Audio Description

Audio description (AD) is a narrative technique which provides complementary information regarding the where, who, what and how of any audiovisual content. It translates the visuals into words. The principal function of this ad hoc narrative is to make audiovisual content available to all: be it a guided city tour of Barcelona, a 3D film, or a Picasso painting. Audio description is one of the younger siblings of Audiovisual Translation, and it is epigonic to the audiovisual translation modality chosen. This book is the first volume on the topic written in English and it brings together an international team of leading audio description teachers, scholars, and practitioners to address the basic issues regarding audio description strategies. Using one stimulus, Quentin Tarantino’s film Inglourious Basterds (2009), the authors analysed what, when, where and how to audio describe. The book is written in a collaborative effort, following a bottom up approach. The many issues that surfaced in the process of the analysis were grouped in broader categories represented in the ten chapters this book contains. A good example of a successful international collaboration, the volume sets a robust practical and theoretical framework for the many studies on audio description to come in the future. Considering the structure of the individual contributions, the book is not only oriented towards the identification of the challenges that await the describer, but it also offers an insight into their possible solutions.

Verbal descriptions of life have been around for centuries, but the digital age has made access to those descriptions even more important. Dr. Joel Snyder, an audio description pioneer, has created a book and website offering the first overview of the field, including its history, application to a range of genres, description of training techniques, and list of resources. Audio description brings the visual world to life, making theater productions, television shows, films, visual art and events accessible to people who are blind or have low vision. Describers employ succinct, vivid, imaginative words to convey visual images those with sight take for granted. Although countries worldwide have taken up the cause, the United States has fallen short on research and institutions to study the field. Dr. Snyder’s book helps fill in some of those gaps. “For decades, Joel Snyder has combined his astonishing command of language with his keen attention to detail to create word pictures that stir the mind’s eye, especially for patrons of the arts whose physical eyes cannot see. [...] His book has been long-awaited, and no doubt will become the standard for prospective audio describers around the world.” -Kelsey Marshall, Founding Director of Accessibility, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC Dr. Joel Snyder is known internationally as one of the world’s first “audio describers,” a pioneer in the field of audio description, making theater events, museum exhibitions, and media accessible to people who are blind or have low vision. Since 1981, he has introduced audio description techniques in 36 states and D.C. and in 35 countries. He holds a PhD in accessibility audio description from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Dr. Snyder’s company, Audio Description Associates, LLC (www.audiodescribe.com) uses audio description to enhance a wide range of arts projects including video and film, museum exhibitions, and live events. As Director of Described Media for the National Captioning Institute, he supervised the production of descriptions for Sesame Street and dozens of feature films and nationally broadcast television; his descriptions can be heard at Smithsonian Institution exhibits, the Getty Museum, the Albright-Knox Gallery, and throughout the country at National Park Service visitor centers. As Director of the American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project (www.acb.org/adp), Dr. Snyder voiced description for network coverage of President Obama’s inauguration in 2009 and 2013, and recently produced the first-ever audio-described tour of The White House. The ADP website is the nation’s principal provider of information and resources on audio description.

Audio description is one of the many services available to guarantee accessibility to audiovisual media. It describes and narrates images and sounds and resulting audio is then mixed with the original soundtrack. Audio description is a complex process that touches production, distribution and reception. Researching Audio Description: New Approachesgathers academic information and data from the many existing research projects, practices, and training across the world. The book has a telescopic approach, from two introductory chapters where accessibility in general is contextualised as a human right, and the basic concepts of disability and impairment are explored. Research on specific features for audio description script drafting are focused in the second part of the book, with a view to revising existing funded projects and their outcomes. The book offers a wealth of information on both the practical and philosophical, from different approaches in perception and cognition, and different research methodologies. Project information contained in the contributions identifies trends in current research-funded studies which will be valuable as a pointer towards future proposals. The book shows the dynamic state of audio description practice, training and research, while contributing towards the growing critical mass needed in building the field of accessibility studies.

An Introduction to Audio Description is the first comprehensive, user-friendly student guide to the theory and practice of audio description, or media narration, providing readers with the skills needed for the effective translation of images into words for the blind and partially-sighted. A wide range of examples – from film to multimedia events and touch tours in theatre, along with comments throughout from audio description users, serve to illustrate the following key themes: the history of audio description the audience the legal background how to write, prepare and deliver a script. Covering the key genres of audio description and supplemented with exercises and discussion points throughout, this is the essential textbook for all students and translators involved in the practice of audio description. Accompanying film clips are also available at: https://www.routledge.com/products/9781138848177 and on the Routledge Translation Studies Portal: http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/translationstudies/.

This Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the expanding field of Audio Description, the practice of rendering the visual elements of a multimodal product. This is the essential guide and companion for advanced students, researchers and Audio Description professionals within translation studies and media accessibility.

This state-of-the-art volume covers recent developments in research on audio description, the professional practice dedicated to making audiovisual products, artistic artefacts and performances accessible to those with supplementary visual and cognitive needs. Harnessing the power of the spoken word, the projects covered in this book illustrate the value of audiovisual content descriptions not only in relation to the role of breaking down physical, cognitive and emotional barriers to entertainment, but also in informing broader media practices such as video archive retrieval, video gaming development and application software creation. The first section maps out the field, discusses key concepts in relation to new developments and illustrates their application; the second part focuses on new audiences for AD, whilst the third part covers the impact of new technologies. Throughout this book contributors focus on methodological innovation, regarding audio description as an opportunity to engage in multi-dimensional linguistic and user-experience analysis, as it intersects with and contributes to a range of other research disciplines. This book is key reading for researchers, advanced students and practitioners of audiovisual translation, media, film and performance studies, as well as those in related fields including cognition, narratology, computer vision and artificial intelligence.

The American Council of the Blind (ACB) Recipient of the 2022 Dr. Margaret Pfanstiehl Audio Description Achievement Award for Research and Development This Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the expanding field of audio description, the practice of rendering the visual elements of a multimodal product such as a film, painting, or live performance in the spoken mode, for the benefit principally of the blind and visually impaired community. This volume brings together scholars, researchers, practitioners and service providers, such as broadcasters from all over the world, to cover as thoroughly as possible all the theoretical and practical aspects of this discipline. In 38 chapters, the expert authors chart how the discipline has become established both as an important professional service and as a valid academic subject, how it has evolved and how it has come to play such an important role in media accessibility. From the early history of the subject through to the challenges represented by ever-changing technology, the Handbook covers the approaches and methodologies adopted to analyse the “multimodal” text in the constant search for the optimum selection of the elements to describe. This is the essential guide and companion for advanced students, researchers and audio description professionals within the more general spheres of translation studies and media accessibility.

This book traces the development of audio description (AD), a form of audiovisual translation delivered orally and consumed aurally that makes visual elements accessible primarily to people who are visually impaired, and in particular, art AD as an emergent sub-genre. Perego reflects on the static arts and the role of modern museums as key sites for art AD and multisensory environments that create memorable experiences for visitors. Based on professional, pre-recorded British and American English AD scripts, this book outlines the textual and linguistic features of art AD and its most relevant textual patterns. It explores diverse AD practices across different contexts, including stand-alone ADs for specific paintings and sculptures that can be consumed independently to enhance the appeal and accessibility of cultural environments. Moreover, the book investigates AD tours, which provide descriptions of a selection of interconnected artworks while also assisting, through focused instructions, visually impaired individuals in navigating the museum space, as well as touch tours, which incorporate procedural instructions on how to experience three-dimensional art or reproductions through tactile senses. Offering unique insights and future research directions for this growing area, this volume will be of interest to students and scholars in translation studies and media accessibility.