Audio Description Associates Audio Description Services

People who are vision impaired need not be culturally disadvantaged. Audio Description (AD) provides a verbal version of the visual image. It's a narration of all the visual elements-action, costumes, settings, images-of theater, television/film, museum exhibitions, and other events. Visually impaired patrons experience all the visually engaging elements of cultural events, the rich variety of colors, lighting effects, levels, gestures, and facial expressions that others often take for granted; critical bits of information that a person who has low vision formerly could only experience through the whispered asides from a sighted companion.

Using words that are succinct, vivid, and imaginative, properly trained describers convey the visual image that otherwise is not fully accessible to 10 million blind or low vision Americans and not fully realized by the rest of us, sighted folks who see but who may not observe.

Everyone can appreciate the added detail and vivid highlights made possible by quality AD. For instance, the images in children's books become more accessible for kids who have low vision or are blind, and all children benefit from hearing concise and imaginative word choices. A picture may be worth 1000 words. But ADA's trained audio describers need only a few well-chosen words to conjure vivid and lasting images.

For television, film and performance, AD involves concise, objective descriptions precisely timed to occur only during the lapses between dialogue and other significant sound elements. It provides the AD user a measure of independence and also frees the user's companion from the need to convey "what happened" every few moments.

In museums, AD enhances the docent-led, guided tour experience for sighted visitors and provides that critical measure of accessibility for people who are blind or have low vision. Recorded audio described tours help visitors truly see the treasures in a museum by planting in the mind's eye vivid evocations of each exhibit.

Audio Description Associates provides:

• recorded tours for museum exhibits

• training for professional describers, museum docents, tour guides, and children's librarians

• description for live and recorded arts events, broadcast television, DVDs, and videotape.

Clients

Audio Description Associates and Joel Snyder have provided audio description services and training for many local, national, and international organizations.

• Theater and dance

• Media and websites

• Museums

• Special events

• International

• Training and workshops

• Publications

Training

Audio Description Associates offers AD training in workshop formats ranging in length from forty-five minutes to three hours. Full training, often conducted in communities wishing to develop an AD service for live performing arts events, ranges in length from two and one-half days to five days.

• Outcomes - At the conclusion of the training or workshop presentation, participants will know or experience:

  • ​who are "the blind"?

  • the history of Audio Description

  • active seeing and visual literacy

  • how to develop skills in concentration and observation

  • the art of "editing" what you see

  • how to use the spoken word to make meaning

  • developing an Audio Description program

• Format - The training or workshop presentation involves approximately 30% lecture, 20% video and slides presentation, and 50% participation.

• Presenter - As one of the nation's first audio describers and having trained audio describers in a dozen states and abroad, Joel Snyder will share his 20+ years of experience with audio description and services for people who are blind or have low vision including the screening of excerpts from nationally broadcast videos with description written and voiced by Mr. Snyder.