We asked Valerie Hunter how her session, While You Weren’t Looking: From the Visible to the Audible, challenges prevailing thought.
I hope it helps raise the profile of audio description, helps people to consider when they might lean too heavily on visual media in presenting ideas and inspires people to think about what they can do verbally to help audio tell a story. I also hope to reinforce the notion that when we all listen to audio only, we are all essentially blind, so these matters are really about inclusion, which is a guiding principle of podcasting. This is not about addressing a niche.
I guess the session isn’t bringing out new thought, but rather thought that goes dormant sometimes. We assume that people see and hear the same things we do, but I learn over and over again (sometimes the hard way) that isn’t the case. It’s not just about sight and hearing, but perspective. So maybe the session will tweak some people to the fact there are these other considerations, but also conclude that while it’s important to remember them, when it comes to expressing our own perspective, there’s only so much we can do, and we can only do the best we can at the time.
Valerie Hunter will be speaking at 11:00am on Saturday, June 20 as part of the PAB09 program.
