In late January 2024, a 12-year-old girl wrote and delivered the audio description for 80 users at the National Theatre’s Olivier Theatre in London for Roald Dahl’s ‘The Witches.’ Read the story and/or listen to a 16-minute RNIB podcast with describer Eleanor and National Theatre's Head of Accessibility. (Posted Mar 3)
This year's Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards show on Saturday, February 24, was live described on Netflix by Descriptive Video Works. The streamed version is also audio described: https://www.netflix.com/title/81703507. (Updated Feb 25)
During Sunday’s Super Bowl, a commercial for Google’s Pixel Guided Frame highlighted the importance and value of accessibility in consumer technology. Bridge Multimedia provided the audio description for this important message. ACB applauds technology companies that are prioritizing accessibility to create a more inclusive experience for all.Check out the commercial with audio description titled “Javier in Frame,” on YouTube. Read a USA Today article about the commercial. (Posted Feb 13)
The American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project (ADP) and the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) are accepting entries for BADIE, or the Benefits of Audio Description in Eduction, an essay contest for blind and visually impaired young people (ages 7 to 21), from now through February 19th. It’s a great chance for students to engage with accessible learning materials, unleash their inner film critic, and compete for fun prizes. (Updated Feb 9)
How Students Can Enter:
- Browse the free DCMP library at https://dcmp.org/.
- Watch any audio-described film (there are more than 6,000 educational titles to choose from!).
- Write an evaluation of the film’s audio description, commenting on the ways the audio description enhanced or detracted from your experience.
- Visit http://badiecontest.org to submit your entry. There you'll also find guidelines and prize details, tips on writing a good review, and information about how audio description is created.
Categories:
- Sophomore – ages 7–10
- Junior – ages 11–15
- Senior – ages 16–21
- Alternate Assessment – students with non-traditional matriculation records
Deadline and Prizes:
- The deadline for contest entries is February 11, 2024.
- Winners will be notified by the end of March 2024.
- There will be first, second, and third place winners in each category, as well as a grand prize winner who will be awarded an iPad mini and invited to read his/her essay at the American Council of the Blind's National Conference and Convention in July 2024.
- Teachers of first-place winners also receive prizes.
Go to http://badiecontest.org for complete details and to submit your entry!
Themed movie lists, General announcements
If you’re a movie fan, you probably can’t wait to watch the Oscars on March 10. To help you get ready, we've compiled a list of nominated films in all categories and where to find the ones with AD. Grab your popcorn and choose your own winners! Note that streaming services and movie theaters change what films they offer; this list is accurate as of January 23, 2024, and will not be updated. See our list of nominees; then use our Find A Video page to look for where a title may be available with AD in the future. Please note that we have a separate page on Best Picture winners since 1927. (Updated Jan 24)
General announcements
In this article, ADP Project coordinator Tabitha Kenlon tells us "Three Reasons to Love the CVTA" and urges you to advocate for it. Read: Why the CVTA Matters. (Posted Jan 21)
Surveys and studies, General announcements
As we march into 2024, I would like to reflect on some of the progress we have reported on the ADP Website throughout the past year. We started the year with 8,717 titles available with audio description, and we ended the year with 10,604, an increase of nearly 22%. Here are some of the key events during the year that helped increase that number.
- HBO Max became Max and integrated the content of discovery+, much of which was described, though not on discovery+ by itself.
- Paramount+ merged Showtime into its content (currently with 52 titles described).
- Disney+ is in the process of merging Hulu content in, though Hulu (like discovery+ but unlike Showtime) is expected to remain available separately.
- We began listing described titles for Tubi, with smaller listings for Pluto TV, ReelAbilities Stream, and Magellan TV.
- Prime Video continues to dominate the titles with AD at 5242. Netflix comes next at 2494, followed by iTunes at 2137.
- Vudu had the greatest percentage increase in AD titles, followed by Max and Hulu.
- 136 DVDs and/or Blu-ray or 4K discs were released with AD tracks. That's a larger number than the three Covid years, but we are unlikely to get back to the 170s of 2018/19. There were 1715 described DVDs available at YE 2023..
- There were 182 movies with AD in Cinemas this year (some from 2022 still running in January), a bit fewer than last year.
- The number of videos available in the USA with non-English description continues to grow. Currently we list 3777 titles in 59 languages.
- We welcomed a new ADP Project Coordinator in January with expanded responsibilities. Tabitha Kenlon fit the bill with an excellent resume of experience.
- A lot of attention was paid to refining the Master AD list. Enhancements included adding the year of release to all videos (including DVDs), correcting those years of release for many services (to make the Master listing consistent), adding or correcting studio names for titles, etc.
For 2024, we are looking to website revisions to make it easier to find what you are looking for, among other changes. Thank you for your interest in the Audio Description Project.
– Fred Brack, ADP Webmaster, January 2024
Staff announcements
Your ADP webmaster would like to take a moment to thank all the contributors who make the contents of this website meaningful. That includes Timothy Wynn, who compiles the daily TV listing; Vicky Vogt, who sends me all the cinema titles weekly; Tabitha Kenlon, our ADP Project Coordinator, who has written many of the articles for this page and advises on other topics; Joel Snyder, ADP Founder, who contributes here, there, and everywhere; ADP Steering Committee chairs, Kim Charlson and Carl Richardson; and the chairs and members of our six committees. And of course I couldn't compile all those streaming service described titles without the cooperation of the major streaming services themselves and their assigned interfaces.
– Fred Brack, ADP Webmaster