The FDR Memorial Legacy Committee has produced, in cooperation with OnSlot Media, a four part educational video tailored for middle and high school students on the fight led by disabled Americans in the 1990s to add a statue of FDR in a wheelchair to the FDR presidential memorial in Washington, DC. This epic battle took 6 years and underscores the drive and commitment of disabled Americans for authentic representation of disability and the importance of removing disability stigma. The primary funding for the video is from the National Trust for Historic Preservation but we need additional funding to secure the best in class accessibility features - namely audio description (AD). In the initial attempt to develop AD for this project, AI was used. We were underwhelmed with the results and now want to divert from what we had hoped would be a cost savings and need additional funds to secure a more hands on approach to develop AD.

In short, we need people to write the AD. We will work with Joel Synder, founder of and senior consultant to American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project to create the AD. Once completed, the video will be released in early 2024 and will be available for free on our YouTube Channel. We will have targeted outreach to educators and special screenings. We will also have specialized outreach to disability organizations, as it must be remembered that over 50 disability organizations supported the fight for the wheelchair statue and have a stake in this story being told.

What our grantee is saying: "Improving inclusion and accessibility at the FDR Memorial in Washington, DC is central to the mission of the FDR Memorial Legacy Committee. Our education video project tells the story of the epic six year fight led by disabled Americans to add a statue of FDR in a wheelchair to the Memorial. Thanks to the generous grant from Awesome Foundation, we will provide best in class audio descriptions so that as many people as possible can learn about this story and enjoy the video.”