Where we've been. What we've done.
IMAGE 1 of 4: Spire
DESCRIPTION:
The top left is the Spire, constructed in 2006. 15" wide at the base and 100' tall, the Spire stands sharply vertical in a forest landscape. Facing towards the sunrise, and in the shadows there is a tall, pointed cone shaped structure in the distance, this is the Spire. The surrounding trees are much shorter than the Spire, showing the enormity of the structure. In the foreground, the view is partially obscured by three, skinny, bare trees.
IMAGE 2 of 4: Wood Line
DESCRIPTION:
Top right is the Wood Line, begun in 2010 and completed a year later. Where Spire is vertical, Wood Line is horizontal. Snaking 1200' through the forest near Lover's Lane, the Wood Line is assembled from eucalyptus trunks. Set in a grove of trees forming an arched tunnel are tree trunks arranged end to end winding back and forth along its entire length. Fog covers the tree lined path partially hiding the far end. Along the forest floor are patches of bright green grass mixed in with fallen, brown leaves.
IMAGE 3 of 4: Tree Fall
DESCRIPTION:
Bottom left is Tree Fall, created in 2013. Installed in a small nearly square powder magazine with an arched ceiling, the piece is a large multi limbed tree trunk suspended overhead and looking like it grows into and back out of the walls. The entire surface of the tree and the inside of the ceiling is covered with a dry, cracked, sand colored clay. This photo shows a closeup looking straight overhead at the center of the room. Two thicker branches enter from the right, split into 4 smaller branches, and wander out of sight. The tree and ceiling beyond all have the same color and texture with the cracks in the clay brushed over them clearly visible.
IMAGE 4 of 4: Earth Wall
DESCRIPTION:
Bottom right is Earth Wall. Centered in the image is a 6' diameter ball of tree trunks and branches embedded in a rammed earth wall. The ball has been dug out and carved from where it was cast into the surrounding wall, with deep gouged tool marks radiating around it. The branches have patches of dark brown to pale red bark exposed from the caked mud that holds them together. The mud of the wall is darker and slightly grayer than the clay used in Tree Fall.
These photos show some of the research activities we have done in the field around the world.
In this Portrait project, American Council of the Blind members — who are blind or who have low-vision — were invited to have a portrait taken of them, from the shoulders up, on a black background. The images are shot very tightly, as a way to position the viewer to focus on the person's face and humanity. The participants also were guided through the process of making an Audio Description of the portrait. The descriptions provided here are based on what the person in the image wanted to say about themselves, after being guided through a series of prompts about potential topics of interest for their viewers/listeners, including name, gender, age, race/ethnicity, fashion/attire, facial expression, body shape/size, and any other aspects of their appearance they wanted to mention. The people in the portrait also were asked if they wanted to share the description with a first-person or third-person point of view.
How do we do what we do? These photos will give you a behind-the-scenes look at our work.
In June 2023, UniD Research Assistant Sajja Koirala led this group of American Council of the Blind volunteers through Pullman National Historical Park as a way to test the efficacy of the Audio Description recently produced for the park during Descriptathon 9. The group is shown in front of a Pullman railcar exhibit, where some of the group is seated in the train benches, and others are standing next to it, including, from left to right, Park Ranger Linda Schwab, research assistant Koirala, Bill Self, Tabitha Kenlon, Swatha Nandhakumar, Michael Wiseman, Clark Rachel, ACB's executive director Dan Spoone, Leslie Spoone, and Jim Kral. Ranger Schwab is wearing her NPS uniform, including a gray collared shirt and dark green pants. The rest of the group is wearing casual summer clothes. Wiseman is sitting on the floor in front of the train benches, looking relaxed in a white T-shirt, jeans, and a white visor. He's also wearing black-rimmed glasses. Kenlon and Nandhakumar are sitting on one of the benches, and Rachfal and Dan Spoone are sitting on the other. Everyone in the group is smiling and looking at the photographer.
Courtesy of Pullman National Historical Park, in the National Park Service.
Pullman National Historical Park in Chicago, IL, has a large table filled with Braille labels and tactile models that are being used by a UniD research team led by Research Assistant Sajja Koirala and, from left to right, park volunteer Elizabeth Mishler, and American Council of the Blind members Jim Kral and Clark Rachfal. This Koirala-led research study, in June 2023, tested, among other objectives, how Audio Description impacts the use and understanding of tactile models. The table is rectangular and a bit lower in height than a typical dinner table, but it also is larger, in the sense that it could probably comfortably seat three people on each side of it. The table has multiple tactile models of Pullman buildings as well as a significant amount of Braille text. The Braille text covers more than half of the table. Koirala is feeling one of the metal buildings, and Kral, on the other side of the table, is feeling a different one. He is leaning over the table and feeling it with his left hand. Rachfal, to Kral's left, is finger reading one of the sections of Braille.
Courtesy of Bill Self, The UniDescription Project
Swatha Nandhakumar and Leslie and Dan Spoone, left-right, learned about Chicago's Pullman National Historical Park through tactile exhibits and Audio Description during a UniD field study in June 2023.
Courtesy of Bill Self, The UniDescription Project
David Kilton, Chief of Interpretation at Pearl Harbor National Memorial, is shown in the foreground, with his back to the camera, listening to a UniD focus group discussion about Audio Description at the National Park Service site. About 20 Hawaii Association of the Blind members are sitting in a U-shaped formation, facing Kilton, engaged in the discussion, although not all of them are included in this particular image. Kilton is dressed in a formal National Park Service uniform, including a tan and round-brimmed hat and khakis, with his buttoned-up shirt a slightly paler color than the dark-green pants heʻs wearing. A long rectangular table in the middle of the room, in the middle of the U-shape made by the chairs, displays three tactile models that are being discussed during this April 2023 session. Those are of a ship, a soda bottle, and a cooking pot. The HAB members are dressed in casual clothes, with some of them holding white canes and with one guide dog in the image, who is on the floor next to his companion.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
Working with a NFC tag on an outdoor tactile map at Pearl Harbor, Dr. Jordan Frith from Clemson University assists Hawaii Association of the Blind member Vickie Kennedy in finding the tag with her phone, so she can hear the Audio Description of the map. These tags were used in a research study conducted in Honolulu in April 2023. For this experiment, our team placed a quarter-sized NFC tag on this map that could be accessed and heard via smartphones using the UniD mobile app. To use the tag, the listener just had to open the app, find the tag on the map, and place the phone on the tag. In this image, Frith is wearing a white collared shirt and sunglasses, and he is helping HAB member Vickie Kennedy, who is blind, find the tag with her phone. Kennedy is stretching her right arm out, with the phone in it, and leaning over the table-top map, while Frith extends his arms as well and uses both of his hands to guide the placement of the phone and to help her position the phone's tag reader over the tag. Nondescript administration buildings at Pearl Harbor are in the background, in a park-like setting, lined with trees.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
Dr. Jordan Frith from Clemson University joined the UniD research team in Honolulu in April 2023 to help conduct field research at Pearl Harbor National Memorial. In this horizontal color photograph, Dr. Frith is slightly to the first of the center of the image, describing to a group of 15 research participants — as well as friends and family members serving as chaperones — how a Near-Field Communication Tag (NFC) works. For this experiment, our team placed a quarter-sized NFC tag on this map that could be accessed and heard via smartphones using the UniD mobile app. To use the tag, the listener just had to open the app, find the tag on the map, and place the phone on the tag. In this image, Dr. Frith is wearing a white collared shirt and sunglasses, and he is standing with the huge circular metal map about at his hip level. He is touching the map with his right hand and holding an audio-recording device in his left hand. Hawaii Association of the Blind members ring the table and are listening to the instruction, with more Pearl Harbor buildings and facilities, lined with trees, in the background.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
David Kilton, Chief of Interpretation at Pearl Harbor National Memorial, holds an audio recorder in his right hand near the mouth of a female and blind research participant who is feeling a tactile model of the U.S.S. Arizona on a table in front of her. She is talking with Kilton about the experience. Kilton is dressed in a formal National Park Service uniform, including a tan and round-brimmed hat and khakis, with his buttoned-up shirt a slightly paler color than the dark-green pants heʻs wearing. The long rectangular table between them holds only this ship model, on a larger piece of background wood and a few pieces of paper. The model is made of resin. Itʻs dark green, too, and about three feet long. It shows the U.S.S. Arizona after it was destroyed in a World War II battle at Pearl Harbor, so the model is relatively flat on the top. In the background of this spacious classroom, other research participants try different tactile models or talk with each other. For example, further down the table, Dr. Jordan Frith of Clemson University is showing a different female research participant a tactile model of a soda bottle and explaining how the Near-Field Communication tag on it — white and about the size and shape of a quarter — works with the UniD app.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
Susan Glass, an American Council of the Blind member, is raising her arms above her head and stretching out her hands in response to the audio prompt in UniD's The Presidio: Goldsworthy Walk project on her UniD app. She is holding her smartphone in one of her raised hands and closing her eyes to listen to the audio. She has a paper medical mask on – as a pandemic preventative in September of 2021. The mask has been pulled down under her chin for this moment. The audio prompt is asking her to imagine how tall the Spire artwork is, not shown here, by imaging her size, in the thick forest setting, and projecting herself in size up into the air several times. Glass is accompanied by her yellow lab guide dog, Omni, who is equipped with a handled harness. The dog – who actually has latte-foam-colored cream fur rather than yellow – is standing in front of Glass, sniffing the ground. Glass is a white, middle-aged woman, wearing a jacket and jeans, with a purse strapped around her shoulder. The jacket is monochrome, in all blues. But it also is decorative, with high-contrast horizonatal striping, ranging from light blues and aqua shades to dark blues. A line of logs creates a border on the ground behind her, separating the flat dirt path she is on from the dense forest. No foliage can be seen on most of the trees, which creates a background of vertical tree trunks. The trees are not large but plentiful. There is one small pine tree, about the height of a person, and a few leaves on the ground, but the forest is mostly a gray tone, created by the lack of color in the tree trunks.
Courtesy of Ernst Karel, The UniDescription Project.
Brett Oppegaard, the principal investigator of The UniDescription Project, presented about the project's scope, focus, and research agenda, including sharing initial research findings, to a group of about 20 Harpers Ferry Center Interpretive Design Center staff members in 2019. This West Virginia center is the hub of design in the U.S. National Park Service, and The UniDescription Project was seeded and has been significantly supported since 2014 by the NPS through multiple federal grants. In this scene, Dr. Oppegaard is shown far in the background of a conference room, on the far side of a long wooden conference table, with the NPS staff gathered around the table, in rolling chairs, listening to the presentation.
Courtesy of the Harpers Ferry Center Interpretive Design Center.
Imagine an audio-described college campus that supports full and independent use by people who are blind or visually impaired. Those just don't exist ... yet. The researchers who brought you The UniDescription Project – which is focused on improving media accessibility at U.S. National Park Service sites – are expanding their ideas onto their home campus, too, at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Members of the Hawaii Association of the Blind, ACB's local chapter, have been working with the researchers to improve the descriptions. Those volunteers shown in this image include, from left to right, Jonah Sniffen, Natalie Barrett, Sharon Ige, Laureen Kukino, and Sajja Koirala. Another volunteer on this day, not pictured, was Vickie Kennedy. They are listening to campus description and walking down a ramp together out of UH's Shidler College of Business. The ramp is set up for two-traffic, with one side going up and into the building and the other going down and away from the building. This image shows the HAB/ACB group leaving the building after they had conducted various field tests inside the structure. They all are using canes to guide them, and they are holding audio records, to capture their thoughts as they navigate the area. Through this work, the researchers and HAB/ACB members hope to set a new standard for campus accessibility nationwide and also to build the tools and practices for others to freely follow those models, through open-source systems. So far, this research group, led by principal investigator Brett Oppegaard, has received two campus grants, totaling $5,000, to get the project started, and he and his students already have created more than 300 descriptions for the campus, with hundreds more to go. The descriptions are focused on specific places of interest on campus, such as buildings, and on describing routes between and among those buildings.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
Park Ranger J.R. Earnest described the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park to American Council of the Blind members on the main deck of one of the site's historic vessels in 2019. This group was field testing the UniD mobile apps and Audio Description, and it included, from left to right, Victor Clifford, Beverly Clifford, John Glass, Susan Glass, and Alice McGrath Turner, and their guide dogs. The ACB members are sitting on a tarp-covered bench, roughly in the middle of the deck, facing ranger Earnest as he talks, with all sorts of ropes and rigging in the background.
Photo courtesy of Jo Lynn Bailey-Page, American Council of the Blind.
The UniDescription Project's mantra is to 'audio describe the world,' and this image shows UniD developer Joe Oppegaard at the base of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, testing the UniD system in May 2018. Joe is wearing a black shirt and dark sunglasses, contrasting with his blond hair and white earbuds, which are connected to his smartphone, as he listens to content on the phone underneath the massive marble columns at the remains of the Parthenon. The UniD Project team has worked with the University of Piraeus in Athens to audio describe parts of the Acropolis as well as various other major public attractions around the world, including more than 100 U.S. National Park Service sites.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
UniD researcher Brett Oppegaard, right, uses an audio recorder to capture the thoughts of Bob Hachey, center, as they walk across the North Bridge with NPS staff member Steve Neth at Minute Man National Historical Park near Concord, MA. Hachey, a former president of the Bay State Council of the Blind, and Neth, a museum technician at Minute Man, were collaborating on a field test of the UniDescription project at the site in July 2018. The North Bridge, which spans the Concord River, is the location of a key opening battle of the American Revolution, a moment Ralph Waldo Emerson memorialized in poetry as the "shot heard round the world." In this image, the three are walking across that famous bridge, toward the viewer but to the left, like they are passing by on a two-lane path, with Hachey holding onto Neth's arm for guidance and using his left hand to use his white walking cane. Oppegaard holds the audio recorder in his right hand, as close to Hachey as comfortable, to try to pick up his verbal comments about the environment and evaluations of the Audio Description in the UniD app that he had heard about it. Oppegaard wears a tan vest, with a NPS Volunteer logo on it, to indicate he is on official business. Neth has a lanyard around his neck, also as a form of identification. They both wear long pants. Hachey is wearing shorts and sandals, though, more reflective of the pleasantness of the sunny day. In the background of this scene is a forested area, where an obelisk of a monument rises on a small grassy hill and also tells the story of this place (although without sound). The dirt path is a bit muddy, indicating that despite the current weather, it had rained recently.
Courtesy of Tia Oppegaard, The UniDescription Project.
Associate Professor Brett Oppegaard of the University of Hawaii, who also is the principal investigator on The UniDescription Project, presented a workshop at the University of Piraeus in the urban area of Athens, Greece. There were about 50 UP students in attendance, but this image shows Dr. Oppegaard standing at the front of a classroom, with a Powerpoint slide projected on the large screen behind him, titled "Audio Description in Athens: Making Locative Media in the Wild." In this workshop, he taught UP students how to audio describe artifacts at the nearby Acropolis Museum.
Courtesy of Joe Oppegaard, The UniDescription Project.
The Silicon Valley and San Francisco chapters of the American Council of the Blind participated in field tests of the UniD apps in April 2018 at Muir Woods National Monument. The seven people shown here – including Park Ranger Michael Faw, in the middle of the image – are either looking at, or listening to, their mobile devices in a setting of enormous redwood trees. These trees are so large, only the base of the trunks can be seen. And one in the background looks as long as an automobile. Ranger Faw is holding a red smartphone and showing it to McGuire, who is leaning in toward the screen and holding a leash attached to a dark-gray poodle. Blind or visually impaired members shown here include Frank Welte, Sally McGuire, Michael Keithley, and Susan Glass. Two people, though, because of the way they are obscured in the image, could not be identified.
Photo courtesy of: Dr. Thomas Conway, University of Hawaii.
American Council of the Blind president Kim Charlson, right, was among the group of blind and visually impaired volunteers who field-tested the Minute Man National Historical Park's audio description of its site brochure on smartphone apps at the park in July 2018. Other volunteers testing the project this day were, from left to right: Bob Hachey, a former president of the Bay State Council of the Blind, and Beth White and Cory Kadlik of the Perkins School for the Blind. In this image, the group is listening to the description near the North Bridge, spanning the Concord River, where a key opening battle of the American Revolution took place, a moment Ralph Waldo Emerson memorialized in poetry as the "shot heard round the world." The four people mentioned in the caption are at one side of a small wooden bridge that raises to a slight crest over the Concord River. They all are listening to their smartphones in different ways, using earbuds, holding the phone up to their ear, or just holding the phone in a comfortable position in front of them, within earshot. In the background, on the other side of the bridge, is a stone obelisk, memorializing this place as the site of the battle. A few other visitors, plus a park ranger, are mingling in the area, talking on the bridge in the background.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
American Council of the Blind member Ginger Kutsch, left, sits with her black-labrador service dog in the shade of a tree near Wick House at the Morristown National Historical Park. She is listening to Audio Description about the historic structure in the background, where Gen. Arthur St. Clair made his headquarters during the American Revolutionary War. In July 2018, Park Ranger Eric Olsen, right, welcomed members of ACB to the park for this field test, including Christina Brino and Melissa Allman, as well as Associate Professor Brett Oppegaard, the principal investigator on the UniDescription project, from the University of Hawaii, as a part of the National Park Service-supported research project focused upon making media at public attractions more accessible.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
John and Susan Glass, members of the Silicon Valley chapter of the American Council of the Blind, test UniD description at the Fort Point National Historic Site, which is on the southern side of the Golden Gate Bridge, at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. It's a cold and windy September day, and the Glasses are shown wearing warm clothes (John in a coat, and Susan in a heavy sweatshirt). Susan is holding the leash to her guide dog, a light-golden retriever, as John holds the phone, and they listen together to the description. In the background, a series of brick arches of the fort can be seen, indicating a labyrinth-like depth to the structure. Also in the background are the tip of a cannon, along with part of its large wooden wheels, and a white flag, with just a hint of an indistinguishable emblem on it.
Photo courtesy of Jim Taylor.
Members of the Silicon Valley and San Francisco chapters of the American Council of the Blind field tested the UniD app at Muir Woods National Monument in April 2018. This image shows about a dozen members of this group, with their backs to the camera, filing into the park. They are passing under a large wooden gateway, made of logs, adorned with a flat rectangular wooden sign, with carved lettering spelling out the words: "Muir Woods National Monument," "National Park Service," and "Department of the Interior." At least three guide dogs can be seen. The boardwalk path is surrounded by lush greenery.
Photo courtesy of: Alison Taggart-Barone/NPS.
Sajja Koirala, a UniDescription project research assistant and PhD student at the University of Hawaii, tested the UniD Audio Description available at Denali National Park & Preserve during her visit in 2018. In this image, Koirala is standing under a wooden sign, about 20-feet-tall, that states in carved lettering: "Mt. McKinley Princess" and "Wilderness Lodge." It's a cloudy day, so some of the peaks are not visible, but the majesty of the Denali mountains can be seen in the background, framed within the sign's posts. Koirala has her phone in her hands and is listening to the description via headphones.
Photo courtesy of Sajja Koirala, The UniDescription Project.
A dozen people are gathered in a nondescript conference room – on the third floor of Crawford Hall at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in September 2017 – to participate in a focus group about Audio Description. The tables are configured in a T shape, roughly in the middle of the image, with the top of the T to the right. Ten of the people are seated at the table, engaged or listening to the discussion. UniD's Principal Investigator, Brett Oppegaard, UniD's NPS liaison, Michele Hartley, and UniD Research Assistant, Sajja Koirala, are at the base of the table, on the left-hand side of the image. The two people not at the table are behind it. They are a couple of young, female college students with video cameras and sound equipment, who are recording the proceedings. The other seven participants are a diverse group of men and women (and at least one visible guide dog) from the Hawaii Association of the Blind (the state chapter of the American Council of the Blind). A projection screen above that table's T top shows the 2017 homepage of www.unidescription.com, which featured at that time research assistant Sajja Koirala using her smartphone to listen to UniD Audio Description, with distinctive Hawaiian greenery, such as a Birds of Paradise bush, behind her.
Courtesy of The UniDescription Project.
A group of low-vision and blind visitors are gathered at a viewpoint at Yosemite National Park. Three of them have guide dogs at their sides. Others have white canes. Most are shown listening to their mobile devices, testing new descriptions provided in The UniDescription Project's free mobile apps. Behind the people, at this viewpoint, are some large fallen logs that are touchable and within reach. In the gully, farther in the background, larger boulders and smaller rocks, nearly white to dark gray, form a dry river bed that leads to a majestic waterfall deep in the background. A few brushy trees and bushes emerge from the rock walls and stone-covered landscape, adding a bit of color to an otherwise gray setting. In terms of who is there, in the back row, from left to right, there is Veronica Hernandez, Joey Ruiz, Nikki Richards, and Chenier Derrick, and in the front row, Sajja Koirala (a University of Hawaii research assistant) and Martha Espitia. They all were among the more than two dozen low-vision or blind people (plus four guide dogs) who visited Yosemite National Park in November 2017 as a part of The UniDescription Project's field work. This Google-sponsored test (with a chartered bus provided by the American Council of the Blind) was a collaboration among the University of Hawaii-based research team and its partners, including the California Council of the Blind's Fresno chapter, the national American Council of the Blind organization, the National Park Service, and Google.
Courtesy of Jaime Gibson-Barrows, California Council of the Blind.
ACB members, from left to right, Martha Espitia, Nikki Richards, and Sarah Harris listening to UniD Audio Description at Yosemite National Park. Espitia holds her white cane against her body with her left arm, with her left hand holding her phone. She is listening to the description with white, wired Earpods. Richards and Harris, behind Espitia, are huddled close together, sharing a single set of Earpods, with each holding an Earpod to an ear with the hand not holding a cane. They all are wearing winter clothes.
Photo courtesy of Jamie Gibson-Barrows, California Council of the Blind.
From left to right in the foreground, Eric Bridges, American Council of the Blind's Executive Director, Doug Powell, a member of ACB’s Rehabilitation Task Force, and Pat Sheehan, Director of the 508 Program Office at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, use the UniD app to explore John Brown's Fort with U.S. National Park Service staff members at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia in 2017. In this image, the three ACB members are listening to their smartphones on the dirt patch outside of the fort. The fort – a one-room, single-story brick building – has three identical entry doors, each surrounded by an arch of window panes. Two of those doors are propped open for visitors to go in and out.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
The second virtual Descriptathon had a large support team behind it. This image shows a conference room in Crawford Hall at the University of Hawai'i, where most of the core group of Descriptathon administrators gathered to host the 28-team event. These eight people are sitting around a rectangular table. If you imagine the table as sort of a Daliesque clock, with Research Assistant Tuyet Hayes, in a bright pink shirt at the Noon position, the rest of the team, clockwise, is: Consultant Annie Leist, Consultant Sina Bahram, Developer Joe Oppegaard, Co-PI Thomas Conway, PI Brett Oppegaard, NPS Accessibility Coordinator Michele Hartley, and Research Assistant Phil Jordan. Everyone has a laptop in front of them and is busily working, except Jordan, who is standing next to Hartley and talking with her about a piece of paper he is holding.
Courtesy of The UniDescription Project.
Even our first Descriptathon was held virtually, but that one involved a core group of participants working together physically in a conference room at the Harpers Ferry Interpretive Design Center in Harpers Ferry, WV. This September 2016 image shows those four people sitting around a rectangular conference-room table. From the viewer's perspective, on the left side of the table, from nearest to farthest, are Joe Oppegaard (from Montana Banana Web and Mobile Development company) and Michele Hartley (the U.S. National Park Service's Accessibility Coordinator). On the right side of the table, which is stretched lengthwise away from the viewer, are Phil Jordan (a Research Assistant) and Brett Oppegaard (the project's principal investigator). Each person has an open laptop in front of them. There are papers strewn throughout the table. There also are coffee cups and water bottles. They all are smiling and looking directly at the camera. At the far end of the table is a screen that drops down from the ceiling. Projected onto it is a website supporting the Descriptathon. A large American flag is on a pole in the corner of the room.
Courtesy of The UniDescription Project.
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Allen is a 63-year-old African American male with curly salt-and-pepper hair. He's wearing a black, collared, polo shirt and black sunglasses.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Andre is a 67-year-old half-Asian, half-African American woman. She has her curly hair — white in the front but darker in the back — pulled back into a ponytail. She's wearing a fuchsia-colored shirt and considers herself serious but happy.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022. DESCRIPTION: Andrea is a white woman, with short salt-and-pepper colored hair, wearing a dark blue shirt. She is smiling.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Photo of Anthony Akamine, smiling. He is middle-aged, of a medium-build, and Asian American of Japanese and Okinawan descent. He is clean-cut with short and spiky dark-brown hair, and no facial hair, except his eyebrows. He is wearing a fashionable, Aloha-print shirt with floral and geometric designs, mixing light purples and greens with dark brown backgrounds.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Anthony Corona is an Italian-American man, in his mid-40s, displaying a sense of happiness and confidence. He is tall, fit, and in moderately good shape. He has hazel eyes, short and spiky black hair, and a 5-o'clock shadow. He is wearing a fashion-forward and collared coral shirt, with black fashion-fit jeans not shown in the image. He also is wearing a gold necklace with a double crucifix.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken April 29, 2023. DESCRIPTION: Art Cabanilla slightly tilts his head up, in a laugh, and turns a bit to his right while enjoying the moment. Otherwise, he's facing forward and wearing a collared black shirt that blends into the black background. Art has light-brown skin, connecting him to his Filipino-mixed heritage, and he has short black hair, with traces of white throughout.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: I'm Cathy, a white woman, with light brown curly hair that's a little bit longer than shoulder length. I'm wearing a pale pink blouse and conveying a genuineness, filled with curiosity and confidence.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: My name is Cha, and this image shows me from the shoulders up. I'm wearing a black, Aloha-print shirt, decorated with light-green bamboo leaves. I'm an older haole woman of Western European descent. I have short hair, which is mostly black with some gray on the sides. I have brown eyes, and in this photograph, I'm looking directly at the viewer.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Chris is a caucasian man, 5-foot-8, with blue eyes and short brown hair. He's wearing a white, button-down, and collared dress shirt with thin black stripes. He has a slight smile.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022. DESCRIPTION: Christina Tran is a 50-year-old Asian female. She has brown eyes and long dark hair. She is smiling.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Cynthia Hirakawa is shown laughing. She is wearing a teal, collared shirt. She is of Okinawan descent.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: I'm Debbie, a 70-year-old white woman, who looks a little younger than that. I have curly, short light-gray hair. I'm wearing a blue t-shirt, and I'm smiling.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022. DESCRIPTION: Donna has short dark hair, with gray streaks. She is petite, and her casual attire features a white blouse. She is laughing.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022. DESCRIPTION: I'm Dora, a woman over 40, with short, dark, curly hair. I'm an Asian Pacific Islander. I'm wearing a cream-colored buttoned-down shirt and black sunglasses.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022. DESCRIPTION: My name is Edward, but everyone calls me Eddie. I'm in my mid-40s, but I look like I'm in my late 20s. I'm wearing a black Armani suit, with a light blue collared shirt, with vertical white stripes. I have on a gold, silver, and blue striped silk tie, and I complement that with a white pocket square, in a presidential fold. I'm wearing Blue de EDP Chanel parfum for men and fine Italian shoes. My hair is short and black, slightly longer on the top but faded to my skin on the sides. I'm 5-foot-9 and presenting myself in an authoritative pose. I have a relaxed expression, friendly and warm.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: I'm Gabe Lopez Kafati, a man in my early 40s, who is a mix of white, Hispanic, and Arabic origins. I have a shaved head, light-reddish beard, brown eyes and freckles. I'm an average height, slender, with a friendly demeanor. I'm wearing a long-sleeved black Lululemon fashion polo that's open in the front, and underneath I have a white t-shirt with a rainbow stripe. I have on dark and thick glasses as well, with a gold necklace around my neck, with a modern gold cross on it. I'm feeling happy, confident, and relaxed.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022. DESCRIPTION: I'm Glenn, tall (6-foot-1) and athletic (200 pounds), with silver-gray hair. I have blue eyes. I'm wearing a light-gray t-shirt.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Gregg is a white male in his early 40s. He has wavy brown hair, hazel eyes, and is wearing a gray-and-white collared shirt complemented by black suspenders.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken April 29, 2023. DESCRIPTION: Hilarion Kamaka is shown laughing, with his eyes closed in joyful mirth and his mouth wide open, like he is reacting to a great joke. He has very short hair, almost the same length throughout, that is mostly gray with some black undertones. A Pacific Islander, he has light-brown skin, and he is wearing a gray t-shirt with a pattern of thin horizontal stripes — black, green, and white — repeating every few inches.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Janae is wearing a black-and-beige suit, with a black background. She is white, with short brown hair, and is smiling.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022. DESCRIPTION: I'm Jessica. I'm 27, white, and with low-vision. That means I wear glasses, and I can see with them, just not the best. I have brown hair in a messy bun. I usually wear earrings but not on this day. I am wearing a shirt with dark blue and white vertical stripes, and my short sleeves have little pom-pom tassels around them. I also am wearing a necklace that has a heart-shaped cross on it, made of Hawaiian wood.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022. DESCRIPTION: I'm Kiran, a tall, confident, East Indian man. I'm wearing a light blue button-down shirt. It's fashionable; Polo is the brand. I have black hair and brown eyes.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: This image of Kyle shows her smiling, from the shoulders up. She is wearing a paisley headband that has blues and oranges and a peachy background, which complements her peach-colored blouse. Kyle is a petite, Filipino woman, wearing sunglasses, and she holds her white cane close to her side.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken April 29, 2023. DESCRIPTION: Lance Kamaka has short black hair, peppered with a bit of white. He is a Pacific Islander, with light brown skin, and in this image, he faces the camera directly with a light smile on his face shown by his slightly upturned lip corners and upraised eyebrows. He wears a dark-blue and collared shirt.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: I'm Lynne Koral. I have brown eyes, dark brown hair, and a beautiful face. I'm exuberantly smiling in this photo. I'm short in stature and wearing a black dress with a pink flower.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken April 29, 2023. DESCRIPTION: Marri Murdoch's bright-white smile is the focal point of this image, framed by her long and thick black hair, large black sunglasses, a black background, and her neon pink tank top.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Marvelena Quesada has long black hair, brown eyes, and high cheek bones. She is 5-foot-3 and wearing a dark blue sweater.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: I'm Maureen, a middle-aged white woman with short brown hair with a gray tint to it. I'm wearing glasses and a maroon t-shirt.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Melanie is a white woman, tall and slender. She has long brown hair, brown eyes, and glasses. She's wearing a houndstooth suit jacket over a black blouse, complemented by a silver necklace and silver hoop earrings. She's wearing red lipstick and smiling.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: I'm Myles, and this image shows me from the shoulders up. I'm wearing a blue Aloha-print shirt, with white Hawaii-themed designs on it. I have medium-length silver hair and a silver mustache. I'm smiling subtlely, into a warm natural light coming from my right.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken April 29, 2023. DESCRIPTION: Wearing sunglasses and an AirPod in her right ear, Natalie Barrett holds her pet chihuahua, faces the camera, and smiles. Against the black background, Barrett's shoulder-length black hair shows gray streaks throughout. She's wearing a dark-blue shirt, too, and the dark colors in the scene accentuate her light tan-pink skin as well as the light cream colors of the fur of her pet.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Natalie Couch is a middle-40s caucasian, with short brown hair and blue eyes, smiling and looking happy.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022. DESCRIPTION: Peter is a 70-year-old white male. He's 6-foot-2, with brown eyes. He's wearing an Army green buttoned-up shirt with a collar.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Dr. Roberta Tomas is shown, from the shoulders up, smiling and facing the viewer. She is a Native Hawaiian, with a light-brown skin tone, and her dark-brown hair is held up in a ponytail by a palapalai fern hairband. She is wearing a dark-blue t-shirt that shows the Hawaii Association of the Blind logo. She was the first blind person to be licensed as a medical doctor or psychiatrist in the state of Hawaii.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: I'm Roy Nakasato, and this image shows me from the shoulders up. I'm wearing a straw hat, with a black band around its base; I have been told that this hat makes me look debonair. Tufts of my silver hair poke out from underneath it, giving me a youthful look, even though I'm a senior kupuna. I'm slim, Asian, and known for my positive mood.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: I'm Sam. I'm feeling good and looking better. I'm wearing a black hat, with casual attire, including a gray collared shirt.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022. DESCRIPTION: Sarah is a white woman, with brown eyes and glasses. She has salt-and-pepper colored hair. She is wearing a dark blue shirt with a paisley pattern shaded in a lighter blue and a cream.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Sharon is a 71-year-old white woman with short and curly salt-and-pepper hair, with light-brown undertones to it. She is wearing a dark-blue t-shirt as well as a silver necklace that once belonged to her aunt. It's a Catholic emblem, with hearts representing her grandkids. She has a pleasant and positive attitude represented by her smile.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022. DESCRIPTION: Sheila is 5-foot-4, with long blonde hair, wearing a striped dress, with blues, greens, and purples in it.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022. DESCRIPTION: I'm Tom Kaufman. I'm 68 years old, with dark hair, brown eyes, and I'm smiling.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: I'm Vickie Kennedy, and this image shows me from the shoulders up. I'm wearing a three-quarter-sleeved blouse that alternates between light- and dark-green vertical stripes, with a gold necklace featuring a turtle shape highlighted with a black pearl where the shell would be. I'm 76 years old, 5-foot-2, and of mostly Japanese descent with a hint of French and English. I have short silver-black hair, and I'm giving a neutral expression but feeling powerful and at-peace on the inside.
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken July 7, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Wes is a white man, in his late 50s, with white hair styled in a quiff, which means short on the sides and long on the top. He also has a white mustache and white eyebrows. His skin color is a pinkish tan. He is wearing an orange shirt with a NOAH logo on it, with NOAH standing for the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation, but in this cropped image, the logo can no longer be seen. Also not apparent from this image is his large stature; Wes is nearly 6-foot-5 inches tall. He is smiling and said he wants to be known as a "nice, decent guy, who is confident, and may know what he is doing."
Courtesy of Dr. Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
Audio Description Created Around the U.S. (and World). For help making this map audible, read this Perkins School for the Blind article.
The U.S. National Park Service has long been committed to improving media accessibility throughout the country and even initiated this UniDescription research project with the University of Hawaii. Without its involvement, none of this work would have been (or would be) possible. To date, more than 100 U.S. NPS sites are more accessible today than they were before the UniDescription Project, through this partnership, including the creation of new Audio Description at:
We want to make every public place more-accessible through Audio Description. Outside of U.S. national parks, we also have created partnerships with a variety of other managers of public resources, including at the Helen Keller National Center for DeafBlind Youths & Adults, The Kennedy Center, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Parks UK, and Parks Canada. Some of those descriptions are below:
As a way to build the Audio Description community, we also openly share our research
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