Tag: blind

Audio Description: The Visual Voice
How AD Helps You See The Details

Perhaps you’ve noticed the increasing availability of audio description (AD) and descriptive video service (DVS) for movies, theater and TV. This is one of the ways digital technology is boosting accessibility for viewers with vision loss. The visual voice describes the images and fills in the details we might have otherwise missed. It is the great equalizer.

Young woman outdoors with headphones on autumn day

Audio description is a narrative guide subtly slipped into the quiet spaces of the program, its purpose to keep the viewer fully informed. AD is something of an art itself, delivered by trained, skilled professionals, with typically high-quality results.

Access to the visual content through concise descriptions changes the experience completely. The things you cannot see become known: a facial expression, a subtle gesture, a funny quirk.

Audio Description for Movies, Theater and TV

The descriptive track is now embedded into most widely-released movies in the US.

To access the tracks on mobile devices or computers, it’s as easy as turning on Audio Description in the device setting. For example on an iPad, AD is turned on in the Accessibility settings under “Media”. More movie theaters are providing AD listening devices for any guest wishing to use them, and there is theater personnel on hand to assist.

Getting access to AD on a traditional television is a bit more complicated, and dependent on the TV, the cable provider, and even the region. For TV, our best advice is, settle in for a long call with technical support, it will prove worth your while.

Although it is lovely to have a live, professional audio describer at your service, it is not nearly as efficient as digital technology. There is a tremendous freedom involved in knowing an audio track is readily available for Broadway shows, museums and movies. Even better when the technology is accessed from your own personal device.

Broadway has the Galapro app for iOS and Android, which syncs the audio description instantly to the live performance.

There is an app for movies called Actiview, also designed to sync automatically and getting excellent reviews on the App Store. Rest assured, we will be seeing a great deal more development in apps of this nature for all arts and entertainment.

The Audio Description Project: A Comprehensive Resource

The progress we get to enjoy today is the result of inclusive technologies aligning with advocacy efforts years in the making. One of the organizations that stepped into a leadership role in AD is the American Council of the Blind (ACB).

The Audio Description Project (ADP) “is designed to promote and advocate for the use of high-quality audio description in television, movies, performing arts, museums and educational materials,” Joel Snyder, PH.D, the project’s director told us in an email. He added, ADP’s goals “are to build awareness of audio description among the general public as well as its principal users, people who are blind or have low vision.”

Started a decade ago, the scope of the project’s work include a Biennial ADP Conference, outreach and education, training courses and mentoring programs for professionals. And, we were pleased to learn there are even ADP Awards. The ADP website provides a comprehensive reference and resource for all things AD.

Audio Described Program Listings are published for:
- AD Service Providers
- International
- Museums and Parks
- Performing Arts
- TV
- DVDs
- Movies
- Streaming Services
The ADP website is intensive, so take some time to browse. There is a Master List with over 2,000 entries.

If you’re wondering about a specific program, go straight to the website’s search field.

And should you have a question or need assistance, click on the link to “Contact Webmaster” on the bottom of every page; his name is Fred Brack and we found him very responsive and extremely helpful.
September 19, 2018
Museums Making Art More Accessible

If you were looking for a reason to visit Florence, here it is. The Uffizi Museum is offering Touch Tours for visually impaired and blind visitors. If you’ve never experienced a touch tour, it’s about time you do. Go ahead…book that flight.

The Uffizi offers a guided tour enabling people with vision loss to utilize their sense of touch to get a closer “look” at the museum’s masterpiece collection of art in marble. These are beautiful ancient works, Greek and Roman sculptures. While other visitors are admiring these works with their eyes, you, with a museum expert at your side, get to touch (hand gloved in latex, of course). It is a thrilling and memorable experience. The Uffizi by Touch Tour requires no reservation and can be arranged, upon arrival to the museum, at the ticket office.

Florence is indeed a dreamy destination, and by all means…go! You should also know, similar programs are widely available and most likely at a museum nearby. The accessibility services offered are generally good for everyone. Bring a friend, this may be their only opportunity to touch an ancient artifact.

It’s not entirely about the touch tour. There are many other ways museums are making it easier to look at art and fully experience the vibrancy, with or without sight. Audio Guides facilitate self-guided tours and are good for everyone. The narrated guides are now also available as accessible smartphone apps, in addition to the individual museum devices. Print Access may extend to large print and Braille exhibition guides and in some cases accessible labeling of art.

The Uffizi Gallery, the upper-level corridor lined with statues.

Verbal Descriptions are perhaps the best accompaniment a visually impaired art lover could ask for. In itself an art, verbal imaging adds meticulously detailed and vivid descriptions including style, technique, texture, and color. By including details that may have been missed by the viewer, these descriptions go a long way in helping to convey the full picture. Many museums offer individual verbally described tours with specially trained guides, which are highly recommended.

In addition to the everyday access, museums offer regularly scheduled programs for people with vision loss. At the Museum of Modern Art, in NYC, join a monthly “Art In Sight” lecture and discussion series, or try “Picture This!” workshops at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Get in touch with your favorite museum and go for a tour!

August 2, 2018
Let iPhone’s VoiceOver Do the Reading

A totally accessible touch screen was brought to us by Apple nearly a decade ago. The iPhone 3s was delivered with a fully functioning VoiceOver screen reader, right out of the box. It was our first experience with truly inclusive design, nothing to add on and no added cost. This was indeed a pivotal moment, a game changer!

For me, it was a dream come true. Already past the point of reading any size text on a small screen, I was feeling left behind. So I seized the opportunity to learn to navigate the iPhone with a screen reader. It seemed a pretty steep learning curve, but really not all that different for anyone learning to use a touch screen for the first time.

After several bouts of avoidance and fear of failure, I rediscovered the key to learning anything; Practice, practice, practice. Learning VoiceOver is a matter of repetition. It was time to get rid of the backup flip phone (as my 9-year-old nephew advised) and stop prolonging the process.

Today, I am fluent in VoiceOver for iOS, it is embedded in my muscle memory, the result simply of repeating the gestures each and every day. I realized that my ability to learn this was more dependent on how many times I touched the screen each day, not any real skill. The point being, if I did it…so can you.

Having said all that we know that transitioning from visual to audible function also has its challenges. If you cannot read your phone screen visually with a fair level of comfort, it may be time to give VoiceOver a try. Consider how amazing it would be to have everything you can’t see, read to you right out of the iPhone, or more discreetly through an earbud (or Air Pod). Once you’ve adjusted, it feels like you’re reading everything again, like you once did. Try it.

The easiest way to turn VO on and off, as you learn, is by asking Siri. There is also a triple click shortcut that can be activated, or the long way through Settings, General, Accessibility, VoiceOver, On/Off.

It all boils down to learning a very manageable set of VO gestures and practicing every day for at least 1 hour. It will all become second nature in a few short weeks and you’ll never regret a minute of your effort as you move around the iPhone (iPad, iPod Touch, Apple Watch) with ease.

Below are the resources you need to succeed.

YouTube “VoiceOver” Tutorials

iFocus Tutorials from the Hadley Institute are beautifully produced and very user-friendly. Play these videos on a big screen, or just listen, while you practice on your iPhone. Repeat as many times as needed.

iFocus Beginning VoiceOver Gestures

iFocus Advanced VoiceOver Gestures

iFocus iPhone X VoiceOver Gestures

Additional Resources

List of VoiceOver Gestures

David Pogue VoiceOver Video

And Apple Accessibility Support is available 24/7 by phone to answer your questions and help you learn. To contact them, call 877-204-3930.

It’s worth the work — just do it!

Please note that this article was not paid for, affiliated with, or endorsed by any third-party companies. The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author’s.

March 9, 2018