What is Audio Description?

            Audio description is a form of narration that plays along with a movie or TV show enabling the visually impaired (VIP) to enjoy the same things as their sighted peers. Being visually impaired myself, this was not always the case. While growing up, if I wanted a movie or something to watch, my parents would need to order it from a special website. We would play it in a VCR, video cassette recorder because it was a VHS, video home service. If the movie that my family wanted to watch could not be ordered, one of my parents would try describing what was happening. With technology advancing, this rarely happens now, but if it does, I know I can count on someone to come through. If you’d like to see audio description in action, feel free to check out this video:

Streaming Services/Movie Theatres

            We probably all know about Netflix and the movies you can watch. Some of the movies that they offer are accessible to the blind. in addition, other streaming services offer this as well. If you have any of these streaming services and would like to know the movies offered in descriptive audio, check out any of these links:

Apple TV+: https://acb.org/adp/appletvad.html

Disney+: https://acb.org/adp/disneyad.html 

Hulu: https://acb.org/adp/huluad.html

iTunes: https://acb.org/adp/itunesad.html

Netflix: https://acb.org/adp/netflixad.html

Amazon Prime: https://acb.org/adp/amazonad. html

           If you would rather go to a physical location outside of your home, movie theatres offer the service as well. Be careful though because I learned this the hard way. Instead of getting the device that would narrate everything to me, I would get the device that makes everything louder which is intended for the hearing impaired. This can be easily resolved with a little explanation and patience. In my opinion, Ronnie’s Cinema + IMAX is the best movie for audio description. The staff is so knowledgeable and friendly.

Live Theatre/Sporting Events

            Have you ever wanted to watch a play or acrobats do tricks on the flying trapeze? Well now I can! Audio description doesn’t just have to be limited to streaming services and movies. Thanks to a great organization called https://mindseyeradio.org/,this is finally possible. This means I can go tohttps://muny.org/ and enjoy their musicals and plays without bothering anyone else. Another theatre that offers live audio description is https://www.fabulousfox.com/. In 2019 before the St. Louis Blues won the Stanley cup, I was invited to attend a game. I was told that it was going to be described and I could invite a guest to go with me. Hearing the action of the hockey puck on the ice and having the game described to me in real time, I felt like I was just a normal person in the crowd. If and when the Blues got a goal, instead of being a second behind or not being able to understand what had happened, I was equally part of the crowd. When another opportunity came about, I immediately jumped at the chance and asked another friend to go.

The Future of Audio Description

            Audio description has come a long way since its initial debut in 1988, but the service still has a long way to go. As a visually impaired person, I would like to see TV providers offer audio description on all their TV shows just as often if not more as they do for closed captioning. Of course, you can turn this on if you wish, but wouldn’t it be great    if you just turned to a particular movie and it started describing automatically?

Not Just for the Blind

            We all know that audio description is mainly for the blind, but the sighted world can benefit from this as well. You are probably thinking, “Why would I want to turn this on? This seems crazy!” Here are a few examples of how the sighted community might find this helpful.

1. You don’t have to look continuously.

            Do you have trouble focusing on what you are looking at? Maybe you are texting on your phone…we’ve all been there and you can’t look away. Audio description to the rescue! While you are multitasking and your eyes are occupied, a human or synthesized voice will narrate what is happening on screen.

2. Cooking.

Let’s just pretend that you are in the middle of preparing a delicious dinner for your family and they start a movie without you. don’t worry, this probably won’t happen. If it does and the audio description is on, you won’t have to risk your precious food burning in the oven or on top of the stove just to see what is going on in the movie.

3. You are terrified of what will happen.

            Let’s just say for a second you sit down with your family to watch a movie. Your husband picks a gruesome movie with killing, blood and swords. If you are a sensitive person, you may not like this choice and make up silly excuses like, “I’ll be right back. I have to use the restroom” or “I have to get some popcorn with a lot of butter on it.” You may appreciate the audio description even if you are not in the room.

4. You get very sleepy and need a little catnap.

            We can maybe all agree on this one. You are sitting at home with your family and it’s almost 9:00 PM. The movie that you’ve just picked is only half way over. All of a sudden, your eyes start closing. Audio description can come to the rescue! Instead of looking at the screen while trying to stay awake, just relax, sit back and enjoy the show!

            Audio description has been a life saver for the VIP community. If we didn’t have audio description, what would we do if there is no one around us? We could just listen to the movie and try to interpret what is happening, but I don’t think we would be able to understand this way. This means that the visually impaired is grateful to have audio description and we hope that it continues to make progress. People who are blind or visually impaired find audio description to be a wonderful service.  Unfortunately, many sighted people find it to be very annoying. This would be the same if we have a screen reader on our phones. I had been told by my friends that when watching movies with me, they would find it slightly confusing, but once they figured out what it does, then they are fine. We need these things to connect with our friends and enjoy their company without playing 20 questions! If the sighted world took the time to learn how audio description worked and became more persistent and cooperative with us visually impaired people using it, we can come together and advocate. Some companies are starting this journey while some have been doing this for a while. it would be nice for every business to get onboard