What is Audio Description?
Audio description, video description, descriptive video, DVS®, English for the Visually Impaired, narrative video… many names for this essential accessibility feature.
A Definition
Audio Description is additional narration that translates images and other visual information into spoken words so that people who are blind or visually impaired can access, enjoy, and learn from works of popular, cultural, or educational importance. For LIL’s purposes, description is most prominent on video-based media (in movie theaters and on DVD/Blu-Ray and the web), where it is typically inserted into pauses between dialogue, narration, music, and ambient sounds in the original soundtrack.
An Example
Perhaps the most crucial application of audio description is to educational media. Here is an example (from the DCMP’s Equal Access in the Classroom production) of some of the types of information that are only available to students with visual impairments through the addition of audio description:
More examples are available from the DCMP’s YouTube channel.
A Bit of History
Audio Description “began” with the work of Dr. Gregory Frazier when he founded his company, AudioVision, in 1972 (though it had been envisioned by Chet Avery, a U.S. Department of Education administrator, as early as 1964). It really took off in the early ‘80s under the pioneering guidance of the late Dr. Margaret Phanstiehl, who would later win an Emmy for her leadership in making television accessible to people with visual impairments.
Audio Description gained in popularity throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s—primarily on public television and on first-run theatrical releases—and, though the FCC rule was struck down by a Federal court in 2002, even made it to mainstream broadcast television by 2000 (read more about the short-lived FCC rule and subsquent appeal on the Audio Description International website).
Read the complete “Description Time Line Highlights” [PDF] from the DCMP.
Related Reading
During the Quiet Parts [PDF]
Watching TV with their child who has a visual impairment, parents are accustomed to providing a few words of explanation during the quiet parts: what the laughter was about, a shift in plot when the narration is poor, or why the father on the sitcom was so upset about his daughter’s outfit, for example. Public school teachers have had to do the same regarding educational media used in the classroom. This article is a short message to parents about how the accessibility feature of description can fill in those quiet parts. Originally published in the National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI) Awareness newsletter, the DCMP services to parents of or professionals working with children who are blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind are highlighted.
What is Description? [PDF]
Description enables those who are blind or visually impaired to have full access to media materials that otherwise would not be readily available. This short article helps to answer many questions that consumers sometimes have, such as the following: What is description? How is description accessed? What is description’s role in education?
More Examples of Audio Description from Around the Web
The “Breakfast Scene” from The Miracle Worker »
An excerpt from the 1973 version of The Miracle Worker, which is also available from the DCMP. (Visit the DCMP’s The Miracle Worker page to watch an accessible trailer and another accessible preview of the film.)
How Museums Use Touch »
An example of expanded Audio description from the Art Beyond Sight YouTube channel. Note how the picture and original audio pause so that the visuals can be more fully described.
The Power of 504 »
Part one of the 18-minute The Power of 504documentary, available with open captions and audio description on YouTube. (Part 2 of The Power of 504.)
Pineda Foundation YouTube Videos »
Most of the videos produced by the nonprofit Victor Pineda Foundation and featured on its YouTube channel are captioned and described. (Shown above: Stephanie’s Video at the AAPD Paul G. Hearne Award.)
Segment from The Ultimate Gift »
The Narrative TV website contains a collection of full-length classic movies available for free with Audio description. (Shown above: an excerpt from The Ultimate Gift, the inspirational story by Narrative TV founder Jim Stovall.)
Samples from Audio Description Associates »
Several clips from various description genres (television, educational programming, theater, dance) are available from Audio Description Associates.
Samples from Bridge Multimedia »
Several examples of described commercials and a clip from Symbiosis in Ocean Communities (available from the DCMP) from the Bridge Multimedia website.
Sample from CaptionMax »
Two clips from Minneapolis-based accessibility vendor CaptionMax demonstrating Audio description of NASA video clips.
Sample from VITAC »
A described clip from a program about cheetahs appears on VITAC’s website.
Samples from YourLocalCinema.com »
Hundreds of clips and trailers (mostly produced in the U.K., which explains the British accents with which most of the voicers are speaking) from major motion pictures released in the past few years. Available as a mix of MP3s and streaming video.
Full-Length Episode of The Presidents: FDR from PBS »
The Franklin Roosevelt episode is available for free download with description (presented as part 1 and part 2 [Quicktime MOV format]).
So What the Fuss (music video) »
WGBH described this video from Stevie Wonder’s A Time to Love (description was voiced by hip-hop star, Busta Rhymes). Another Stevie Wonder music video, Shelter in the Rain, is also available with audio description (voiced by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis).
Movies for the Blind »
A free podcast of classic, public-domain movies and episodic features with Audio description by Valerie H productions.
Samples from Audio Description Solutions »
Several clips from a variety of programming genres are presented on the website of Audio Description Solutions. One of these clips is from The Ecology of Kelp Forests, available from the DCMP.
DO-IT Videos »
A listing of audio described educational videos from the University of Washington’s DO-IT program.
Samples from Descriptive Video Works
Several longer clips are available from this Canadian description vendor. You can choose between a clip from Corner Gas, a clip from Flash Point, a clip from Terry Fox, or a clip from The Guard.