Overview
Audio description is:
- A narration track that verbally describes key visual content that is not accessible via audio alone.
- Also known as “video description”, “visual description”, “descriptive video”, and simply “description”.
- An art form, involving an understanding of how much information needs to communicated, what words to use, and when to use them.
People who are blind can understand much of a video’s content by listening to its audio. However, if a video includes content that is only presented visually (e.g., on-screen text or key actions that are not obvious from the audio) this visual information must be described. This benefits people who are unable to see the video due to blindness or low vision. It also benefits users who are visually distracted, watching a video in the background while multitasking.
Extended audio description is audio description that requires a pause in the video (i.e., if there aren’t otherwise enough gaps in the program audio to insert a description.)
Integrated description is the process of building in description of visual content directly into the video during scripting and production, thereby avoiding the need for audio description.
Avoiding the need for audio description
The need for audio description can be avoided by ensuring all important visual information is communicated verbally. Here are some examples:
- Teamwork: Making IT Accessible at the University of Washington – This video features several speakers, whose names and affiliations are displayed visually with on-screen text. To avoid the need for audio description, each speaker introduces themselves the first time they speak, and a narrator reads the closing credits.
- Integrated Described Video (IDV) – This website from Accessible Media, Inc. (AMI) includes a series of high-quality videos produced to educate on the benefits of integrated description.
Prioritizing Your Videos for Audio Description
Videos can be prioritized for audio description using the same variables that are used for prioritizing videos for captioning:
- Audience demographics – If the target audience for a video is likely to include individuals who are blind or low vision, the video should be a top priority.
- Traffic – Your most popular videos should probably be a high priority.
- Publication date – Newer videos should probably be a high priority.
In general, it is best to focus initial efforts on high impact videos, for example:
- videos available to the public on a high-use website
- videos that will be used multiple times in a course
- videos developed by several faculty members to be used in several different classes
Does the video need description?
In addition to the above considerations, videos can be prioritized based on the need for audio description.
To determine need, listen to the audio for portions of your video (if you have eyesight, close your eyes). Are there any important details that you’re missing? Rate the video using the following scale:
- High need – Nothing makes sense with audio alone.
- Medium need – The video is generally understandable, but critical details are lost.
- Low need – Some information is lost, but it isn’t critical.
Audio Description in Panopto
Panopto uses Approach #3 above. Video owners can easily add audio description by typing a brief description of visual content, to be read aloud by the media player at the designated time in the video. The audio description is only read aloud if the user has enabled this feature on their media player. For additional information including instructions, see the Panopto help page on How to Add Audio Descriptions.
Audio Description in other media platforms
If your video is hosted in a platform other than Panopto (e.g., Canvas, Zoom, YouTube, Vimeo), there is no built-in support for audio description. The typical strategy for delivering audio description for these videos is to create a separate audio-described version of the video. Then, wherever the original video is provided, include a link to the audio-described version.
To produce an audio-described version of a video, it is typically best to outsource to a vendor who specializes in this service. The following providers have provided audio description services to the UW:
- 3Play Media – traditionally a captioning vendor, 3Play Media provides captioning services to the UW on a Washington State higher education contract. Audio descriptions can easily be added to any captioning order, but cannot be ordered separately (i.e., captioning is required). The audio description is voiced using synthesized speech, but the voice quality is excellent.
- Audio Eyes – a company that specializes exclusively in audio description. Their description is voiced by human narrators, often using professional voiceover talent, and the output is professionally mixed, so the description is easy to hear and understand against the backdrop of the program audio. Working with Audio Eyes is recommended for dramatic works or high profile videos where higher quality production of audio descriptions is needed.
- Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation (CIDI) at Georgia Tech. CIDI has decades of experience providing a full set of services for making media accessible.
- Echo Labs – a new company that uses AI, combined with human review and editing, for both captioning and audio description. Like 3Play Media, their audio description output uses synthesized speech.
- WGBH Media Access Group – the inventors of audio description, still providing services today. Their audio description is branded as “Descriptive Video Service”.
UW-IT Captioning and Audio Description Service
UW-IT Accessible Technology Services (ATS) will caption and/or audio describe a limited number of UW videos without charge through a service supported by UW-IT. Individuals, departments, and other units at the UW are encouraged to apply for funding to caption highly-visible, high-impact, multiple-use, and/or strategic videos. Examples include:
- Videos available to the public on a high-use website
- Videos that will be used multiple times in a course
- Videos developed by several faculty members to be used in several different classes
For additional information and to apply for this service, please see our Help page.
Further Reading
- Audio Description of Visual Information – a comprehensive guide from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
- Integrated Described Video (IDV) – This website from Accessible Media, Inc. (AMI) includes a series of high-quality videos produced to educate on the benefits of integrated description (i.e., scripting and producing video that avoids the need for audio description)
WCAG 2.1 success criteria
The issues described on this page, and associated Techniques pages, map to the following success criteria in the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1: