Attention national park enthusiasts interested in helping the blind and low vision enjoy the parks more than ever before! The 2025 Descriptathon, dedicated to helping national parks become more accessible by creating audio descriptions for selected brochures, is earnestly seeking volunteers on the blindness spectrum. ACB, BVA, the National Park Service, and UniDescription (UniD) are all assisting in the recruitment effort.

Teams are composed of people who are sighted and people who are blind or have low vision, all of whom will collaborate to describe maps, paintings, and visual images within park brochures. Because all meetings are held remotely, volunteers may well find themselves learning about a park in their home state or perhaps one across the continent.

The upcoming, fast-approaching Descriptathon will take place February 25–27, 2025. Volunteers are expected to attend all three full-day sessions. They will likely spend ten hours of preparation time in the five weeks before the kick-off on February 25 (approximately two hours per week).

During the preparation time, team members will learn about audio description, understand the use of the “UniD” tool to describe their brochure, and get to know their teammates. Four to six hours may be needed to finalize the brochure description after the three-day event. Volunteers should have solid computer skills and be comfortable learning new technology.

Descriptathon is a unique opportunity to participate in the creation of accessible materials and demonstrate the power of “nothing about us without us.” It is an opportunity to meet people, develop technical and communication skills, learn about national parks and audio description, build confidence, and have fun.

Interested parties ready to commit and join a team should complete this short online form: D11 Registration form, or email brett.oppegaard@hawaii.edu and tell him BVA sent you!