Video Description Research and Development Center

The Smith-Kettlewell Video Description Research and Development Center (VDRDC) investigates innovative technologies and techniques for making online video more accessible to blind and visually-impaired students and consumers. Through collaboration with a broad array of partners and stakeholders in the Description Leadership Network, we are developing advanced video annotation methods for use in a wide variety of educational settings, as well as helping educators and other description providers make better use of the tools already available.
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Upcoming Events
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Inactive
Remote Real-Time Description (RRTD)
Remote real-time description (RRTD) is a simple technique that will allow a describer anywhere in the world to provide real-time description for a video stream being viewed by a visually-impaired student at home, in the classroom, or on the go. In RRTD, a video feed is streamed to the describer who passes the audio (and optionally the video) to the student, along with the added live description.
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Inactive
Visual-Impairment Research Agenda for Description (VIRAD)
A systematic road map charting gaps in the quantitative evidence about how description can and should be used to improve video accessibility for the blind.
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- James Coughlan - Senior Scientist - Coughlan Lab Director
- Joshua Miele - Principal Accessibility Researcher, Amazon Lab126
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Joshua Miele is a 2021 MacArthur Fellow
Smith-Kettlewell is proud and honored to announce that one of our alumni, Dr. Joshua Miele, has received a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship for his work in developing devices to enable blind and visually impaired people to access everyday technologies and digital information. Widely known as a “Genius Grant,” this prestigious award reflects Josh's achievements while he was a scientist at SKERI as well as his present work begun in 2019 at Amazon Lab126.
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