Explore every episode of the podcast Making The Arts Accessible
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
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| 10 - Tom and Caroline Maley | 19 Dec 2023 | 00:45:40 | |
In this episode, recorded at Tom and Caroline's house, we have a great discussion about audio description. Tom is a general all-round arts-lover and has been blind all his life so has used audio description for many years now, particularly for theatre, opera and for historic buildings. And Caroline, his wife, has supported him in this, and was on the board of Vocaleyes for five years. So they are both full of lots of thoughts on what works, what doesn't and how people can make their work or their space accessible to blind people.
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| 09 - Ben Wilson | 14 Jul 2023 | 00:48:25 | |
Ben Wilson is an actor, theatre-maker, audio description consultant and recently became Extant's first trainee Artistic Director. We talk about how he combines these different roles, what it's like having a portfolio career like so many of us in the arts, on his requirements as a blind actor, on questions like why do West End shows have different access providers every week in each different venue, and should arts organisations and directors who have never cast a disabled actor on their stage still be given a platform. Enjoy!
Graeae Theatre
Ramps on the Moon Project
Sheffield Theatres
Oliver Twist – NT At Home https://www.ntathome.com/products/oliver-twist
Georgie Morrell – comedian, actor, writer
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| 00 - Trailer | 29 Jun 2022 | 00:02:10 | |
In this trailer, I discuss why I made the podcast and what it's all about.
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| 08 - Emily Malen | 11 Apr 2023 | 00:37:09 | |
In this episode, I'm talking to Emily Malen who is Front of House and Access Development Manager at Theatre Royal Nottingham and Royal Concert Hall. What she stresses is the importance of listening and learning from your audiences, and always pushing forward, looking at the latest technology, training your staff, communicating with every department in the building, and also your visiting audience, and visiting show.
Royal Theatre Nottingham and Royal Concert Hall
Attitude is Everything https://attitudeiseverything.org.uk/
Vocaleyes – audio description listings and information
StageText – captions in theatre
TheatreSign – BSL interpreters and performances
Signed Culture – supporting BSL access to the arts https://www.signedculture.org.uk/
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| 07 - Jonathan Suffolk | 25 Jan 2023 | 00:34:18 | |
I talk to Jonathan Suffolk, Director of Production at The Curve, Leicester who headed up the team at The National Theatre who developed their smart caption glasses. These augmented reality glasses provide captions for people who are D/deaf or hard of hearing, without them having to turn and read captions on a screen at the side or over the top of a stage. We get quite techy and hear how it all works in detail. And he talks very honestly about how access works in a major theatre and how it rubs up against the eternal economic difficulties in the arts.
The National Theatre Caption Glasses https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/your-visit/access/caption-glasses
The National Theatre, London, UK https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/
Leicester Curve Theatre https://www.curveonline.co.uk/
Stagetext – providing captions for theatres
Galapro – providing captions and audio descriptions to phones https://playbill.com/article/the-new-technology-about-to-revolutionize-broadway
The Arts Council’s ‘Let’s Create’ strategy https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/lets-create
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| 06 - Hannah Thompson | 20 Dec 2022 | 00:44:17 | |
In this episode, I talk to Hannah Thompson, Professor of French and Critical Disability studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, who describes herself as partially blind and is an expert in audio description. She recently co-created a FutureLearn course on audio description called ‘Creating Audio Description: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion’, which explores how to design and create audio descriptions and audio introductions for TV, film and theatre, and she's full of fascinating insights on how audio description can become part of the creative process which ultimately makes a better artistic product, whilst improving the audio description experience for the user.
http://hannah-thompson.blogspot.com/
Future Learn course - Creating Audio Description: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/creating-audio-description-for-equality-diversity-and-inclusion
The Smartify app (sign up and search for The Royal Holloway Art Gallery)
Play Flightpaths by Extant https://extant.org.uk/productions/digital-flight-paths/
Watch here https://flightpaths.extant.org.uk/
Vocaleyes website
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| 05 - Dan Parr | 08 Nov 2022 | 00:33:09 | |
In this conversation, I hear from actor Dan Parr about how he first got into audio describing whilst performing in Road at Leeds Playhouse, and how he and three other actors from that show have gone on to create their own company, Hear The Picture, where they create audio description in character, based in Sheffield. Hear The Picture – an actor led audio description company where they describe in character
https://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/ A theatre complex in Sheffield, comprising the Crucible, the Lyceum and the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse. These theatres make up the largest regional theatre complex outside the London region and show a variety of in-house and touring productions.
https://leedsplayhouse.org.uk/ One of the largest producing theatres in the north, and awarded the UK's Most Welcoming Theatre at the UK Theatre Awards 2022.
https://www.rampsonthemoon.co.uk/ A collaborative project between six different UK theatres aiming to enrich the stories we tell and the way we tell them by normalising the presence of D/deaf and disabled people both on and off stage.
World class theatre and training from D/deaf and disabled artists
They produce work with deaf and disabled artists, support deaf and disabled people in the arts, and support other organisations with training
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| 04 - Jonathan Penny | 03 Sep 2022 | 00:36:21 | |
I talk to Jonathan Penny about audio description for TV. He worked at ITV and is now at Channel 4 heading up their access services. And we also cover a bit about live subtitles, and how TV companies are starting to look at creating audio introductions to help blind and partially sighted viewers have more information about a show before watching it as there is only so much you can describe within the show.
ITV's accessibility inbox - accessibility@itv.com - for comments/complaints/to find out more about the users' forum
ITV's accessibility statement - https://www.itv.com/terms/articles/accessibility
VocalEyes – www.vocaleyes.co.uk
FutureLearn course - https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/creating-audio-description-for-equality-diversity-and-inclusion
Trigger Point character introductions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oJazqxGxSA
Scottish Opera Audio Described performances - https://www.scottishopera.org.uk/discover-opera/accessible-performances/
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| 03 - Paul Whittaker | 29 Jun 2022 | 00:30:18 | |
My conversation with Paul who is a BSL interpreter, covered how he prepares to sign an opera, what more theatres can do to welcome D/deaf audiences, and a look back at some of the wonderful shows he has signed over the years.
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| 02 - Philippa Cross | 29 Jun 2022 | 00:45:51 | |
I chat to Philippa about her work with Talking Birds theatre company in Coventry and especially the invention of a mobile captioning system - The Difference Engine. With this system, people can get captions on their phones which is particularly useful for smaller arts organisations (it's very reasonable!), and for events held in unusual spaces. Philippa also talks about how they created a Citizens Assembly during the Coventry City of Culture which means local people now have a say in the artistic and creative vision for the city. Shoot Festival, Access Coventry, and Artists’ Manifesto
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| 01 - Vicky Ackroyd | 29 Jun 2022 | 00:21:53 | |
In this episode, I talk to Vicky about her work as an audio describer, and an access champion, what she thinks of relaxed performances, and her work with Mind The Gap which champions access to creative careers for disabled artists. And there's a good story about a pie. Vicky’s Disability and Equality Training Company Vocaleyes – the UK’s audio description organisation Mind The Gap, England's leading learning disability performance and live arts company.
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| 11 - Paul Adams | 21 Oct 2024 | 00:34:10 | |
Paul Adams is currently Access Project Manager for The Royal Ballet and Opera in London and has been there just over a year. Before that he worked in Singapore, and has spent his career in creative learning departments working hard to make the arts accessible. We have a chat about what it’s like working for such a large organisation, tips and hints he has for effecting change, and things he thinks have worked well, and others which have been more of a learning curve. I hope you enjoy it.
Paul’s page on LinkedIn
Ramps on the Moon Project
ATG Theatres – access page https://www.atgtickets.com/access/
Devon Healey https://discover.research.utoronto.ca/32146-devon-healey
Paul Hamlyn Christmas Treat https://www.rbo.org.uk/learning/families/paul-hamlyn-christmas-treat
The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party – ZooNation https://www.rbo.org.uk/tickets-and-events/the-mad-hatters-tea-party-details
Singapore Theatre’s Inclusive Young Company https://www.srt.com.sg/young-company-past-productions
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| 12 - James Bottrill | 18 Jul 2025 | 01:02:01 | |
This is a detailed and comprehensive chat about the technology used in theatres for assistive listening and audio description. James has a huge amount of knowledge and experience in this area, and we look at all the different options out there - loop systems, infrared, radio, WiFi, and Bluetooth including Auracast - and discuss the pros and cons of each one. Links: James Bottrill - email orchard.audio.services@gmail.com
Ampetronic
Listen Technologies
Sennheiser
Williams
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| 13 - Tim Yates | 18 Sep 2025 | 00:27:49 | |
Tim Yates leads the Research and Innovation Programme at Drake Music, an organisation dedicated to helping musicians with disabilities discover or co-design instruments that work for them. Collaborating with tech companies, coders, and instrument makers, they are pushing the boundaries where music and technology meet. When we spoke in May, Tim explained how Drake Music is working to develop a kind of one-stop hub—a database and showcase space—for the many inventions and creative ideas emerging in this field. The aim is to share these innovations more widely and make them accessible to all. Links: Drake Music Tim Yates (page on DrakeMusic website) https://www.drakemusic.org/team/11116/
Paraorchestra The Kellycaster https://www.drakemusic.org/technology/instruments-projects/the-kellycaster/ MiMU Gloves https://mimugloves.com/gloves/ Sony - Inclusive Design https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/accessibility/initiatives/ OrchLab at the London Philharmonic Orchestra https://lpo.org.uk/project/orchlab/
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