ASSETS 2022

Lucy is smiling and wearing a dark green sweater, black dress pants, a silver penguin necklace, and a black face mask. She stands to the right of her ASSETS poster, which is taped on the wall.
Description: Lucy is smiling and wearing a dark green sweater, black dress pants, a silver penguin necklace, and a black face mask. She stands to the right of her ASSETS poster, which is taped on the wall.

So grateful to have had the opportunity to attend ASSETS 2022 and present my research on accessible audio description creation! Thank you to Professor Richard Ladner for advising my undergraduate thesis at the University of Washington, which served as the basis of my poster.

Increasing multimedia information access is critical as society adopts different communication modes and platforms. As the primary consumers of AD, blind and low vision (BLV) audiences deserve to have access to AD writing opportunities. But how? We explored non-visual methods for writing audio description to include BLV people in AD creation pipelines, and discussed the importance of fighting the stigma that BLV writers face. Please check out our poster for even more information, and don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!

It was also a privilege to hear from and meet Haben Girma, a human rights lawyer, leading disability rights activist, and the keynote speaker of this year's conference. I also volunteered as part of a team of incredible students and researchers, and even had a chance to explore Greece, its history, and its top-notch food scene with my lab mates! 🥙 🏛️

And last but certainly not least, thanks to everyone who welcomed me into the a11y community with such warmth. Although this was my first time at the ASSETS conference, the friendliness of the tight-knit community made the conference much less intimidating. From strangers who became friends, to lab mates and mentors both past and present, ASSETS 2022 wouldn't have been the same without all of the amazing people. Can't wait for the next one! 🥰

Photos

Haben Girma wears a red dress and sits at a table with her Braille display. Lucy, wearing an ASSETS shirt, stands next to her. Both are wearing masks. Mylo, Haben's Seeing Eye dog, stands between them.
Description: Haben Girma wears a red dress and sits at a table with her Braille display. Lucy, wearing an ASSETS shirt, stands next to her. Both are wearing masks. Mylo, Haben's Seeing Eye dog, stands between them.
Ricardo, Sharon, Mahika, and Lucy smile and stand together, with an olive branch mosaic and elevators in the background.
Description: Ricardo, Sharon, Mahika, and Lucy smile and stand together, with an olive branch mosaic and elevators in the background.

The ASSETS Organizing Committee and Student Volunteers wearing the 2022 shirt stand outside at night with the Acropolis and Parthenon in the background.
Description: The ASSETS Organizing Committee and Student Volunteers wearing the 2022 shirt stand outside at night with the Acropolis and Parthenon in the background.
A selfie of Steven, Leah, Emma, Lucy, Abigale, and Adrian, with grey buildings and a tall hill in the background.
Description: A selfie of Steven, Leah, Emma, Lucy, Abigale, and Adrian, with grey buildings and a tall hill in the background.


Links

AccessibleAD [Prototype]
Featured clips: Inside Out and Ratatouille

Poster [DOI / PDF]
L. Jiang, R. Ladner

Full Thesis [PDF]
L. Jiang, advised by Dr. Richard Ladner

Video Presentation [YouTube]

Display Poster Content [Google Doc]
Accessible version

Get in touch!

If you're interested in digital information accessibility, specifically regarding subjective sources (images, videos, etc.), please reach out – I'd love to chat!

lucjia@cs.cornell.edu

@LucyAJiang