By Fred Brack ADP Webmaster and Audio Describer July 12, 2010 Audio Description Project Conference, Phoenix, AZ

Do describers get it right? Do users of description hear what they want/need? How do we know? How do we learn? What description habits are annoying? LETS TALK ABOUT : Over- and under-describing Interpreting vs describing How to handle race, facial expressions, lighting, and sexual situations Accommodating congenitally vs adventitiously blind

Fred Brack, Describer, Arts Access, Raleigh, NC (Moderator) Joel Snyder, Describer, Audio Description Associates, Takoma Park, MD Bernd Benecke, Describer, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Munich, Germany Dr. Francisco Lima, Associate Professor, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil Will Grignon, User, Attorney and President/Founder of WikiScribeIt!

A describer may have two audiences: congenitally blind people, and low vision or previously sighted people People who are congenitally blind do not understand some concepts that previously sighted and low vision people understand They can get annoyed at some description efforts that are meaningless to them – but this is a compromise between serving two audiences

Tendency to fill in the gaps between spoken lines Describer tend to overemphasize own role Describers often like the sound of their own voices! Need to honor dramatic pauses What is important to convey? What is not important? The phone/doorbell rings He stands … he sits … he turns … What to do when there is little obvious need for description? (Hint: shut up!)

Missing key visual clues Wordless action on stage with no description Whats going on? Failure to setup for: a sight gag loud noise bright flashes, squirt guns, heat from fireworks Describer drifts off, fails to engage Sighted users constantly intermix visual and aural experience, but the AD patron gets only one input and has to try to weigh the importance of the AD with what else they hear DISCUSSION

Easier to state your interpretation than describe what you see Not enough time to fully describe what you see, so you conclude Must weigh time available for description and be concise Choose your words carefully Interpretations: John is ecstatic vs John smiles broadly and shakes both fists in the air Mary nearly cries vs Mary bites her lip, closes her eyes, and lowers her head DISCUSSION

How and when to describe an actors race? Simple answer: When it matters to the plot But is that what users want? A minority user might care to know if there are members of his or her race in the cast A black user might care to know the difference in skin tones of African Americans in the cast Is an actor black or multiracial? How do we know? Is Asian good enough? DISCUSSION

How explicit should description get? Consider how dominant sex is in the production Consider the audience Consider the context Describe what you see Use words consistent with the tone of the production DISCUSSION

What do we say about lighting? Fade to black In a spotlight Mood (dim, dark, blue, bright) Changing lighting in scene Interpretation of what we say by congenitally blind users DISCUSSION

Few hard and fast rules Different strokes for different folks Must consider time available for description versus the proper way to do it Weigh importance to plot Dont allow your users to be scared or wonder what happened? Establish a system for evaluating your description by local users