Audio description: The visual made verbal

Audio description is the translation of images into words. The visual is made verbal, making media and the arts more accessible, primarily for people who are blind or have low vision. More than 40 million Americans experience significant vision loss, according to the American Foundation for the Blind (2019).

Using words that are succinct, vivid and imaginative, audio describers convey the visual image for their primary audience as well as for people on the autism spectrum, people with ADHD, language learners and sighted people who see but do not observe.

Topics include the history and theory of audio description, as well as an overview of the “Four Fundamentals of Audio Description”:

• Active seeing and visual literacy — developing skills in concentration and observation
• The art of editing what you see
• Vivid language skills
• Vocal skills — using the spoken word to make meaning