The American Council of the Blind (ACB) proudly presents the annual Audio Description Awards Gala! The Gala celebrates outstanding achievements in audio description in media and expand awareness of its benefits.
In recent years there has been enormous success in expanding audio description for audiences who are blind, low vision, or have other sensory disabilities that create barriers to full inclusion in visual media.
What is Audio Description?
Audio description (AD) makes visual elements of media more accessible to people with visual impairment and other disabilities. AD describes actions and/or images in recorded films and TV shows, live broadcast events, live performances, and art. AD guides the listener through concise, objective descriptions of visual components that are crucial to understanding the creator’s intention.
Who Uses Audio Description?
Although the primary audience is people who are blind or have low vision, many others find AD useful. AD can clarify fast-paced scenes for people with cognitive difficulties, and it can also help language learners improve their skills. Turning on AD enables anyone to multi-task and enjoy a movie while cleaning the house or taking the dog out.
Support ACB’s Audio Description Project
The American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project (ADP) promotes and advocates for the use of high-quality audio description in television, movies, performing arts, museums, educational materials, and other venues where the presentation of visual media is critical to the understanding and appreciation of the content.
The ADP’s goals are to sponsor a broad range of activities designed to build awareness of audio description among the general public as well as its principal users, people who are blind or have low vision.
One goal of the annual Audio Description Awards Gala is to raise funding to support ACB’s Audio Description Project, which works with stakeholders and industry leaders to provide accessible video entertainment through the delivery of audio-described content.
Please consider donating to help support the mission of the Audio Description Project and to help achieve our goal of accessible media for the blind and low vision community, Donate Today.
For more information about the event or if you are interested in becoming a sponsor of the gala, please visit the Sponsor page.
Gala Accessibility
The Audio Description Awards Gala is totally accessible for people who are blind and people who are deaf: open audio description (an “always-on” secondary audio channel) provides a description of visual images, and open captioning (“always-on” captions) offers captions for the spoken word and other audio elements.