The Theory and Practice of Translation MA series:
Dr. Joel Snyder
Audio Description: If Your Eyes Could Speak

Dr. Joel Snyder is known internationally as one of the world’s first “audio describers”, a pioneer in the field of Audio Description. Since 1981, he has introduced audio description techniques in over 40 states and 64 countries and has made thousands of live events, media projects and museums accessible. Dr. Snyder was named a Fulbright Scholar to train audio describers in Greece and Ukraine over a four-week period in 2019.

In 2014, the American Council of the Blind published Dr. Snyder’s book, The Visual Made Verbal – A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description, now available as an audio book and in Braille from the Library of Congress, in screen reader accessible formats, and in English, Polish, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese and Italian print editions. His PhD is from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona with a focus on audiovisual translation/audio description. Dr. Snyder is the President of Audio Description Associates, LLC (www.audiodescribe.com) and he serves as the Founding Director Emeritus of the Audio Description Project of the American Council of the Blind (https://adp.acb.org).

Update: On November 14, Dr. Joel Snyder from Audio Description Associates, LLC received the Audio Description Visionary Award at the 2024 Audio Description Awards Gala from The American Council of the Blind.