Menu  Audio Description Project

 

Skip Navigation
ADP Logo and Link to Home Page ACB Logo and Link to Their Webpage   Description of the ADP and ACB Logos
 



Welcome to the Audio Description Project!

Here you will learn everything about Audio Description, from what is it, to samples, to who does it, to how and where it is available in various media.  You can also join our online discussion, follow us on Facebook or Twitter, and be notified of updates to this page by typing your email address in the box to the right and pressing the Submit button. 

SEARCH within the ADP website

Featured Articles

Live Xbox Show To Be Audio Described Nov 10

Attention gamers!  Microsoft has informed us that the November 10th episode of Inside Xbox will include Audio Description. The live show, direct from X018 in Mexico City, will feature nearly two hours of breaking news, announcements and exclusive interviews on games including Minecraft, Forza Horizon 4, State of Decay 2, Sea of Thieves, PUBG, Xbox Game Pass and much, much more. The show occurs from 4-6PM EST on Saturday November 10 on the official Xbox channel at Mixer.com/Xbox and will be available on Video-on-Demand following the broadcast.  (Posted Nov 6)

Audio Describer Certification
LAST CALL!

The Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals (ACVREP) is developing a certification process for audio description professionals.  The group is recruiting individuals who might wish to serve on its Subject Matter Expert Committee.  The committee will be charged with crafting all material related to the certification process including application materials.  If you are interested in applying to be a member of the Subject Matter Expert Committee, please visit the ACVREP website.  The deadline is November 9.  (Posted Oct 2)

Hulu Commits to Audio Description

Hulu LogoHulu, with over 20 million streaming subscribers, and advocates from the American Council of the Blind and Bay State Council of the Blind have reached a settlement agreement to increase the accessibility of Hulu's streaming service to individuals who are blind or have low vision.  As a result, Hulu will undertake efforts to make its website and software applications accessible via screen readers and will provide audio description tracks for streaming content where possible.  Content and accessibility will begin to rollout sometime in 2019.  Read the Press Release.  (Posted Oct 17)

The 2019 BADIE Contest is Open

Once again we are encouraging young people with visual impairment from ages 7 through 21 to write reviews of audio described movies. It's time for the 2019 Benefits of Audio Description In Education (BADIE) contest!  Read all about the BADIE contest and share the information with students who are visually impaired and their teachers, as both can win prizes.  Deadline is December 3.  (Posted Oct 16) 

Bridge Multimedia Delivers AD for 17 Winners

Bridge Multimedia LogoBridge Multimedia is currently providing accessibility for winners of 17 Cynopsis Kids Imagination Awards, celebrating innovation and excellence in kids, tween, and teen media and appearing on ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS. Shows include Cyberchase on PBS, Lucky Dog on CBS, Rock the Park on ABC, and Naturally Danny Seo on NBC.  (Posted Oct 9)

Audio Description Podcasts

Eyes on Success offers podcasts discussing products, services, and daily living tips for people with vision loss.  Three recent podcasts discussed audio description:

  • Podcast 1839 addresses Accessibility of US National Parks
  • Podcast 1834 interviews Rachel Melton of MindsEye Radio who discusses audio description.  MindsEye Radio received a 2018 ADP Achievement Award.
  • Podcast 1835 discusses what's involved in creating AD for live theatre for another ADP Achievement award winner, Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, NY.

Access Tech Watch-360 is offering a free podcast reviewing audio described movies.  The current one runs about 30 minutes and has two visually impaired reviewers reviewing three movies.  Give a listen:  It's Movie Night! Accessible Audio Movie Review.  (Updated Oct 2) 

Audio Description Integrated Into a Play

A play in Wales is being presented with integrated audio description (by the cast members) -- a fine example for other play writers!  See The Importance of Being Described ... Earnestly.  (Posted Sep 4)

Audio Description News

New Audio Described DVDs and Blu-ray Discs

On November 6, four new audio described DVDs were released:  BlacKkKlansman, Christopher Robin, Incredibles 2, Papillon.

Featured DVD Featured DVD
Featured DVD Featured DVD

Recent DVDs:  BlacKkKlansman, Christopher Robin, Incredibles 2, Papillon, Slender Man, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, The Darkest Minds, The Spy Who Dumped Me, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Sorry to Bother You, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hotel Transylvania 3, Skyscraper, Leave No Trace, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, The First Purge, Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Seagull, Uncle Drew, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Ocean's 8, Superfly, Adrift, Won't You Be My Neighbor, Book Club, Tag, Action Point, Deadpool 2, God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness, Show Dogs, Avengers: Infinity War, Breaking In, Life of the Party, The Rider, Final Portrait, Overboard, The Miracle Season, Ready Player One, I Feel Pretty, Isle of Dogs, Rampage, Super Troopers 2, Traffik, A Quiet Place, 7 Days in Entebbe; Beirut; Blockers; Tyler Perry's Acrimony; Pacific Rim Uprising; more...   

See Also:

Join us on Facebook or Twitter (links below) to receive new described DVD notifications, or use the page-change notification form at the top of this page.

Update #18 for Mid90s PosterActiview

Actiview, which offers a free app supplying audio description tracks for movies playing in a theater or on any other device, has announced an eighteenth movie:  Mid90s (now in theaters). Previously announced movies are:  Wildlife, Lady Bird, Room, The Florida Project, The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, Pick of the Litter (limited release), Far From the Tree (limited release), (Disney's) Christopher Robin, Antman and the Wasp, Incredibles 2, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Megan Levy, Wonderstruck, Breathe, Coco, The Man Who Invented Christmas, and Dealt. 

And Outside the USA ... you should know that there are three other similar services:  Germany (Greta & Starks); Italy (MovieReading); and India (XL Cinema, and Read an article about the XL Cinema App).  These are all mentioned at the bottom of our Movies page.  (Updated Nov 6)

Goodbye Blindy.tv

Some of you have enjoyed the free described programming on blindy.tv.  Be advised that they closed up shop at the beginning of October due to increasing technical challenges in keeping the streams operational.  (Posted Oct 23)

Reference

Social Media

Find Us On Facebook The ACB/ADP Amazon.com Associate Link

Follow our announcements on Twitter and/or Facebook.  Please support the cost of this site by initiating any Amazon purchases via our link above, or just remember to type this address:  acb.org/adp/amazon.

The Audio Description Project's website collects and provides information on audio description in all its forms: live theatre, television, movies, DVDs, and more.  Started in 2002 by AD International, funding and direction for this website now come from the American Council of the Blind's Audio Description Project (started in March 2009).  Read more about this site...

Audio Description (AD) is the descriptive narration of key visual elements of live theatre, television, movies, and other media to enhance their enjoyment by consumers who are blind or have low vision.  AD is the insertion of audio explanations and descriptions of the settings, characters, and action taking place in such media, when such information about these visual elements is not offered in the regular audio presentation.  Read more about audio description...

Based on his doctoral thesis and teaching audio description around the world, ADP Project Director Dr Joel Snyder's book, The Visual Made Verbal, is available in print (English and Russian), for Kindle, and on Bookshare.  Read more details about Dr Snyder's book...

Dedicated organizations around the world facilitate the offering of audio description in select movie theaters, videos, live theatre, and television programming, and this website attempts to expose their fine work to as many interested viewers as possible. Thank you for visiting!