Bringing the Stage to the Screen

Enhanced Audio Introductions to Complement Broadcast Audio Description

Abstract

This industry practice paper outlines the work ITV is doing to develop a series of audio introductions to complement the television audio description (AD) it produces for blind and visually impaired audiences. Inspired by the use of audio introductions in live spaces such as theatre and by other examples from across the TV industry, ITV set out to adapt the practice to suit the small screen, exploring a range of different options in terms of the exact form this content would take and how it would be accessed by users. The practice has strong potential to be adopted by TV broadcasters more widely, offering AD users and broader audiences a better understanding of selected programmes and providing describers themselves more opportunity to describe characters equitably and in doing so fulfil new objectives concerning how onscreen diversity is conveyed to audiences.

Lay summary

Audio description (AD) is a descriptive narration that makes TV programmes accessible for blind and visually impaired audiences. This article explains ITV's work to develop audio introductions, which give extra information to these target audiences, to complement the regular AD. ITV has explored the different forms these audio introductions could take and what information they could include. With further development, audio introductions could be used more widely in TV. They benefit users by giving them access to more detailed information and can help convey a better sense of onscreen diversity.