What is audio description?
Audio description (AD) offers people who are blind or have low vision an understanding of what is happening visually within a theatre, television, film, DVD, museum, exhibition or other arts related productions.
AD is an additional narration that succinctly paints an image of transitions, movements, gestures, props, settings, costumes and scenery woven between the dialogues.
Vision Australia has been providing audio description services for 30 years across the entire arts and entertainment industry. Learn more about how we work and hear from National Coordinator of Audio Description Michael Ward.
Audio description has also changed the way people watch their favourite programs. Listen to their stories here.
Discover the different ways Vision Australia's audio description team make content more accessible to people who are blind or have low vision:
At the theatre
Vision Australia works with many different theatres and production companies around Australia to provide audio description for live performances.
On television
Over the past 20 years, Vision Australia has advocated for increased audio description across cinema and television.
On-demand streaming
Find out what audio described movies are available on streaming services: Netflix, Stan and Amazon Prime.
Free to air
Recently, ABC and SBS have launched 14 hours of audio description content on each channel.
As a helpful tool, Vision Australia will be providing a combined listing of all audio described shows across both channels for the next two weeks.
Visit the Vision Australia website to download the guide.
More information
- Upcoming audio described events
- Attend a Vision Australia audio described performance
- Audio description at the cinema
- News: ABC’s Get Krack!n gets audio description
If you would like to learn more about audio description and how you can be involved contact National Coordinator of Audio Description Michael Ward.
