Listen to this story here:
In a move to provide more equitable access to National Park material, Joshua Tree National Park has made its park brochure available in audio form.
If you are visually impaired and visiting Joshua Tree National Park, you would probably want to get the same opportunity to read the park’s brochure as everybody else. The National Park Service has worked with the non-profit university-based research initiative “The UniDescription Project” to create audio-descriptive versions of the National Park brochure in Joshua Tree and other parks around the nation. I’ll let the app speak for itself:
UniDescription narration: “Welcome to the official Joshua Tree National Park brochure and map audio description. Listen to text and descriptions of photos, illustrations and maps.”
I’m listening through the free UniDescription App – available for both Androids and iPhones. The app breaks up the brochure into smaller bite-size sections with text versions of the brochure’s information right alongside audio-descriptive versions of maps and photos.
The National Park Service also has a plain-text version of the brochure for those who already have a screen reader on their computer or phone, and you can download ready-made mp3’s of the brochure if you have listening software of your own preference.
For those who aren’t visually impaired – listening to audio descriptions can provide a different way to experience familiar plants and animals, painting a picture in your mind’s eye of some of the National park’s most unique species:
Photo: Robert Haydon
UniDescription narration: “Small, dark green leaves line the branches. Each branch ends in a fluffy bundle of small, red, tubular flowers. The red contrast on the branches creates the illusion of small flames on top of a tall, skinny candle.
Its appearance leads to its name: Ocotillo, which is a Spanish term meaning ‘little torch.’”
The UniDescription App is free, and contains almost all of the National Park’s brochures, not just Joshua Tree. The audio brochure is just one part of the National Park’s push toward equitable accessibility for the visually impaired.
UniDescription narration: “We strive to make facilities, services, and programs accessible to all. The park offers an audio tour on the NPS app, plus braille signage in visitor centers and exhibits, as well as copies of braille copies of the park brochure for use at visitor’s centers. For more information, go to the visitor’s center, ask a ranger, call, or check our website.”
