Image description: Two short haired, domestic rats hanging out in a shopping bag. On the left is Gary, an albino with bright white fur, sniffing intently at something in the distance. He says “Ian, what’s happening? I can’t see!”. On the right is Ian, who has dark brown hair. Ian sniffs in the same direction as Gary and says “The hooman woman is taking our food bowl and putting in...GREEN PEAS! We're eating well tonight, Gary.” Please feel free to assume these rats speak with old-timey cockney accents as they live in east London. Note: albino rats (and humans) are often visually impaired.
Hi everyone! It’s Amelia (they/them) here, your (mostly) sightless spectator, shit-stirrer and seminar-giver. 😎
As many of you might have noticed on our social medias, Quiplash has our first queer audio description (AD) workshop coming up, run by yours truly!
I realise that there are many of you out there who have not encountered AD, so I thought it would be helpful to give a breakdown of what it is, why it is important and what y’all can do to learn this skill for yourselves. 👀👇
(A quick note on language: in this article I use the words ‘blind’, ‘visually impaired’ and ‘blindy’ interchangeably. It is not OK for sighted people to call a person or a group of people ‘blindy’ without their consent.)
Read time: 5 minutes. Reading level: year 7 UK/grade 6 US.
What is audio description?
AD is exactly what it says on the tin. It is an auditory description of something visual used in many different spaces including sports, live performance, visual art, museums, television and film. It is an access tool made specifically for blind and visually impaired people.
Traditional AD
Most often, AD is quite functional, delivered “neutrally*” in third person. It is created independently of the original artist/s to fit in gaps in the original sound track (i.e. the audio description is considered secondary to the art).
In live performance, at the cinema or in a museum, AD is usually delivered to blind and VI people through headsets – although occasionally a describer will whisper directly to a blind or VI person. This means that only people who request this type of access will get it and other people may not even be aware it is happening.
On TV, if a programme is described, there is usually a function that needs to be switched on. Netflix’s AD is pretty good if you are curious about what it sounds like.
* ‘Neutral’ in this case tends to mean it’s made and delivered by white, middle class, cisgender people. Yup. Systems of privilege permeate access tools, too.
Integrated AD
Integrated AD is when creators put AD into a piece. It is often considered as important as, or part of, the art itself. This usually means that anyone who can hear the AD will be able to. If you are a sighted person and/or new to AD, you may have been to shows that use integrated AD and not even noticed!
Most of the time, this type of AD is treated as a creative tool as well as an access tool, and is built into an art piece or performance at the beginning of the creation process. The tone of voice and point of view varies widely with this style as it’s made bespoke for that show or art piece. For example, some might have the AD in first person with the characters on stage speaking directly about themselves whereas others might have the describer speaking in third person, but as a character in the show with a specific perspective.
It is important to note that we here at Quiplash are not saying that one of these styles is better than the other. Both can work just fine, and of course, every blind person will have their own preference. At this point, what we want is for blind and VI people to be given the chance to engage with audio description in any format. What is even better is having a choice about how description is delivered.
Audio description has been around for decades but is still woefully under-used and not commonly understood to be a creative tool.
So why is AD important?
Quite simply, AD is one of the primary ways blind and VI people can interact with visual content. Not including AD is, at best, unintentionally exclusionary, and at worst it is cultural gate keeping.
Think about it: being able to look at something (and process it in a neurotypicial way) usually gives a person the ability to get a large amount of information quickly and (often) not consciously. As a blind person I am very unlikely to ever have that privilege. I say this not to make ya’ll feel guilty or sad for all us poor li’l blindies, I’m saying it so you know where we are coming from.
For myself, I will often avoid events that do not include AD because I know they will be hard work for me and that I will not feel safe or included. The reality of this means that, even though I’m a performer, I don’t actually go out much.
For those of you who in your kindest of hearts want to jump up and say “I’ll come along and I’ll describe it to you!” thank you but it’s not that easy. AD is a skill and a profession, and it can be exhausting to do for an entire night. Asking a friend or a partner to do this for me means that person is unlikely to be able to relax during the show. It often makes me feel guilty because I would basically be asking a person to be my unpaid access worker for a night. It’s a job and should be treated with that same kind of respect.
It’s often just easier for me to stay at home with my cat, she only speaks in meows but I usually know what she means.
But it’s not all that hard really…
Have I thoroughly depressed you all? Soz! I mean, it can feel hopeless at times… BUT IT’S NOT! While AD is definitely a skill, it is one that is very learnable. Having even the basics of AD under your belt means that you can support your blindy comrades in the world. If you are a performer, visual artist and/or events organiser, having knowledge of AD means you make your work more inclusive and accessible, and in our opinion, much richer for everyone.
OK fine, but I’m just one lone human… what can I do?
Get in touch ! We’re at the end of an email ready to consult, train or signpost you to other professionals!
If you wanna know more:
Amelia has co-authored a book with Dr Louise Fryer called Integrated Access in Live Performance (Routledge, 2022), available wherever books are sold. Maybe at your favourite local book shop?
VocalEyes is the main organisation that does traditional audio description (using headsets) in the UK. They have loads of info on what AD is and what described shows are currently happening. They also run courses from time to time.
Extant Theatre is the UK’s leading company of blind and visually impaired people. All of their work has integrated AD. For examples, check out their past projects! (You will inevitably come across many videos and pictures of me)
For a completely different perspective on AD, check out Nathan Geering’s Rationale Method. Nathan has developed a system of AD based in breakdancing and beatboxing. He has a tedtalk and everything!
For a slightly more academic read on audio description, check out Extant Theatre’s research on AD in the UK Is It Working? which was undertaken by Dr. Louise Fryer and myself. As extra incentive, there is a live feed of the conference we did in 2017 where you can hear Nathan Geering talk about his work, and see my ADed burlesque piece and therefore get a good view/description of my butt. (Audio is very poor… ironic, I know)
Tools we use
Read-O-Meter, reading time estimator.
Hemingway App, word processor and proofreading tool, estimates reading level.