What the Revised AVMS Directive Means for Audio Description

After a long day, parking ourselves in front of a screen is often the best cure to deal with life’s stresses. Whether it’s flicking through channels, catching up with our favourite YouTubers, or binging on the latest Netflix series, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to what we can watch. It is now second nature to load up movies, sporting events, news, and television shows at the touch of a button. Access to audiovisual media has become our basic right.

It would be quite a shock, then, if our viewing options were abruptly slashed to a comparatively minute selection. In the digital age, there would be justifiable cause for outrage. And yet, lack of access to media is the grim reality facing around 30 million blind and partially sighted people living in Europe today. 

The low-vision population enjoys watching television and going to the movies, just like anyone else. However, people who fall into this category also need to have a complete picture of the on-screen action, which is why productions require an audio description.

In short, an audio description is a spoken narrative detailing everything that is happening on screen. During gaps in dialogue, a voice artist describes the setting as well as actors’ movements, gestures, and facial expressions so that blind and partially sighted viewers can stay on top of the action.

The concept of audio description was first developed by American professor Gregory Frazier in 1974. Since then, the technology has been limited to movie and TV production due to the laborious production process, which is usually based on the following workflow:

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