The lack of effective solutions in access to culture and culture-forming activities by people with disabilities is undoubtedly a problem in modern Europe. There are countries where people with disabilities are still not full citizens due to the lack of solutions enabling active participation in social/ cultural life. In our opinion, the task of the "Audio description and subtitles against exclusion" project is to ensure that every resident of countries participating in the project has such right to equality, non-discrimination and active participation in cultural activities that are so important for proper functioning in society. In our opinion, audio description and subtitles for the deaf should be the standard in the functioning of all European cultural institutions. The research carried out by the Centrum Kultury Wroclaw-Zachod shows that despite a clear increase in proposals addressed also to people with disabilities, their number is insufficient. The reason for this is, among others, the lack of qualified staff who would take care of adapting the current offer to the needs of people with sight and hearing impairments. It is known from the survey and environmental interview that program employees of Wroclaw cultural institutions and Lower Silesian centres working with people with disabilities know what audio description and subtitles are. At the same time, they lack the competence and skills to implement these methods in the life of their institutions. The level of culture availability and adaptation of the offer to the needs of people excluded from it is different in different European countries. Western European countries (richer) are characterized by greater program diversity addressed to people with disabilities. Poor countries - Eastern Europe does not apply the principle of availability at all or it is minimal. Our action is a response to the requests and needs of people with disabilities who want to actively participate in society on equal terms. We will implement the "Audio description and subtitles against exclusion" project with institutions from Lithuania, Cyprus, Romania and Latvia. Institutions from countries where activities related to the adaptation of the cultural offer to the needs of people with sight and hearing impairments are practically absent. The main goal is to improve the qualifications and skills of the culture employees in creating audio description and subtitles for the hearing impaired, but at the same time adjusting the program offer (by preparing audio description and subtitles) to the reception by the blind and deaf. Workshops on creating audio description for films, performances, visual arts and subtitling will be organized. The implementation of the main goal will consist of a series of intermediate goals; - learning about the environment and the needs of the blind and deaf people. The workshops will also be conducted by blind people and will contain solutions from other countries, e.g. the "didu" method from Spain, - acquiring the ability to create programs integrating all groups of participants, - implementing audio description for the blind and subtitles for deaf to their own activities, - improving professional and non-professional skills. The target group are employees of partner institutions. International cooperation will allow the exchange of experiences and good practices, as well as a discussion on the level of culture accessibility in EU countries. The project involves the implementation of four 5-day workshops and study visits 1. Audio description in theatre performances (Romania) 2. Audio description in visual arts (Lithuania) 3. Audio description in film (Latvia) 4. Subtitling for films for hearing impaired, theatre performances and television programs (Cyprus) 5. Conferences - events disseminating intellectual results 6. Study visits The project will open with a study visit in Poland. 25 people will take part in the workshop, 5 people from each partner. They will be employees of cultural institutions, artists. Participation in trainings will enable participants to acquire new competences and skills, and will also allow them to broaden and acquire additional skills, change their professional qualifications and thus expand the cultural offer of their native institution. The knowledge from the workshop will allow the implementation of various artistic events in a comprehensive manner, providing recipients with sight and hearing disabilities on an international level. Extending the current offer with suggestions addressed also to the blind and deaf people will have a positive impact on the audience development and will minimize the effect of exclusion from the society of people with disabilities. The intellectual result will be a textbook containing theory and practical advices on how to create audio description and subtitles for the hearing impaired.
The main priority of the "Audidescription against exclusion" project is "Supporting people in acquiring and improving basic skills and key competences", with additional ones "Support for creating paths to acquire new skills" and "Transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications". From the priorities we chose, the main goal emerged - the development of skills and new professional competences of employees of cultural institutions, and specific goals that allowed us to achieve the main goal: promoting accessibility (in the case of our project of accessibility of blind and deaf people for cultural and culture-forming activities) . There are around 80 million people with disabilities in the European Union. Our project is to prevent exclusion from cinemas, theatres and concert halls. How to adapt the program offer of cultural institutions to the needs of people with visual and hearing disabilities, and thus excluded from culture. The funding made it possible to participate in short training programs for cultural employees from Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Cyprus and Poland, and learn techniques of creating audio descriptions for films, plays, visual works, and also subtitles.
"Audio description against exclusion" responded to the problems of contemporary Europe. The lack of effective, systemic solutions in access to culture and culture-forming activities of people with disabilities is a disgraceful norm in many European countries. Therefore, the project implemented in a consortium of 5 countries was to counteract this trend. It was to ensure that every inhabitant of the countries participating in the project had the same rights to equality, non-discrimination, active participation in cultural activities. Therefore, our project is a response to the needs of people with visual and hearing disabilities from Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania and Poland. The main objective of the implemented project was to improve the qualifications and skills of cultural staff in the field of creating audio description and subtitles for the deaf, but at the same time adapting the program offer (by preparing AD and subtitles) to be received by blind and deaf people. Each of the participants will transfer the acquired new competences and qualifications to their home organizations and use them to create artistic cultural activities aimed at people with sight and hearing disabilities, and thus expand the group of recipients.