In The Field 2 conference
November 10th, 2024Young Sound Seekers fosters an inclusive learning community, but achieving this goal was a journey. In July of this year, I was fortunate to present about that process at the In The Field 2 conference, organized by CRiSAP at the London College of Communication.
Early on, my co-director Eve Payor and I, both sighted, realized that simply adapting our existing soundscape lessons wasn’t enough. We needed a curriculum that was specifically designed with accessibility in mind. We started by consulting visually-impaired audio professionals, who shared their experiences navigating the world as blind creators. Their insights on overcoming barriers helped us avoid many common missteps in accessibility.
Next, we evaluated tools and technologies to ensure they met accessibility standards. Devices with tiny touchscreens were replaced with Zoom H4 series recorders because they have tactile controls and clear spatial layouts. We also explored the benefits of smartphone apps like those from Shure, which integrate screen reading capabilities for enhanced accessibility.
Traditional exercises like soundwalking were also rethought, adapting them into the more inclusive activities like Listen-Pair-Share. Our goal with each lesson was to empower students to discuss and reflect on their sonic experiences, making natural soundscapes accessible to all.
If you would like to learn more about these steps and others, you can now watch my 20-minute presentation online. As you’ll hear on the recording, I did my best to offer verbal descriptions of the slides, which should make this video more accessible to visually impaired audiences.
It was an absolute privilege to spend three days at a conference dedicated entirely to the creative possibilities of audio field recording. I had a lot of great conversations with fellow attendees about Young Sound Seekers while in London, and I hope this video documentation will spark more conversations!
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