Audio Description: Accessory or Accessibility

Audio Description: Accessory or Accessibility

PHOTO/CAPTION: Peggy Chong

Audio Description: Accessory or Accessibility?

by Peggy Chong

From the Editor: Anyone who watches much television or goes to many movies knows

that the old technique of starting the plot at the beginning and telling the story

straight through to the end is currently out of favor. Today the plot advances by jumping

from scene to scene and story line to story line; so, unless one is already familiar with

the actors' voices, the program format, or the plot, the narrative is difficult to follow

by sound alone. It is certainly helpful to watch such programs or films with someone who

can identify the characters and fill in with explanations of inaudible actions. For those

who enjoy such leisure-time activities and who don't usually have someone to provide

occasional explanations, audio description is certainly a convenience.

In case you have never run into this invention of contemporary entertainment, audio

description can be broadcast or recorded as part of a program or movie's audio, or it can

be supplied live by a person at an actual performance. The live description service is

usually available using special earphones in a theater, and only certain performances are

described. Those who supply such services are eager to find new opportunities for

providing them in their communities. And, not surprisingly, those who provide descriptive

video for television and films are also eager to find the funding to expand the number of

movies and programs for which audio description is available.

We might do well to consider what the effect on the lives of blind people the increased

availability of audio description is likely to have. This is, in fact, what the Metro

Chapter of the NFB of Minnesota did, and the answer was disquieting. Peggy Chong, who was

President of the chapter at the time, wrote an article that reported on the experience. It

appeared in the Fall, 1997, issue of the Minnesota Bulletin, the publication of the NFB of

Minnesota. This is what she said:

One of the people who describes plays at many theaters in the Twin Cities came to the

June meeting of the Metro Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota to

tell us what she does and outline her hopes for the future of her business. She began her

presentation with the statement that she had heard that the NFB was opposed to audio

description. We told her this was not true but that it was not a high priority for us. We

pointed out that the Federation had made it possible financially for the most recent

inaugural ceremonies of President Clinton to have audio description. We certainly do

believe there is some value in audio description of events, plays, and movies, or we would

not have put money into this project.

A number of members pointed out that they enjoyed descriptive video, and several of us

said we had a DVS movie or two in our collections. However, the lack of audio description

does not prevent us from enjoying other videos or stop us from going to the theater with

friends.

Our guest tried to get us to understand what we were missing when we did not have an

audio describer and how much enhanced our lives would be if audio description were a

regular part of them.

At one point she asked if everyone knew what our meeting room looked like. She went on

to describe the room, the ceiling, and the seats. She paused to ask if there were other

things that were important to know about the room. Someone sang out, "The room was

free." I don't think she wanted to hear that. I think she only wanted us to be

grateful for her description of the room.

She went on to tell us of the many other activities that blind people would benefit

from if a person were present to describe what was going on. One of her jobs was to

describe a sixtieth birthday party for a blind person and two blind guests.

Someone asked how she decided what should be described, especially when she is

describing parties, where there is no dress rehearsal for her to observe. She replied that

she talks first to the people for whom she is doing the description: what are their

interests, who is important to them? Then, at the event, she makes a point to get to know

the names of as many people as possible at the event so that she can give accurate

descriptions of who is leaving early, for example. In other words, she goes around to

folks and makes it known that she is there to interpret for the blind guests, who do not

know what is going on.

One chapter member told the group about a graduation ceremony he had attended. At one

point a dog walked across the stage with the picture of the president of the college on

his back. Everyone began to chuckle. A stranger sitting beside our member leaned over to

describe the scene quietly, and they laughed together. In addition to informing him about

the incident, this impromptu action provided an opportunity for him to get to know the

stranger better.

Unfortunately our guest speaker misunderstood the point of the anecdote. She said that

it was one more example of a situation in which the college should have provided an audio

describer. Otherwise our blind member might have missed this important moment.

The point was that, despite the lack of any professional audio description service, he

had not missed the moment. Because he did not have an audio describer talking to him

through earphones, he had an opportunity to interact with others at the event. This NFB

member has had some adjustment-to-blindness training and knew there were ways to find out

why the audience was laughing. He was not embarrassed or ashamed of his blindness. I am

sure there were a few sighted people that day who, for a variety of reasons, missed this

moment and also had to ask their neighbors what had happened.

At one point our speaker actually equated her job to that of an interpreter for the

deaf. We strongly said that we did not view her job as particularly specialized or

essential. Family and friends have often described scenery, events, activities, and much

more to us without any training and have provided more than adequate information.

Moreover, some people just love to talk and describe things in detail without being

prompted. She was not happy to be reminded of this truth either.

As Steve Jacobson was trying to explain a point to her and ask a question, she began

angrily packing her bag instead of listening to him. She did not describe her activity.

But we could tell from the sound what she was doing. Our speaker left in a huff. As she

was going out the door, she shouted back over her shoulder that we would never understand

and that all the bad things that people said about the NFB were true.

That was an unfortunate way to have the discussion end, but since the meeting I have

given a good deal more thought to audio description than I ever expected to. Our speaker

had backhandedly raised issues that disturb me. I fear she was arguing that audio

description is an accessibility issue.

Today we certainly hear comments to the effect that theaters should offer audio

description as a means of providing access to the blind. Increasingly we see audio

description being used to promote particular plays and theaters. Some theaters have even

designated special days for blind people to attend a play because that is when the

interpreter will be on hand.

Movie theaters and playhouses across America and throughout the world have always been

accessible to blind patrons. Of course we have sometimes asked a companion or others

attending the performance to describe what has just happened, but this has not stopped us

from enjoying the play. Countless times sighted playgoers have also asked their companions

to explain what just happened. No one has thrown them out of the theater for asking. Could

it be that the reason blind people are not at many performances is that we do not yet have

the jobs to pay for the tickets? Adding in the cost of audio description to the tickets

will not help to bring in blind patrons.

No, audio description is an accessory issue. It is not unlike a CD player in your car

stereo. The absence of a CD player in the car does not impede the operation of the car.

Nor does it stop you from enjoying the stereo system. It just means that, on any given

trip, you may not hear your favorite recording.

It is not a big step from the idea that audio interpreters are a necessary

accommodation, important to one's understanding and appreciation of a play, to the

conviction that audio interpreters are equally necessary for a blind person to supervise

employees. Actually, if a blind person believes that he or she needs an interpreter, then

the person's real need is adjustment-to-blindness training. Moreover, anyone with so

little self-confidence won't have that or any job very long. Such thinking places a far

greater value on vision as a technique for learning about the world than any other

technique. Those who are successful in life, both blind and sighted, know that there are

many ways, other than seeing, to learn and enjoy what life has to offer.

Several years ago a TV show titled "Mr. Sunshine" had as its main character a

blind professor. In one episode Mr. Sunshine went dancing and fell off the dance floor.

Not long after the episode aired, a couple in California were denied entrance to a dance

club because the manager felt that they might fall off the dance floor. Real life can, and

very frequently does, imitate art.

Blind people who have successfully completed adjustment-to-blindness training do not

fret about what they cannot see. Our attention is focused on getting the most out of life

by using the many skills and problem-solving techniques we learned during training and

continue to build upon. Once we have confidence and self-respect, we realize that sighted

people get lost; request help in the grocery store; ask directions to the bathroom in a

concert hall; and seek explanations when they miss action, plot, or dialog at a play.

Does audio description result in inclusion, or will it gradually separate blind people

from the rest of the world? If we have to take a special interpreter to a family

celebration, aren't we telling others that our needs are too complex for family members to

converse with us or fill us in on the activity without the intervention of a specially

trained interpreter?

Should tax dollars be used for audio description? In these days of shrinking public

dollars, surely we have many more important issues to work on. Many of our problems are

the same as those of other sectors of the public—transportation, unemployment,

information access, literacy, and vanishing state and federal programs designed to meet

specific needs.

We have never said that audio description is a bad thing as it currently stands. Our

concern is that it be kept in perspective. There are many negative repercussions of

considering audio description an accessibility issue. It is our responsibility to do as

much as we can for ourselves and not to grab everything we can for free. We are far better

off when we ask for assistance only when we need it.