Audio description is a method of making video material more accessible to people with sight problems. As the name suggests, the process involves describing the actions taking place on screen, in between major dialogue or other important audio sections. We can create and record audio description for your existing video material, adding it as a separate audio track if required.

Audio description process

When creating audio descriptions for video material, we follow common-sense guidelines set forward by industry regulators and leading accessibility experts. A simplified version of this process is as follows: when the video is received, a trained audio describer views the video content a number of times to ascertain which parts of the audio require description. The description necessary can vary immensely depending on the type of material contained in the video – entertainment material may need an entirely different kind of description from a training or educational video, for instance. The target audience is also taken into account – audio description for children will be presented quite differently to video content aimed at adults.

Once the describer is happy that everything has been taken into account, a draft script is written which describes the actions taking place in the video. This script is created with the timings of the video content in mind, so that where possible the description takes place during parts of the original audio where nothing is happening. Occasionally, description may need to cover speech – this only occurs when the describer is certain that description of the on-screen activity is more vital to the understanding of the content. The description is also presented in a neutral fashion – the describer will never attempt to add their own opinions or meaning to actions taking place on screen. The aim is to only describe what is overtly displayed on screen, not to make judgement on motivations or actions.

Once the script has been agreed upon by the describer, an editor, and the client (if requested), the description is recorded by a voiceover artist (this is sometimes the same person who wrote the description, but not always). This is then merged with the original audio track (the levels of which are reduced while description is taking place) to create the final audio described audio track. This can then be provided in whichever format you prefer – for instance, as a selectable audio track on a DVD (along with other languages, captions, or subtitles if required) or as the soundtrack of a VHS or web video.