Audio description (AD), also referred to as a video description, described video, or visual description, is a form of narration used to provide information surrounding key visual elements in a media work (such as a film or television program, or theatrical performance) for the benefit of blind and visually impaired consumers. These narrations are typically placed during natural pauses in the audio, and sometimes overlap dialogue if deemed necessary. Occasionally when a film briefly has subtitled dialogue in a different language, the narrator will read out the subtitles.
In museums or visual art exhibitions, audio described tours (or universally designed tours that include description or the augmentation of existing recorded programs on audio- or videotape), are used to provide access to visitors who are blind or have low vision. Docents or tour guides can be trained to employ audio description in their presentations.
In film and television, description is typically delivered via a secondary audio track. In North America, Second audio program (SAP) is typically used to deliver audio description by television broadcasters. To promote accessibility, broadcast regulations in some countries have implemented requirements for broadcasters to air specific quotas of programming containing audio description.
History
The transition to "talkies" in the late 1920s resulted in a push to make the cinema accessible to the visually impaired. The New York Times documented the "first talking picture ever shown especially for the blind"—a 1929 screening of Bulldog Drummond attended by members of the New York Association for the Blind and New York League for the Hard of Hearing, which offered a live description for the visually-impaired portion of the audience. In the 1940s and 1950s, Radio Nacional de España aired live audio simulcasts of films from cinemas with descriptions, framing these as a form of radio drama before television services launched in the country.
In the 1980s, the Media Access Group of U.S. public television station WGBH-TV (which had already gained notability for their involvement in developing closed captioning) developed an implementation of audio description for television programming via second audio program (SAP), which it branded as "Descriptive Video Service" (DVS). It was developed in consultation with Dr. Margaret Pfanstiehl of Washington, D.C., who had performed descriptions at theatrical performances and had run a radio reading service known as the Washington Ear. After four years of development and on-air trials (which included a proof of concept that aired the descriptions on a radio station in simulcast with the television airing), WGBH officially launched audio description via 32 participating PBS member stations, beginning with the new season of American Playhouse on January 24, 1990.
In the 1990s at cinemas in California, RP International began to offer audio descriptions for theatrical films under the brand TheatreVision, relayed via earpieces to those who request it. A clip from Schindler's List was used to pitch the concept to the film's producers Gerald Molen and Branko Lustig, and one of the first films to be presented in this format was Forrest Gump (1994). TheatreVision sought notable personalities and celebrities to volunteer in providing these narrations, such as sportscaster Vin Scully, William Shatner, Monty Hall, and former U.S. president George H. W. Bush (for It's a Wonderful Life). Sometimes the narrator had ties to the film or was part of its cast; Irene Bedard described Pocahontas—a film where she had voiced the title character. For the 1994 remake of Little Women, stars from previous versions of the film volunteered, including June Allyson, Margaret O'Brien, and Janet Leigh (whose grandmother was blind) from the 1949 version of the film, as well as Katharine Hepburn—star of the 1933 version. Other companies emerged in providing descriptions for programming in the U.S., including the National Captioning Institute, Narrative Television Network, and others.
In the UK Audio Description services were made available on the BBC and ITV after a collaborative project with industry partners. In 2000, the BBC voluntarily committed to providing descriptions for at least 20% of its programming annually. In practice, the BBC has often exceeded these targets. In 2009, BBC iPlayer became the first streaming video on-demand service in the world to support AD where every programme that was broadcast with AD also had AD on BBC iPlayer. On January 29, 2009, The Accessible Channel was launched in Canada, which broadcasts "open" audio descriptions on all programming via the primary audio track.Accessible Channel Launches with "Open Format'; Broadcaster Magazine; 2008-12-01 Audio description has also been extended to live events, including sporting events, the ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, among others.
In April 2015, the subscription streaming service Netflix announced that it had added support for audio description, beginning with Daredevil—a series based on a comic book character who himself is blind, and would add descriptions to current and past original series on the platform over time. The following year, as part of a settlement with the American Council of the Blind, Netflix agreed to provide descriptions for its original series within 30 days of their premiere, and add screen reader support and the ability to browse content by availability of descriptions.
On June 17, 2016, Pornhub announced that it would launch a collection of pornographic videos with audio descriptions. The initiative is sponsored by the website's philanthropic arm Pornhub Cares.
In the late-2010s, Procter & Gamble began to add descriptions to some of its television commercials, first in the United Kingdom, and later Spain and the United States.
Legal mandates in television broadcasting Canada
Under Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) rules, most television channels are required to carry quotas of programming with audio description. For regulatory purposes, audio description is referred to in Canada as described video (DV), as the CRTC uses "audio description" to refer to supplemental explanations of on-screen graphics and key visuals by presenters in news and information programs. Broadcasters must promote the availability of DV programming, including airing a standard audiovisual bumper and logo at the beginning of all programs offering description. All television providers are also required to carry AMI-tv (formerly The Accessible Channel), a specialty channel that broadcasts programming related to accessibility and disability; the channel carries DV on all programs in the primary audio track.
Initially, broadcast television stations and former Category A services that dedicated more than half of their programming to comedy, drama, or long-form documentary programs, were required to broadcast at least four hours of programming with described video, with two hours of this "original" to the channel per-week. These programs must have been drawn from children's, comedy, drama, long-form documentaries, general entertainment and human interest, reality, or variety genres.
On March 26, 2015, the CRTC announced that beginning September 1, 2019, broadcast and specialty networks owned by vertically integrated conglomerates, as well as any channel subject to existing license conditions specifying minimums for DV, would be required to supply described video for any prime-time programming (7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.) that falls within the genres of children's, drama and comedy, long-form documentaries, general entertainment and human interest, reality, or variety. The requirement that a quota of DV programming be "original" to the network was also dropped. In addition, other licensed discretionary services would be expected to air at least four hours of DV programming per-week by the fourth year of their next license term.
Citing the possibility that imported U.S. programming may not necessarily be supplied with descriptions for their first airing (including in particular, programming with short turnaround times and live broadcasts such as reality competitions), the CRTC granted an exception to the prime time DV mandate to Bell Media, Corus Entertainment, and Rogers Media, for foreign programming that is received within 24 hours of its scheduled airing—provided that any future airings of the same program in prime-time contain descriptions.
In December 2025, per the modernization of the Broadcasting Act implemented by the Online Streaming Act, the CRTC ruled that DV requirements will be extended to online streaming services and video on-demand services within the next two years, applying to new pre-recorded original programming, pre-recorded scripted programming from third-parties, and "partially scripted live events of national interest" (with the CRTC citing that live descriptions during events such as the Academy Awards and ceremonies of the Olympic Games had demonstrated the feasibility of offering DV during similar events). Services will be required to provide functionality for browsing programming that contains described video. The CRTC also renewed the exemption for DV on non-Canadian prime time programming received within 24 hours of airing, but will require broadcasters to submit an annual report on programming it was unable to air with described video.
United Kingdom The Ofcom code on television access services requires broadcasters that have been on the air for at least five years to broadcast at least 10% of their programming with descriptions. Scrutiny has applied even to ESPN UK—a sports channel—which was fined £120,000 by Ofcom for not meeting an AD quota in 2012. The regulator rejected an argument by ESPN that AD was redundant to commentary, as it is "not provided with the needs of the visually impaired in mind".
United States
Initially, audio description was provided as a public service. However, in 2000, the Federal Communications Commission would enact a policy effective April 1, 2002, requiring the affiliates of the four major television networks in the top 25 markets, and television providers with more than 50,000 subscribers via the top 5 cable networks as determined by Nielsen ratings, to offer 50 hours of programming with descriptions during primetime or children's programming per-quarter. However, the order faced a court challenge led by the MPAA, who questioned the FCC's jurisdiction on the matter. In November 2002, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the FCC had no statutory jurisdiction to enforce such a rule.
This was rectified in 2010 with the passing of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, which gave the FCC jurisdiction to enforce video description requirements. The previously intended quotas were reinstated on July 1, 2012, and have been gradually increased to require more programming and wider participation since their implementation.
Operation Broadcast audio description is typically delivered via an alternate audio track, either as a separate language track containing the narration only (which, if the playback device is capable of doing so, is mixed with the primary audio track automatically, and can have separate volume settings), or on a secondary audio track pre-mixed with the primary track, such as a secondary audio program (SAP).
Many video on demand (VOD) and streaming platforms host separate assets for the audio-described media, with the soundtrack pre-mixed. Despite AD typically being presented as something that can be enabled (as with subtitles), users can encounter problems when trying to turn AD on or off because the underlying media version they require is unavailable.