Under Construction: Proceed at your own Risk.

What is Audio Description, anyway?

In a nutshell: Audio description is a translation of visual images into auditory images. It is a concise and evocative additional "soundtrack" that helps people with low or no vision to more fully access media and culture. Audio description can be created for film, television, plays, musicals, operas, dance performances, park and national monuments, museums, galleries, public service announcements, transportation - the list could go on. Basically, audio description can enhance the experience of and information acquisition of any visual information. 

How does it work?: For media like film, television, plays, and other performances that have dialogue (even if it's sung dialogue), descriptions of plot pertinent visual information is inserted into pauses between dialogue (occasionally and only if absolutely necessary, audio description will 'step' on dialogue slightly). The idea is to give a blind consumer of media the visual information they miss.

HOLD UP THERE MISSY, you might be thinking. Blind people watch T.V.? Blind people go to ART MUSEUMS? WHY????: To be fair, you might not be thinking that. You might totally get why people who are blind want full access to all the media you have access to. But I can't tell you how many people still say things to me like "BLIND PEOPLE WATCH NETFLIX? WHY?" I can't answer why any one blind person might want to watch what they want to watch, perhaps you should ask a blind person that you know? I can offer up why many of the blind people who I know want access to media like you and I have: because in our society so much of our culture revolves around visual media. Conversations at the water cooler are often about the popular show of the day. Also, one could love travel, or dance, or opera and not be able to see it. People who are blind want to know what is going on in the world around them, just like you do. The better question is: why wouldn't they want to have access to media that everyone around them has access to? In addition to audio description providing a real and necessary service to people who are blind or have visual impairments, other people use it too. People who don't want to miss their favorite show but have to drive somewhere can listen to audio description as they drive and not miss anything. People who are folding laundry. People who are cooking dinner. People whose eyes can't see what is on the screen for whatever reason. Make sense? 

Why is audio description a growing field? In 2010, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act was signed into law. This law addresses accessibility of video both to the deaf community and to people with low or no vision. Without going into a lot of legal stuff (not my forte) I will tell you that the roll-out of the law has been taking place since 2011 and is slated to continue until 2020. (Here is the text of the video accessibility section of the telecommunications law as it applies to this discussion) In addition to the law, a few years back, Netflix - always the disrupter - vowed to have all of its catalog audio described. This came in response to blind Netflix customers who were disappointed and angered that the show Daredevil (which has a blind protagonist) was not accessible to people who were blind. Netflix has been working to have their shows described above and beyond what the law requires and NOW, because competition CAN actually work for the benefit of consumers, some of the other original content providers have jumped on the audio description band wagon. 

Audio description is both writing and voicing. An audio describer writes description scripts. Depending on who they work for they may also voice those scripts. Most post-production houses (audio description is typically added after the media is fully finished - and that, I think, is a mistake. But more on THAT later) hire describers to write and voice talent to record and engineers to engineer. This site will guide you through one way of writing description (there are others and I will list links to other people with whom you might study at the end of the page), the in's and out's of voicing description, where you might find description work, how to produce description in your home studio, and some other tidbits. 

​To get an idea of what audio description is, you should listen to it. The best way to do this is to Launch the Netflix app. Select a TV show or movie. Select Audio & Subtitles from the description page. Select audio description from the list of options. Press the Back button to return to the description page. Select Play.

​Most Netflix titles have audio description these days, but some titles are better described than others. Pick a show you think you'd like to listen to. If you don't have access to Netflix but have access to a computer, you can go to "Don't Shoot the Messenger" on YouTube which is an audio described web series. By the time you get to the end of this blog, you will be able to tell if the description you listened to in this first step was actually well done or not. 

Step One: Get Your Writing Equipment 

You will need a computer that has enough memory and a fast enough processor to download video, work with video and not glitch, and to store video while you are working on your script. Now, what does that mean? I don't have the faintest idea. I'm helpful, right? No really, though. I don't even understand what happens with a computer. I just know you turn it on and magically it does THINGS. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that if your computer in less than 5 years old, you're probably ok. If it's more than 5 years old, you may run into problems. Adding memory might work (I hear tell you can do that) but I don't think you can speed up your processor. But what do I know? 

Here is a little article that talks about it (be warned, however, if you are going to record description from your home computer you may need to be looking at the section labeled video editing because that is kind of what you will be doing, sorta).

Next, go to InqScribe and download the free version of it. You can purchase the non-free version but I never have and have no idea how much it costs. I DO know that if you download the non-free version you can do nifty things like save your document, which you can't do on the free version HENCE, the next thing you'll need to do.

Next, You will need to make sure that you have access to Google Docs/Drive (I know I should know the difference between these two, and I know they are somehow connected, but I really don't. Make sure you have whichever one you can use to work directly on a document - I'm pretty sure that is Docs). Every so often I copy from InqScribe and paste to Google Docs. That way the script not only get saved but it shareable with a film maker, an editor, another describer, a voice talent - anyone who might need quick access to the script. 

​

​Step Two: What I do first when I get a movie to work on 

I ask the film-maker to send me an MP4 of the film. I like this format because I can use it on both macs and PC's. Usually they will transfer it using WETRANSFER or some other service like that. You need to make sure that you keep the film you are working on secure. Many times it will not be on open source platforms like YouTube and you will need to be sure that no one sees it while you are working on it.

Next, I listen to the film with a pad and a pen in hand. When I do this, I take copious notes. When a sound is part of the film and I can't tell what it is, I make a note. If I think I know what it is, I make a note. If I know what it is, I make a note. I want to see how I follow the film without the aid of my eyes. I want to know where music creates a feeling for me. I want to be aware of where I experience confusion. 

(Newer describers will sometimes over describe - feeling that they have to fill every bit of space where there is no dialogue with information about the visual elements that a sighted audience experiences. Remember, ambient sounds are important also, sometimes more so. That music is there for a reason. It is evocative itself and communicates much about the feelings the film maker was hoping to convey. Music connects viscerally to our emotions in a way visual cues may not. Give the ambient sound breath and space).

Some notes I typically have are questions about what a sound was. Some are long stretches of music where I got a feeling but didn't know what was on-screen. Some of them are clear sounds that don't need description even though if I was watching with my eyes I might feel they are plot pertinent and need description. Some are notes about location and who was in the room. You get the idea.

Once I have my list of all the things I heard, I go back and watch the movie with my eyes. While I watch a new movie, I look at my list and I fill in any blanks. I may discover that the clicking sound that I couldn't identify was the optometrist switching the lenses on that machine they use when you go to get your prescription updated (and yes, your research will include finding out the name of that machine because if there is time, you should name it). And that I was RIGHT, that clacking and folding sound was someone folding up their white cane (the cane some blind people use to help them navigate around obstacles). I may see that the montage that takes place during the musical interlude is very detailed and requires a lot of description, or I may see that it is a long shot of the same thing and the music really is the star.  

On a recent project I looked at my notes and found only 6 instances where I hadn't written anything about something needing description. These holes were mostly during musical interludes but some were between dialogue. I think this is because the film I am working on was made by a man with low vision about other people with low or no vision. The way the protagonists described what they saw, or what they had seen, was very clear and mostly conveyed exactly what the film maker had chosen to show in B roll (not footage of the person speaking but of what they speak of). After I filled in my list and added some additional notes about what should be described I had an actual outline to work with. This makes it easier for me, it might or might not for you. And truth be told, you often won't get the kind of time to watch and re-watch a piece before you have to begin writing. But I think as you are training, it is really important to do these steps as they will help you really understand what your role is. 

​

​Step Three: The Writing Process

Writing for audio description isn't really like other kinds of writing. You may have heard that it's kind of like writing a screen play. I'd say it's actually more like writing poetry. Why? Because just like the poet you choose your words to evoke. In this case you are trying to convey a sense of what you are seeing without interpreting what you are seeing. Poets choose words to convey emotion, you will choose words to convey visual stimuli. Still carefully chosen, still super specific, and hopefully pleasurable to listen to.

​You'll notice as you listen to description that other people have written that there doesn't seem to be a true format to it. Each writer will see things slightly differently and will use slightly different words to describe what they see. There may not be a set right way to do it although I maintain that there are definitely wrong ways to do it. 

​​The following is a list of best practices that you should refer to as you learn to write good description. These will be become second nature but as you begin, it's important to keep them in mind constantly. I can tell you that almost all new describers make the same kinds of mistakes in their writing. You will not be exempt from making mistakes if you use this list, but you can minimize the extent of your missteps.


1. Don't step on dialogue. This is the cardinal rule. People worked really hard to make that show/movie/opera/television program. Each word they speak is really important. You are not there to be "heard" as an "actor". You are there to share information that is plot pertinent. The audience wants to hear the show they signed on for. If you are unable to fit a description in the pauses BETWEEN the dialogue, try shortening your description, try adding the description before or after (we will talk more about this later). Don't assume that what you have to say is more important than what is happening in the piece you are describing (unless while someone is talking they are also planting a bomb that blows up before there is another pause in the dialogue and there are no audible clues as to what is happening).

2. The purpose of description is to give non-sighted people an experience of media that is as close to the experience of sighted people as you can get it. That means that you are not there to interpret the media but rather to report what you see. So, you might say "Noah frowns and shrugs" but you wouldn't say "Noah shrugs sadly". WAIT, you say. Doesn't a frown connote that he is sad? Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on who you ask. Each of us receives visual information differently. Your sad may be my apathetic or annoyed. Mostly, you want to stay away from adverbs in your writing and stick with other kinds of descriptors. Say only what you see (instead of he looks dejected you might say his shoulders slump).

3. Use active, present tense language. 'John picks up the vase', rather than 'the vase is picked up by John'. The words you choose should be concise, accurate, and evocative. Also, describe things as they happen rather than after the fact. Occasionally you may have to describe something slightly before the action. This could happen in the case of something like a sight gag, because you want your non-sighted audience to have a joke set up and land at the same time as it lands for your sighted audience as much as possible. 

4. The use of cinematic terms pulls your audience out of the experience of the media. Things like "A bus drives into frame" or "an aerial shot" or "fade to black" or "a close up of her eye" may make sense to sighted people and be an easy short hand to describe what is happening but they do distract from the story. Try things like "A bus pulls to the curb" or "from above, the French army marches along the avenue" or "blackness" or "the pupil of her left eye is dilated". NEVER say "we see" or "toward us" or "looks at the camera". First, not all of our audience "sees". Second, we are not in the media. Third, since this is experiential, there is no camera unless the film maker shows it to us and makes it a character in the scene. 

5. Typically, race or physical shape is not described unless it is plot pertinent. You wouldn't say "The fat man" unless it's important to the story that he is heavy (and even then you might find a different, non-judgmental way of describing the size of him). You wouldn't say "The Asian woman" unless the fact that she is Asian is important to the story. 

6. People are not referred to by their names until another character refers to them by name. So, "the blonde woman with the pixie hair cut" stays 'the blonde woman' until another character calls her "Tinkerbell" or "Tink" if that nickname gets used. 

7. And let's talk about descriptors. You usually will pick something about the person that is a constant (the blonde woman) rather than something that can change (the woman in the red shirt). This is for the pretty obvious reason that in the next scene, that same woman could be wearing a green shirt and then where are you? Also, What about color? Remember some of your audience has lost their sight, some of your audience is legally blind but has some vision, some of your audience has been blind since birth, and some of your audience is sighted. Whether a person has been blind since birth or not, they are surrounded by references to color. They know that fire engines are red (because their childhood books had red fire engines). They know that the sky is blue (because we hear that ALL the time). So red means something to them as a descriptor as does blue. So color can be an important part of description BUT: If, for timing reasons, you only have room to describe either the color of something or another distinguishing characteristic of that same thing unless the color of it is plot pertinent, choose the other descriptor. For instance: A woman wearing a red velvet gown at a debutant ball where everyone else is wearing white. It is probably less important that the gown is velvet and more important that it is RED. 

8. Also, try to stay away from using pronouns, especially if there are multiple people in the scene. For example: "He walked into the room and looked at him while he whittled the wooden whistle for him" is confusing. Better to say "John walked into the room and looked at Bob, who whittled the wooden whistle for John". Sometimes it works fine to use pronouns but just be mindful that what you are writing makes the action clear and not muddy.

9. Try really hard to use complete sentences whenever possible and be mindful to vary your language. If there is a long scene of lovers who are staring into each other's eyes and you say "John lifts his gaze to meet Sally's. Sally gazes into John's wide eyes. Sally's eyes fill with tears as she drops her gaze to the floor" it could get REALLY boring, REALLY fast! A thesaurus can be your best friend (but not the one you find online. Invest in a comprehensive Thesaurus. You'll be glad you did). 

​

These are audio description guidelines put out by the American Council of the Blind. They are not the only set of guidelines out there and if you do some poking on the internet, you will find more. ACB's are easy to follow and represent how AD is done in the United States (it is different in other countries).