Short Film Focuses on Protactile Communication in the DeafBlind Community

Bridge Multimedia – with partial funding from OSEP – produced accessibility for the American Masters documentary, Protactile: A Language of Touch. Bridge provided audio description, ASL interpretation (shot in broadcast level HD), captioning, transcripts, and text alternative descriptive transcripts. The fascinating short film focuses on Protactile, a form of communication, based solely on touch, that was developed by members of the DeafBlind community. In the film, disability rights advocate Rebecca Alexander meets the founders and educators of Protactile.

Since Protactile is a relatively new, currently emerging language, Bridge understood the importance of consulting with subject matter experts on this topic. We utilized the expertise of Rachel Boll, M.A., Co-founder of the Deaf Education Center, and a Deaf specialist in Protactile. According to Dr. Wendy Sapp, Bridge’s Senior Project Director, “Rachel worked with our audio description writer to ensure that the wording within the description was accurate and culturally appropriate for members of the Protactile-using DeafBlind community.”

Lisa Reynolds, a certified interpreter and Director of Bridge’s Department of Sign Language Services, worked closely with Carmen King, Deaf Interpreter, and Jeremy Lee Stone, Director of Artistic Sign Language (“DASL”). Ms. Reynolds said, “This was an extremely meaningful project – and a challenging one, due to a tight deadline. But thanks to the recent expansion of our Sign Language Services division and the talent of our specialists, the Bridge team was able to deliver this project with a seven-day turnaround!” 

American Masters is produced by THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC for The WNET Group and broadcast on local PBS stations, nationally. Protactile: A Language of Touch premiered Tuesday July 22nd and is currently available for streaming, free, on PBS.org.

CLICK HERE To Watch the Protactile Documentary