Commercials in the UK With Audio Description

Introduction

If you were blind or had low vision, this might be the best you would be able to see while watching an advertisement for Bounty Paper Towels. If you click the image, you will HEAR the original advertisement, but without audio description. Is that enough for you to understand this sponsor's message? Go ahead, try it!

Fortunately, Proctor and Gamble has been audio describing many of its advertisement for a number of years. Here is the same ad with audio description, and obviously it doesn't make a difference in your understanding whether you can see it or not.

It can be tricky to add audio description to an advertisement, and it is not possible in some cases due to constant dialog. But there are many ads out there today with little or no dialog, and it is very frustrating -- to say nothing of being useless to the advertiser -- if the would-be viewer of the ad can't see it and there is no audio description to explain it! Read: ‘The voice of blind people hasn't been heard’: inside the fight for audio-described ads.

Proctor and Gamble has been a leader in the area of adding description to advertisements. Here are several examples from P&G and other companies.

The following website contains an article by the RNIB which also contains additional described advertisements: Making TV ads accessible for people with sight loss. And here is another UK web article with described commercials: Celebrating Social Inclusion at Christmas with Adtext.

Disclaimer: The ACB/ADP does not endorse any product or service mentioned in these advertisements, nor do we charge to have them displayed here. We simply commend the companies for including audio description!