Audio Describer/Narrator Training
There are very limited opportunities to get trained as an
audio describer and fewer as an audio narrator. Training is often held in conjunction with conferences.
Here we list the opportunities that we know about, and we solicit information
from anyone who is offering training opportunities for audio describers
anywhere in the world! Our "flagship" training program is the ADP's
Audio Description Institute, but the following
programs are listed in the order of next-scheduled training after any upcoming ACB/ADP class.
Last Update: May 19, 2023.
Audio Description Training Retreats
in NC
For the foreseeable future, all classes will be conducted
virtually. Over a dozen such classes have been
held since July 2020 via ZOOM. We
limit our class size to six or eight students (depending on which class) to ensure adequate time for each participant.
The next 3-Day
Fundamentals of Audio Description course will take place Thursday, June 22nd - Saturday, June 24th. It is sold out, except for a few observer positions.
The next Advanced AD: Writing for the Screen will begin on Saturday, October 7, and continue for 4 consecutive Saturdays. It is also sold out!
Our classes always sell out and fill up very quickly, and it is first-come, first-served. If you wish to be on the mailing list for announcements or have questions, email
[email protected].
Visit the Audio
Description Training Retreats website and/or contact us for more information (including a registration form) at [email protected].
Listen to a podcast which includes a discussion of how the
company came into being and opportunities for blind consumers to
help create and record audio description; or read this article on the owner of ADTR, Colleen Connor.
Note: Training Retreats are not sponsored by the ACB or
the Audio Description Project.
Audio Description Institute (ADI)
ADI is typically held annually in the first and third quarters of the year.
The class is taught by Dr. Joel Snyder.
The last class was February 20-24, 2023, 1 - 5 pm each afternoon, held virtually. See the ADI Announcement for more information. The next class will be August 14-18, again held virtually. The referenced announcement will be very similar for the upcoming class.
FOR REFERENCE: The following information is generic and applies to
all of the ADI training programs:
Topics:
1) audio description history and theory
2) the "Four Fundamentals of Audio Description" ©
3) active seeing/visual literacy-developing skills in concentration
and observation
4) the art of "editing" what you see
5) vivid language: "The Visual Made Verbal"™
6) "Speak the speech, I pray you"--using the spoken word to make meaning
And new:
- Audio Description in the U.S. and around the world
- The
Mechanics of Audio Description
- Audio Description Writing
Software
- Audio Description Producers
- How to Get Work as a
Describer
| NOTE! The ADI is taught by the
director of the Audio Description Project, Dr. Joel Snyder, who
has taught audio description all over the world and obtained
his doctorate degree in the subject. In July 2014 he published
a book based on his work with audio description:
The Visual Made Verbal, available for under $20 by clicking
the link. The book is given to each workshop participant. |
B-Creative Audio Describer Training
LEARN HOW TO BECOME AN AUDIO DESCRIPTION PROVIDER.
Join either a small class or take individual lessons over six sessions, conducted in 90-minute sessions per week over four weeks. Times and dates can vary to work around your plans.
READ or PRINT Bonnie's One-Page Brochure
B-CREATIVE AUDIO AND VIDEO DESCRIPTION TRAINING: By Bonnie Barlow - With 30 years of professional experience in all types of Audio Description, Bonnie offers online training following specific paths of interest to students either one-on-one or small groups of 2 to 4 students.
Contact Bonnie directly: [email protected] 720-440-3893.
A ROADMAP TO FINDING REAL WORK IN THE WORLD OF AUDIO DESCRIPTION
YOU MAY START HERE:
Basics of Audio Description:
- Best practices, examples of movies, videos, streamed content, conferences, quality assurance, etc.
- Explore and determine your niche and goals.
- How to find description work.
- How to find resources to improve your description and adapt to new situations.
- Voice-over for audio description application.
OR TAKE THIS PATH IF YOU ALREADY HAVE PERFORMED SOME AD:
Writing and performing and providing quality assurance of Audio Description:
- How to construct your description for various formats: Broadcast Television, Streamed Media, Films, Virtual Events, Educational Videos, Other areas may include Art and Museum Exhibits, Immersive Experiences, Materials for Conferences, etc., according to students' interests.
- Filmed and/or Streamed Dance and Plays.
- Quality Assurance of Audio Description: Learn how to assess quality and ensure a project receives the input from appropriate sources for a superior final product.
- Building a professional portfolio. Practical help creating demos and forming resumes for AD work.
THIS PATH WILL TAKE YOU TO DESCRIBING THEATRE PRODUCTIONS
- Theatrical Audio Description: Describing live performances - Concentration on plays for and theatrical venues including how to provide onsite and remote Audio Description for live and virtual performances.
- Consulting with theatres on the necessities for starting an AD program, equipment, audience development.
One on one coaching – $300 –(four 90-minute sessions per week over 4 weeks): Teaching, assigning homework, giving feedback. Building a professional portfolio. Practical help creating demos and forming resumes for AD work. Mentoring post class.
Groups of 2 to 4 - $275 each – (four 90-minute sessions per week over 4 weeks): Teaching, assigning homework, giving feedback. Building a professional portfolio. Practical help creating demos and forming resumes for AD work. Mentoring post class.
Note: This training is not sponsored by the ACB or
the Audio Description Project.
Audio Describer Training in Raleigh/Durham/RTP
Area of NC
Arts Access
Inc. of Raleigh, NC, holds audio describer training annually and
will conduct special classes for groups, including traveling to their
location, if requested. Participants will learn:
- The Basics of Audio Description: Guidelines for
communicating visual details effectively and in the moment
- Who Uses Audio Description?: Understanding Blind and
low vision culture, disability language and etiquette
- AD in Different Settings: How AD works in visual art,
performing arts, film, and online events
- Practice Sessions: Practice your new skills with
experienced describers and Blind listeners
- Case Studies: Hear from previous participants in Arts
Access AD Training who took the skill back to their
organizations and communities to start new programs
The last class was June 13-16, 2022, via Zoom, with tuition starting at $450. They are tentatively looking at the next class for early June, 2023. Scholarships are sometimes available if needed for NC residents. FOR REFERENCE, visit the Arts Access Audio Describer Training description, or email Arts Access, or call 919-833-9919. Arts Access has been providing audio description since the early 1990s.
Note: This training program is not sponsored by the ACB or
the Audio Description Project.
Access Virginia
Access Virginia
in Newport News periodically provides training for audio describers.
The last class was February 4-6, 2022 at Access Virginia, Newport News, VA. FOR REFERENCE ONLY, here is the class announcement.
(Printable
copy of brochure above)
You can contact them at
[email protected].
Note: This training program is not sponsored by the ACB or
the Audio Description Project.
Nuances of Audio Description Narration
One-on-one coaching and workouts with blind professional advisors. Focus is on film and television.
Blind and sighted talents who have experience in performance, or being directed, are welcomed.
Email [email protected] for more details.
Please note that Roy also hosts a podcast (TheADNA.org "Know Your Narrator" and "Beyond the Narrator" Interviews). A summary of those podcasts, focusing on voice talents in AD, is available on Amazon as a Kindle book: The ADNA Presents: Volume I: Know Your Narrator.
Note: This training session is not
sponsored by the ACB or the Audio Description Project.
Inclusive Media: Real-time Closed Captioning and Audio Description/Described Video
A Course at Ryerson University in Canada
Learn how to use the latest live closed captioning (CC) and audio description/described video (AD/DV) techniques and technologies to create inclusive and accessible broadcast content for a variety of audiences. Through hands-on training and theoretical learning, explore CC and AD/DV software tools, script writing and re-speaking techniques, and relevant industry regulations and legislation. Industry experts will help you develop both fundamental and advanced skills for this growing field.
View the Course Description.
Note: This training session is not sponsored by the ACB or the Audio Description Project.
Educational Description
Here we list pointers to information about audio description in education,
both for training and for acquisition of the end product.
DCMP refers to the
Described and Captioned Media
Program.
- DCMP
Media Library - over 4,000 free-loan described and captioned media
titles available to registered Level 2 members
-
Listening Is Learning - a DCMP project devoted to raising awareness
about the learning benefits of listening to description of video-based
educational media
Best Practices for the Digital Environment
Academic Articles
The History of Audio Description - Seminal Document Now Available
We are pleased to make available a copy of the May 1975
Master's thesis on audio description by Gregory Frazier,
The Autobiography
of Miss Jane Pittman: An All-Audio Adaptation of the Teleplay for the Blind
and Visually Handicapped.
Joel Snyder discusses the document in his book,
The Visual Made Verbal:
A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications
of Audio Description, published by the American Council of the Blind
in 2014. In the book, Dr. Snyder notes that:
"On the U.S.'s west coast: Gregory Frazier, a professor
at San Francisco State University, formally developed the concepts behind
audio description and general guidelines for its use. In its 1996 obituary
of Gregory T. Frazier, the New York Times called Frazier 'a San Francisco
visionary who hit on the idea of providing simultaneous electronic audio
descriptions for the blind so they could enjoy more than the dialogue of
movies, television and theater performances.'
"In the early 1970s, Frazier was relaxing at his home with a friend who
happened to be blind. The evening's entertainment? High Noon with
Gary Cooper, playing on television. The NY Times article relates that 'At
the friend's request, Frazier, speaking rapidly between the lines of dialogue,
provided terse descriptions of the scenes and actions. The friend was so
appreciative that by the time Gary Cooper had shot Frank Miller dead, ripped
the star off his own chest and thrown it to the ground before climbing into
a carriage and driving off with Grace Kelly, Mr. Frazier … was a changed
man.'
"Frazier realized that the concise descriptions he provided for his friend
extemporaneously could be thought-through, edited, recorded and played through
FM radio receivers at movies - or carried over secondary audio channels
on television. Frazier, a graduate of San Francisco State University, returned
to college to obtain a Master's degree in broadcast journalism, developing
a thesis -- 'television for the blind' -- that explored the use of description
to enhance the 1974 television production of The Autobiography of Miss
Jane Pittman.
"In 1991, Mr. Frazier founded the non-profit corporation AudioVision SF
to provide description for the performing arts in San Francisco-area venues.
AudioVision SF still exists, providing description on a regular basis for
theater performances throughout the Bay Area. In 2010, Audio Vision SF and
Gregory Frazier posthumously received the Barry Levine Memorial Lifetime
Achievement Award in Audio Description, presented by the American Council
of the Blind's Audio Description Project."
Other Academic Articles
If you have any contributions for this page, please send them to the
webmaster via the link below.
