RRU alum works to improve digital accessibility

Learn more about the Master of Global Management program.

Rhys Lloyd, a graduate of Royal Roads’ Masters of Global Management is making moves to build digital accessibility by building resources for audio description in media.  

Lloyd, landed at Royal Roads after searching for a program that would give him formal education on business and management roles while giving him flexibility for remote and asynchronous work. Royal Roads’ Master of Global Management program fit the bill.  

“It was great to… [formally learn the] fundamental basics of economics, and accounting, and forensic accounting. 

“The focus on global communication [and global management]… connected with me. It was relevant to the work I was doing then, and I'm still doing now.” While working towards his Master’s degree, Lloyd worked at Technicolor, and later on moved on to Descriptive Video Works.

Lloyd now works as the Studio Head for Descriptive Video Works, a company that has been around for 21 years and specializes in described video/audio description services in eighteen languages.   

“[Described video and audio description] are the exact same thing,” Lloyd explains. “In Canada, we call it described video…everywhere else in the world they call it audio description.”  

“[Audio description] is an accessibility service [where] visual material is interpreted into an audio form…for consumption by blind and low vision individuals. It's most commonly used for TV and movies, and streaming, all of that. But it's used for live theatre, live events, corporate events, video games, and live broadcasts.” Lloyd also mentions that Descriptive Video Works has recently added sign language to their services.  

As Studio Head, "I spend most of my time on sales, business development, marketing, finance," Lloyd explains. "And because of the nature of working in accessibility I also have the opportunity to spend time connecting with, and listening to, the community we serve as well as my peers in accessibility services as we work towards improving the overall experience of our audiences."

Lloyd was an actor, “many, many years ago,” he laughs. “Then I worked as a film editor for a bit and through that, I found my way to post-production.” He worked for Technicolor in various roles from visual effects to film distribution.  

“Accessibility was never a career path that I sought out,” says Lloyd, though his work has always been centered around connection and communication. Working in accessibility is "an alignment of my experience."  

"So, my background came through the media and entertainment, post-production side as opposed to through the accessibility side. “I feel like I'm very lucky to have a job where we get to do some cool stuff, I get to work with amazing people. And at the end of the day, what we're producing is both useful but also fundamental. It's a fundamental human right, that we're helping to fulfill.”  

Learn more about the Master of Global Management program.