Dr. Joel Snyder

Dr. Joel Snyder is perhaps best known internationally as one of the first “audio describers.” He’s a member of the Actors’ Equity Association, the American Federation of TV and Radio Artists, the Screen Actors Guild, and is a 20-year veteran arts specialist for the National Endowment for the Arts. He’s recorded for the Library of Congress and read privately for individuals who are blind.

As director of the American Council of the Blind’s (ACB) new Audio Description Project (ADP) he produced description for ABC-TV’s coverage of both of President Obama’s inaugurations, and the 30th anniversary DVD release of The Miracle Worker featuring Patty Duke as “Annie Sullivan.” As Director of Described Media for the National Captioning Institute, Joel Snyder has led description for nationally broadcast films and network series; he is also a member of the American Foundation of the Blind’s “expert panel” charged with reviewing guidelines for educational multi-media description. With Audio Description Associates, LLC, Dr Snyder develops audio described tours for major museums throughout the US and myriad National Park Service and US Forest Service facilities. He has trained museum docents in audio description techniques at museums such as the Smithsonian, the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, the Seattle Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Internationally he’s introduced description techniques in over thirty-five nations and audio description “master classes” in London, Prague, and St. Petersburg, Russia.

Dr. Snyder is the author of many published articles on audio description and this book, “The Visual Made Verbal: A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description,” published by the American Council of the Blind in early 2014. Dr. Snyder holds a Ph.D. in Accessibility and Ambient Intelligence from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona.