da Bahia). The affirmation of the audio description consultant in distinct contexts (10 minutes).
  • Victoria Hunt (SBS, Special Broadcasting Service Australia). It ALL counts (10 minutes).
  • Melissa Hope (Descriptive Video Works). Describing Group Fitness – Beyond Exercise to Community and Inclusion (10 minutes).
  • Discussion: 30 minutes.

11.00-11.30. Coffee break

11.30-12.50. Session 11: Audio description in culture and the arts. Chair: Anna Jankowska (University of Antwerp).

  • Carla Botella Tejera (Universidad de Alicante). Co-authors: Ana Compañy Martínez, Rosana Esquinas López (Universidad de Alicante). AD in ephemeral art performances and installations (15 minutes).
  • Letizia Binda-Partensky (Independent Practitioner-Researcher). Tactile Beauty: Artistic Experience Beyond Sight. From Tactile Translations to Tactile Aesthetics (10 minutes).
  • Nina Reviers (University of Antwerp, OPEN Expertise Centre). Towards Access Aesthetics: Creative Audio Description for the Sign Language Performance [meeuw] (15 minutes).
  • Maria Thrasyvoulidi (liminal Access to Culture). Whose Bodies, Whose Space: Trojan Women and the First Audio Description at Epidaurus (10 minutes).
  • Discussion: 30 minutes.

12.50-14.15. Lunch break

14.15-15.15 Session 12: Audio description in festivals. Chair: Marina Ramos (University of Murcia).

  • Sarah Solito (Sub-ti, Sub-ti Access). Co-author: Alessio Vitali (Sub-ti, Sub-ti Access). Audio Descriptions and Audio Introductions for Live Music Concerts: Challenges, Strategies, and User Perspectives (15 minutes).
  • Eva Gkritzali (liminal Access to Culture). Co-author: Maria Thrasyvoulidi (liminal Access to Culture). Co-Creating Access: Greece’s First Child-Created Audio Description (15 minutes).
  • Jonathan Penny (Visual Data Media Services). Audio Description in radical performance: co-creation and participation as strategies to improve the description of sensitive subjects (15 minutes).
  • Discussion: 15 minutes.

15.15-15:50 Session 13. AccessCat session. Knowledge transfer and industry-academia collaboration. Chair: Anna Matamala (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona).

  • Anna Matamala (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). AccessCat, a knowledge transfer network in Catalonia (5 minutes).
  • Blanca Arias-Badia (Universitat Pompeu Fabra). Co-authors: Carme Guillamon Villalba (Narratio); Clara Anush del Rey Adanalian (Universitat Pompeu Fabra). Històries d’accessibilitat (Accessibility Stories): Audio description for science communication and social impact (10 minutes).
  • Olga Davis (University of Surrey). Co-author: Eveline Ferwerda (Scribit.Pro). Extending Audio Description Together: The Case of Industry–Academia Collaboration (10 minutes).
  • Discussion: 10 minutes.

15.50-16.15 Closing session

  • Bernd Benecke (Bayerischer Rundfunk). 2007-2027. A look back on 20 years of ARSAD (15 minutes).
  • Anna Matamala (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). Closing remarks (10 minutes).

The organisation is not responsible for any last-minute cancellation or programme change.