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February 20, 2009
Helping Blind and Low-Vision Users Enjoy Digital Images, Audio description workshop
Last week I attended a webinar on Audio Description, thanks to the Alliance Library System using OPAL Online Auditorium. The Audio Description Workshop, 'Helping Blind and Low-Vision Users Enjoy Digital Images', is a great introduction to this technique that is gaining more attention. Libraries, museums and film production companies in the United Kingdom seem to have incorporated these audio files into their workflows and production schedules much sooner than any other country.
Tom Peters (who is the librarian currently running the workshop) defines audio description. "[Audio description] is a narrative technique that makes visual images more accessible to blind and low-vision people by producing audible written descriptions of non-verbal visual information, such as digital photographs, television programs, motion pictures, and live events." (Also alot of great information on the Audio Description International website.
An interesting aspect of the description process is the use of language and bias. Mr. Peters focused on surface description of images. In other words, writers should not assume or read into the image (particularly with fine art). As tempting as it would be to research each image to the Nth degree, audio description for images is intended to be sixty second or less descriptions of the scenario (ex., small boy standing next to oak tree). There are some tagging options that some people use as a way to further complement audio description, within the alt attribute or a a long desc tag for longer descriptions.
Mr. Peters highlighted some of the main options in audio description during the workshop. A human voice recording was contrasted with the computer-generated one. There have been discussions as to the advantages of the synthetic voice, particularly when this technology is advancing to stages of converting text to speech on the fly.
Mr. Peters examples and experience with audio description has been mainly using his own voice in the recordings (link to the Illinois Alive library here). The difficulty is coming up with these descriptions is not usually what is not said, but what is. Use of vivid language is needed to attempt to translate an image into word, though it seems to be quite easy to slip into biased language almost unknowingly. During the workshop, Mr. Peters stressed that while it is important to play the role of an 'active seer', one shouldn't have to describe every detail of the image. Focus on the essential aspects, and even sketch out a brief list of the basic elements of the image before committing to writing an audio description. This was quite helpful as each of us walked through writing an audio description during the workshop. It reminded me of an early drawing course I took in college, breaking a composition down to the shapes and discarding color completely during the drafting phase.
Other links:
Audio Describe Associates website; Video description samples
Described and Captioned Media Program website
Posted by vad17 at February 20, 2009 08:28 PM
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