Overview: DVDs and Blu-ray Discs With Audio Description

For detailed listings of all 1700+ DVDs and Blu-ray discs we know about, visit our DVDs page. This page was Last Updated: Jan 1, 2024.

On our DVDs page, we list details about all the first-run movies* in the USA that have been released with audio description tracks on DVDs and Blu-ray discs (the only such listing in the world!) along with links to purchase them via Amazon. We are an Amazon Associate, so purchasing them via our links helps pay for this website! You can follow the announcements as they occur via Twitter or our Facebook page. Our list of DVDs is generally updated on Tuesday afternoon each week in which a newly described DVD is released. (* We also list a few special-interest videos, but no educational products and rarely special-order features.)

Audio description on a disc is generally listed under Languages on the back cover as English Audio Description, English Descriptive Audio, or English DVS. (Warner Bros used to this information in the lower right corner of the back cover.) Director's Cuts or Unrated versions sometimes do not have description. Special Features rarely contain description. Your best bet is to order/watch the theatrical version when available and order via Amazon, not their Marketplace sellers. While our pages typically link to the DVD disc (if available) on Amazon, generally the Blu-ray versions of DVDs listed here since the fall of 2009 also have description. 4K versions may or may not include AD, though that packaging often include the Blu-ray copy which will. (See an article discussing this 4K-and-No-AD problem.) Simply follow the link provided within Amazon to the Blu-ray version or 4K, if you prefer that format. Note: Except for Sony releases, Amazon almost never lists the availability of audio description on their videos, but our links should take you to described copies. Sometimes Amazon offers an image of the back cover of a DVD, so that's another place to look (you'll need to be sighted, and you'll need to zoom in). If you want to find out what's coming soon on DVD, check out the DVDs Release Dates site or Amazon's New and Future Releases. (Special thanks to William Gary for discovering about a dozen old DVDs with description over the years by digging around in bargain bins!)

If you want another source for checking whether or not a DVD has description, you can try either of the following. For pre-2020 DVDs, try Barnes and Noble because they sometimes listed a disc's "Menu" options; look for "Setup / Audio"). For more recent releases, check Live-brary.

Note: Generally speaking, we do not separately list "Steelbook" versions of DVDs (which also contain description if the original DVD did) or compilations (e.g., 3 movies in a series, where one or more of the movies has a description track). We also try to avoid listing DVDs only available from Marketplace sellers.

Online movie streaming/rental/purchase services such as Verizon's FIOS On Demand and Comcast's XFINITY On Demand plus streaming services like Netflix may offer audio description tracks on some movies not listed here (because the description tracks were produced for the movie but never transferred to DVD).

I really appreciate your ongoing efforts, and I recommend your site to other blind friends,
and especially parents of blind children.
- Richard Holloway, December 2013

Which Movie Studios Include Description Tracks on Their Videos?
Generally Include Description	Never Include Description	Described DVD Growth
Disney Companies (Pixar / Lucasfilm / Buena Vista / ABC / Marvel) Fox Paramount IFC Films(started 2020) Sony / Columbia / Screen Gems Summit (started 2018) Universal Warner Bros (started May 2015) THANK YOU!!!	Alchemy (formerly Millennium Entertainment) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Starz/Weinstein)) Arc Entertainment Broad Green Pictures Cinedigm (Cineverse) Cohen Media Group Echo Bridge Entertainment FilmRise and Freestyle Gravitas Ventures Magnolia Pictures (2929 Entertainment) Miramax (Filmyard Holdings) Momentum (Entertainment One) New Line Cinema (Warner Bros) Pure Flix Entertainment Samuel Goldwyn Films Screen Media Films Shudder (AMC Networks) The Weinstein Company (TWC) Well Go USA Entertainment WRITE / EMAIL THEM !!!	(Subject to change as we find new DVDs)
Occasionally or newly include description: Criterion Collection; DreamWorks (various distributors over the years); Image Entertainment (RLJE Entertainment), rarely, beginning 2023; Lionsgate/Artisan (limited since 2014 - hisorically only 13% of their DVDs have AD tracks); SDS; Shout! Factory (started 2019, but none in 2023); Wolfe Video.		From 1997-2005, only 15 described DVDs were released. The big change came in 2010 when major studios began to commit to including description tracks.

Summary comments about 125 described DVDs (based on a study of 347 DVDs from 57 studios identified from January-December 2021

1. Disney described 100% of their 16 major DVD releases.
2. Universal described 81% of their 37 DVDs.
3. Warner Bros and Shout! Factory described about 60% of their DVDs.
4. Sony and Paramount described about 40% of their DVDs.
5. Lionsgate (and Artisan/Lionsgate) came in last, as usual, but improved over last year to 13% of their DVDs.
6. Studio Distribution Services (SDS), a joint venture between Universal and Warner Bros, described all of their 4 DVDs.
7. Other small studios describing all of their DVDs (numbering 2 or 3) were Wolfe Video, IFC, Fox, and Criterion Collection.
8. RLJ Entertainment (also known as Image Entertainment) released 25 DVDs, none of which had AD.
9. Shudder (9), Magnolia (8), and Well Go (7) followed with no AD.

Summary comments about 116 described DVDs (based on a study of 368 DVDs from 53 studios identified from January-December 2020)

1. No major studio described 100% of their DVDs.
2. Universal released 54 DVDs, describing 61% of them.
3. The next highest numbers released were in the 20s, with Sony describing 85%, Warner Bros describing 57%, and Paramount describing 48%.
4. Disney described 83% of 12 released.
5. Newcomer IFC Films described 100% of their 6, thank you very much!
6. Shout! Factory stepped up its AD with nearly half of its 20 DVDs described. Please continue!
7. Fox only had 5 DVDs but all were described; and Summit described both of its 2.
8. Criterion Collection and Kino Lorber had very few DVDs with 1 or 2 described. Better than none...
9. Lionsgate (including subsidiary Artisan) holds last place again with only 5% described out of its 65 DVDs (the most of any studio).

Summary comments about 170 described DVDs (based on a study of 415 DVDs from 58 studios identified from January-December 2019)

1. Disney, Sony, and Summit described 100% of their movie DVDs. Outstanding!
2. Fox and Paramount described 88% and 80% respectively. Very Good and Good, respectively.
3. Universal and Warner Bros described 57% and 56% respectively. Room for Improvement...
4. Once again, Lionsgate takes last place among major studios with only 14% of their DVDs described, a terrible track record. Come on, guys!
5. Shout! Factory (18 DVDs) finally got in the game with two (and only 2 out of 18) described DVDs mid-year. More please!
6. Among the smaller studios releasing 10 or more DVDs this past year with none described, we have Cinedigm (13 DVDs), Gravitas (10 DVDs), and Image Entertainment (10 DVDs). Time to get onboard!
7. The Watch List (5 to 9 non-described DVDs) consists of Magnolia and Well Go. Better start thinking about AD!
8. In our analysis of all 415 DVDs identified by the DVDs Release Dates site and/or located in stores in 2019, only 41% (169) had description tracks, an 8% improvement over last year, though it is interesting to see that the total number of DVDs has been steadily declining.

Additional Information About Described DVDs

• The Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) provides audio described educational DVDs for students with disabilities from their library of 8000+ titles. You can search DCMP Titles here.
• Don’t Make Low-Vision Viewers Choose Between Vibrant 4K Picture and Audio Description.
• If you want to rent described videos, about the only option left are Redbox kiosks.
• In late 2023, another option for DVD rental became available, but it is expensive: Scarecrow Video.
• If you want to borrow described videos, see our list of locations to borrow DVDs by state.
• We have no reason to believe that Hoopla, Libby, or OverDrive offer any described videos. Kanopy reportedly has some offerings with AD already mixed into the audio track.
• For audio described DVDs outside the USA, see our International page.
• To order UK-described videos in the USA, see our Ordering UK-Produced Described Videos in the USA page.
• Numerous streaming video services offer audio description tracks; see the links in our navigation bar. Our Streaming page keeps you up to date with such services.
• Accessing the Audio Description Track on DVDs: With a few exceptions (such as Moulin Rouge and Up), you should be able to access the Audio Description track by pressing the "Audio" button repeatedly on your remote until you hear description (an easy alternative for users who are blind and can't navigate to the Languages menu). Disney Pixar releases starting November 2010 let you select AD when you insert the DVD, as noted in the 2010 listing.
• There is a software product available which will allow you to extract the audio track (including the description track) from a DVD and convert it to MP3 or other formats. This may be useful for people who are totally blind and don't need the video. For more information, see Computer Application Studio's DVD Audio Extractor, which is free to try for 30 days.