UniDescription
Research

Get Involved
Academic Papers
Academic Posters
Academic Presentations

Join Our Research Team as a Volunteer

We study descriptions, description tools, and Descriptathons – not necessarily in that order

Get Involved

The UniDescription Project primarily focuses our research on improving the processes of creating Audio Description, improving the end products of such description processes, and improving ways in which those products are received by audiences.

We actively are seeking volunteers for:

Descriptathons: Once or twice a year, we bring together 100+ people for a hackathon-like event called a Descriptathon. This research workshop is partially a training on Audio Description fundamentals and partially a friendly competition, during which we learn about Audio Description, practice it, and make new public media that is audio described. We do this all in teams. The event happens virtually (via Zoom) and over three consecutive days. Each team includes representatives from the public place (i.e. a U.S. National Park Service site), representatives from the public at large (outside any specific organizational culture), and representatives of the primary audiences (people who are blind, DeafBlind, or who have low-vision). Each Descriptathon attracts a lot of people, but we also always have a few spots to fill once the teams are put together. Do you want to participate in a Descriptathon, particularly in representation of the public at large or as a member of the primary audiences?
Surveys, Focus Groups, Interviews: As Audio Description researchers, we regularly are working with our primary audiences (people who are blind, DeafBlind, or who have low-vision) to test our ideas. We offer a variety of ways to have those interactions and to provide empirical feedback, including through participation in surveys, focus groups, and even one-on-one interviews.
Field Visits: Our Audio Description is geotagged (connected directly to public places) and made for use in public places. We want people to use our descriptions, in place, so we regularly are setting up field visits to these public places to test the descriptions. If you are blind or DeafBlind or if you have low-vision, and if you want to visit one of these public places, would you be willing to coordinate with us and report back to us about how the visit went using our descriptions?
Describe It, or Review It: Maybe you just want to listen to some descriptions and give feedback? Or even write a few descriptions yourself? Through The UniDescription Project's Describe It and Review It online games, you can help to make the world more-accessible from wherever you are. To play those games, you just need an Internet connection and to be added to the reviewer/writer pools.

This sounds great. I would like to help. I would like to volunteer!

Let us know how you want to contribute by sending an email with the details to Dr. Brett Oppegaard

Our Scholarship

Peer-reviewed publications, posters, and presentations

Academic Papers

Amplifying Voices in UX: Balancing design and user needs in technical communication (2024)

Oppegaard, B., & Rabby, M. (2024). Inclusive measures: Establishing audio description tactics that impact social inclusion. In A. Lancaster, & C. King (Eds.), Amplifying Voices in UX: Balancing design and user needs in technical communication. SUNY Press. https://bit.ly/amplifyingvoicesinUX

Download Amplifying Voices in UX: Balancing design and user needs in technical communication (2024) article

STC Intercom (2023)

Oppegaard, B., Xu, Q., & Hurtut, T. (2023). Audio describing tables and charts: A re-visualization process for sharing complex data sets with people who are blind or who have low-vision. STC Intercom, 70(5), 14-18.

Download STC Intercom (2023) article

Helen Keller Services (2022)

Conway, M., Oppegaard, B., Bullen., M., Miguel., A. & Brown-Ogilvie, T. (2023). Describing people and portraits through audio description: Preferences of people who are blind, low vision, and DeafBlind. Helen Keller Services for the Blind. https://www.helenkeller.org/audio-describing-people-and-portraits-2022/

Download Helen Keller Services (2022) article

Helen Keller Services (2022) TIP SHEET

Download Helen Keller Services (2022) TIP SHEET article

Perspectives (2022)

Oppegaard, B., & Miguel, A. (2022). Audio description of gender: Self-description as an evocation of identity, Perspectives. doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2022.2116990

Download Perspectives (2022) article

Technical Communication (2022)

Oppegaard, B., & Rabby, M. (2022). Gamifying good deeds: User experience, agency, and values in play during a Descriptathon and beyond, Technical Communication. doi.org/10.55177/tc124312

Download Technical Communication (2022) article

Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness (2022)

Koirala, S., & Oppegaard, B. (2022). The light bulb went on: A historiography-based approach to disentangling audio description’s influential U.S. roots from its common practices. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 116(4), 1-12. doi.org/10.1177/0145482X221116903

Download Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness (2022) article

Technical Communication (2020)

Conway, M., Oppegaard, B., & Hayes, T. (2020). Audio description: Making useful maps for blind and visually impaired people. Technical Communication, 67(2), 68-85. URL: https://www.stc.org/techcomm/2020/04/28/audio-description-making-useful-maps-for-blind-and-visually-impaired-people/.

Download Technical Communication (2020) article

Inclusive Digital Interactives (2020)

Oppegaard, B. (2020). Unseeing solutions: From failures to feats through increasingly inclusive design. In J. Majewski, R. Marquis, N. Proctor, & B. Ziebarth (Eds.), Inclusive digital interactives: Best practices, innovative experiments, and questions for research. Washington, D.C.: Access Smithsonian, The Institute for Human Centered Design, & Museweb. URL: https://access.si.edu/sites/default/files/inclusive-digital-interactives-best-practices-research.pdf

Download Inclusive Digital Interactives (2020) article

Review of Disability Studies (2016)

Conway, T., Oppegaard, B., & Conway, M. (2016). Toward cultural inclusion: Using mobile technologies to increase access to audio description, The Review of Disability Studies: An International Journal, 11(4), 5-8. URL https://www.rdsjournal.org/index.php/journal/article/view/596.

Download Review of Disability Studies (2016) article

Academic Posters

CCCC Committee on Computers in Composition and Communication

"Descriptathon Teams and Tourneys: Let the Games Commence," research poster presented by Brett Oppegaard at the annual Committee on Computers in Composition and Communication (CCCCs) Digital Praxis Poster Sessions, held online, on April 9, 2021.

Download CCCC Committee on Computers in Composition and Communication paper

SIGDOC 2017

"To Bracket or Not Bracket: Experiments in Gamification in the Wilds of Technical Communication" research poster presented by Brett Oppegaard at the annual Association for Computer Machinery SIG Design of Communication (SIGDOC), held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 2017.

Download SIGDOC 2017 paper

SIGDOC 2016

"From seeing to hearing: Lessons learned from a research-based design project focused upon audio description, print-to-acoustic remediation, and mobile-app delivery" research poster presented by Brett Oppegaard at the annual Association for Computer Machinery SIG Design of Communication (SIGDOC), held in Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S., in 2016.

Download SIGDOC 2016 paper

Academic Presentations

Oppegaard, B. (2023, April 19-20). Is it Art? Or is it Audio Description? Experiments on the boundaries of media accessibility [Paper presentation]. Advanced Research Seminar on Audio Description (ARSAD), Barcelona, Spain.

Hartley, M., Oppegaard, B., & Sheehan, P. (2022, October 11-13). The UniDescription Project: Audio Describing the World, One Brochure at a Time [Panel presentation]. GSA's Interagency Accessibility Forum (IAAF), online.

Ross, D., Oppegaard, B., Willerton, R., Tang, Y., & Pearson, A. (2022, July 17-22). A bear on a wall: Disruptive agents of space- and place-based ethical boundaries [Paper presentation]. Proceedings of the International Professional Communication Conference (ProComm) 2022, Limerick, Ireland.

Oppegaard, B. (2022, May 26-30). Audio description as auteur placemaking: Addressing accessibility issues in public places through locative sound-art experiments [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association Conference (ICA), Paris, France.

Oppegaard, B., & Rabby, M. (2022, May 26-30). Networked sight: Improving social inclusion by improving audio description research [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association Conference (ICA), Paris, France.

Oppegaard, B., & Conway, T. (2022, February 26 - March 1). What I look like on Zoom: Real-time research into creating great portrait audio description [Workshop presentation]. Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity, Honolulu, HI, U.S.

Oppegaard, B. (2021, August 1). The UniDescription Project [Keynote address]. The Best in Heritage: Projects of Influence, Dubrovnik, Croatia, online.

Oppegaard, B., Griesemer, H., Hartley, M., & Rachfal, C. (2021, July 21). Audio description in the out of doors [Panel presentation]. Audio Description Project Conference (ADP), online.

Koirala, S., & Oppegaard, B. (2021, July 11-15). Academic origins of audio description: A historiography of the American School [Paper presentation]. International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), Nairobi, Kenya / online.

Oppegaard, B. (2021, July 11-15). What does he/she/they look like? Gender-defining audio description in self portraits [Paper presentation]. International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), Nairobi, Kenya / online.

Oppegaard, B. (2021, June 5-9). No Research Tool Available, Kinda No Problem: Bliss and Bootstrapping of Build-It-Yourself. [Workshop presentation]. Society for Technical Communication (STC) 2021 Technical Communication Summit Conference & Expo, online.

Oppegaard, B. (2021, April 17). On the Horizon of 2021: Future projects and directions [Panel presentation]. Hawaii Museums Association Conference (HAC), Honolulu, HI.

Oppegaard, B. (2021, April 7 - 10). Descriptathon lessons learned: The tool is only an instrument; it needs to be played to have power [Poster presentation]. Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), online.

Decker, D., Hartley, M., Bloomer, R., & Oppegaard, B. (2020, July 3-10). The National Park Service and Audio Description Research. [Panel presentation]. American Council of the Blind / Audio Description Project Conference (Online), Chicago, IL, United States.

Koirala, S., (2019, July 5-12). The UniDescription Project: Providing Tools, Training, and Mobile Apps to Spread Audio Description Through Our National Park. [Paper presentation]. American Council of the Blind Conference and Convention, Rochester, NY, United States.

Oppegaard, B., & Conway, M. (2019, May 22-24). The Maps Gap: Ways in Which Audio Description Can Connect People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired with Geographic Place. [Paper presentation]. Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide 2019 International Conference, Washington, D.C, United States.

Conway, T., & Oppegaard, B. (2019, March 4-5). Audio Description for Mobile Apps Workshop. [Workshop presentation]. Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity, Honolulu, HI, United States.

Conway, M., Conway, T., & Oppegaard, B. (2018, November 10-14). Mobile Technology for Audio Description. [Workshop presentation]. Association of University Centers on Disabilities Conference, Washington, D.C, United States.

Oppegaard, B. (2018, August 1-5). Mind on the Move: Mobile Learning Through Embodiment and Interactivity. [Paper presentation]. International Conference on Interactivity, Language & Cognition, Honolulu, HI, United States.

Koirala, S., (2018, June 29-July 6). The UniDescription Project: Providing Tools, Training, and Mobile Apps to Spread Audio Description Through Our National Park. [Paper presentation]. American Council of the Blind Conference and Convention,, St. Louis, MO, United States.

Hartley, M., Conway, M., Conway, T., Koirala, S., Bloomer, R., Gibson-Barrows, J., & Welte, F., (2018, June 29-July 6). The National Park Service and Audio Description Research. [Panel presentation]. American Council of the Blind / Audio Description Project Conference, St. Louis, MO, United States.

Oppegaard, B., Erdal, I. J., Frith, J., Morais, A. R., & Oie, K. (2018, May 22-23). Locative Media En Plein Air: Categorizing, Analyzing, and Creating Location-Based Narratives, Counter Narratives, and Other Types of Mobile Media In Situ. [Workshop presentation]. International Communication Association Mobile Preconference, Prague, Czech Republic.

Ross, D., Oppegaard, B., & Willerton, R. (2018, March 14-17). Languaging Ethics of Place: Lessons From Food Truck Voting, Developing Mobile Apps, and Radical Environmental Rhetoric. [Paper presentation]. Conference on College Composition and Communication, Kansas City, MO, United States.

Frith, J., Farman, J., & Oppegaard, B. (2017, October 19-21). The temporality of mobile media. [Panel presentation]. Association of Internet Researchers Conference, Tartu, Estonia.

Conway, M., Heyer, K., Black, R., Oppegaard, B., Dalmiya, V., & Brown, S. (2017, October 9-11). Disability Studies: Cultivating Critical Narrative Consciousness. [Panel presentation]. Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity, Honolulu, HI, United States.

Conway, T., Oppegaard, B., & Conway, M. (2017, October 9-11). Creating Audio Description for Mobile Apps. [Workshop presentation]. Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity, Honolulu, HI, United States.

Oppegaard, B., Conway, M., & Conway, T. (2017, August 11-13). To Bracket or Not Bracket: Experiments in Gamification in the Wilds of Technical Communication. [Poster presentation]. The Association for Computer Machinery Special Interest Group on Design of Communication, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Oppegaard, B. (2017, May 25-29). Insider Positionality: Creating Tools and Translations to Investigate Audio Description. [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association Conference, San Diego, CA, United States.

Oppegaard, B. (2017, May 25-29). Family Learning with Smartphones Could Feel and Sound Like This in National Parks. [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association Conference, San Diego, CA, United States.

Oppegaard, B. (2017, March 15-18). Bundled Together, But Inseparable No Longer: Experiments in Using Mobile Apps to Examine Mobile Media for Informal Learning. [Paper presentation]. Conference on College Composition and Communication, Portland, OR, United States.

Oppegaard, B. (2016, September 23-24). From seeing to hearing: Research-based design experimentation in development of open-source web and mobile tools for print-to-acoustic remediation. The Association for Computer Machinery SIG Design of Communication Conference, Silver Spring, MD, United States.

Oppegaard, B. (2016, July 25-28). Putting Education Back Into Place: Exploring the Potential of Locative Learning Through Mobile Technologies. [Workshop presentation]. Learning Technology for Education in the Cloud Conference, Hagen, Germany.

Oppegaard, B., Conway, T., & Conway, M. (2016, April 25-26). Audio Description Everywhere: Expanding the Availability of Audio Description through the Use of Mobile Technology. [Workshop presentation]. Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity, Honolulu, HI, United States.

Conway, T., Conway, M., & Oppegaard, B. (2015, November 16-18). Audio Description and Mobile Apps: Bringing Them Together. [Poster presentation]. Association of University Centers on Disabilities Conference, Washington, D.C., United States.

Oppegaard, B. (2015, July 16-17). Envisioning Mobile Apps for Audio Description: Exploring Universal Design of NPS Brochures. [Paper presentation]. The Association for Computer Machinery SIG Design of Communication Conference, Limerick, Ireland.

Oppegaard, B. (2015, May 20-21). Mobile for everyone? An analysis of National Park Service audio description as a step toward improving universal design through mobile. [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association Mobile Preconference, San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States.

Oppegaard, B., Conway, T., & Conway, M. (2015, May 18-19). Using Mobile Technology to Increase Access to Audio Description. [Paper presentation]. Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity, Honolulu, HI, United States.

Oppegaard, B. (2015, January 10-13). Brochures for the Blind: Designing Audio Description Mobile Apps for National Parks. [Paper presentation]. Hawai‘i International Conference on Arts and Humanities, Honolulu, HI, United States.

UniDescription Research