Canaveral National Seashore now has an audio-described visitor center brochure, thanks to Young Sound Seekers and more than 20 Stetson students. The idea for the brochure began after two Young Sound Seekers directors (Eve Payor of Atlantic Center for the Arts and Nathan Wolek, PhD, professor of Digital Arts and Music Technology at Stetson) met one of the creators behind the UniDescription project at a conference in August 2022. UniDescription provides a mobile app for visually-impaired visitors to download accessible versions of visitor center brochures across the National Park Service.

Nathan Wolek says, “We noted that Canaveral did not have an entry. So, our team set out to create one during the Spring 2024 semester.”

What is an audio-described brochure?
Think of it as a brochure you can listen to. It not only “reads” the text, but provides interpretations of the other visual information such as maps and photos.

What makes the Canaveral brochure unique?
Most of the brochures in UniDescription use text-to-speech (computer voices), but the team wanted to go a bit deeper with the Canaveral brochure. We recorded voices of the youth, created a sound library of field recordings at the park, and combined the two into a sound design to achieve a more immersive experience. It was also unique to have this many students involved in the production as part of a community engagement project.

Download the App

The UniDescription app is available free for smartphones:

– iPhone bit.ly/UniD-iOS
– Android bit.ly/UniD-Android
An internet version is available here: unidescription.org/account/project/export/924

Young Sound Seekers is an environmental arts program for blind and partially sighted youth, encouraging the appreciate of natural sounds and helping them overcome barriers to access public lands.

For more information, visit Young Sound Seekers.