Introduction to Audio Description

The links in this section introduce Audio Description (AD) and its applications. Users of the service can learn how it enhances the experience of cultural and recreational events, as well as visual presentations at meetings and business settings. Television, movies, theater, and other media, as well as displays at museums, exhibitions, and galleries can become accessible to patrons with blindness or visual impairment.

Audio Description: Access for All, Disability World
Disability World explores many applications for audio description, including media, theater, museums and exhibitions. 

Audio Description:  The Visual Made Verbal, Audio Description Associates
In this 8-page PDF article, Joel Snyder provides an overview of audio description, including its history and a list of skills of professional audio describers. (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

DVS FAQ (Descriptive Video Service Frequently Asked Questions), Media Access Group at WBGH
This is a helpful introduction to descriptive video service for television and video recordings, by the people who created the service.

Fundamentals of Audio Description, Audio Description Associates
Joel Snyder outlines four key elements of effective audio description: observation, editing, language, and vocal skills. (Microsoft Word Document)

What Audio Description Is and Who Uses It, Association of Science-Technology Centers
This article outlines the basics of audio description, including terminology, necessary equipment, history, examples, and additional resources.

Audio Description, Tiresias
This introduction includes a list of recommendations and the features of good audio description. The technical information is specific to products and broadcasters in the U.K.

Research: Audio Description

Adding Audio Description to Television Science Programs: What is the Impact on Visually Impaired Viewers? Equal Access to Software and Information (EASI)
Emilie Schmeidler, Senior Research Associate with American Foundation for the Blind, examines the effects of audio description on the television viewing habits of  adults with a visual impairment.

The Language System of Audio Description: An Investigation as a Discursive Process, Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness (JVIB)
Philip J. Piety investigated "the language used in … films containing audio description and developed a set of definitions" to make it "more fully defined, measured, and compared." (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

The Semi-Automatic Generation of Audio Description from Screenplays, Burton Bradstock Research Labs
James Lakritz and Andrew Salway investigate the creation of a first draft audio description script from a film screenplay. (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Organizations and Resources to Explore: Audio Description

Audio Description Coalition
This site includes a brief history of audio description, its standards, and a code of conduct.

Audio Description Homepage, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)
RNIB defines how and where audio description is used, including television, video recordings, movies, theater, sports venues, and museums and galleries.  It also offers advice for professionals.

Audio Description Project (ADP)
The mission of ADP is "to promote and support Audio Description services in various settings through shared information, referral, and education."  The website offers an overview of audio description and links to organizations, services, and products.

Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP)
DCMP aims to "promote and provide equal access to communication and learning for students who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind."  The site includes a media library, clearinghouse, and listing of service vendors.

Educational Media Description Project, American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
With the goal of developing guidelines for description of educational media materials, this site presents proposed guidelines and invites input from service providers and students who are blind or visually impaired.

Media Access Group at WGBH
WGBH has been a pioneer in delivering accessible media, including Descriptive Video Service (DVS) and various projects through the National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM).

National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM)
NCAM is "a research, development, and advocacy entity that works to make existing and emerging technologies in a broad range of media more accessible to all audiences."