The NGO DocuDays, together with IT company SoftServe, is working on a mobile application for playing audio description. It will allow people with visual impairments to watch documentaries about human rights.
The NGO DocuDays, together with IT company SoftServe, is working on a mobile application for playing audio description. It will allow people with visual impairments to watch documentaries about human rights.
This was reported by the NGO "Docudays". The cooperation became possible thanks to the organization’s victory in the "Open Call 2026" competition from the OpenTech pro bono program, which is implemented by SoftServe. The parties have already signed a memorandum of partnership and have moved on to the project planning stage.
The application will collect available versions of films in one place. In the future, the NGO "Docudays" plans to scale this solution through its own partners — the Network of Media Education Film Clubs and the Traveling Docudays UA, which reach viewers from frontline cities to mountain communities. In the future, other cultural institutions will be able to use the technology.
“Over seven years of working with accessible cinema, we have actually created our own accessibility laboratory. Our team knows the entire process of creating audio descriptions from the inside — from working on the text and recording to testing and the screening itself. A mobile application is the logical next step,” says Svitlana Smal, executive director of the NGO “Docudays”.
The development will be carried out by SoftServe volunteers as part of the OpenTech initiative. Program Manager Taisiya Koropets emphasized that it is important for the company to use technology to ensure inclusivity and accessibility of important content to the widest possible range of people.
