More about audio description services
Producing an accurate audio description isn’t always easy.
Some content has a lot of speech, without a natural space for the narrator to describe the visuals.
If it’s the intention to offer maximum accessibility to the blind and visually impaired the best approach is to ‘pause’ the video. This gives the narrator an opportunity to describe what’s happening. Then the video starts again. However this can make the video much longer.
Maximum accessibility in this case is also more costly, since there will be:
- more for the video describer to write
- more for the narrator to record
- additional video editing work required
Of course, the visually impaired audience will appreciate it. They’ll especially love our human narrators, cast to match the tone of the content.
If budget is tight and maximum accessibility isn’t a priority the audio description will still be able to set the scene and give more context to what is being said.
We love writing and recording video descriptions for
- films
- tv shows
- corporate videos
- training films
- celebrity interviews
- and much more!
Audio description pricing and process
The cost of producing Audio Description can vary depending on the amount of production time required, but there are a few key areas we need to look at before preparing a quote.
Suitability
Does the video contain sufficient gaps in the narration to easily insert descriptive audio? If not, the video may need to be edited before we can start the AD work. Or we may need to look at creating an AD version of the video with the existing narration removed completely.
Scriptwriting
This is often the most time-consuming part of the process. Our scriptwriters will produce a creative script to offer appropriate description for a blind/partially sighted audience while considering the time constraints available to do this. We’ll produce a first draft for review, but sometimes there can be a bit of back and forth between the scriptwriter and the client before deciding on the perfect script. We must assess how much time will is likely to be needed for this stage when preparing a quote.
Voice Recording
As Voquent is primarily a voice over platform, we have an enormous selection of professional voice artists in every language and accent. So naturally, we don’t use any synthesised voices here. We have some regular voice artists that are used for AD, but if you’d like to browse our site for more options feel free. Just remember that costs can vary between voice artists. We also need to estimate how much descriptive audio there will be for the voice artist to record when preparing the quote.
Post-Production
Once the Audio Description has been recorded, we would edit this into the video and deliver the final MP4 file (other formats are available). Or if you intend on doing the video mix yourself, we can simply deliver the audio files on their own. You should let us know what your delivery requirements are at the quoting stage.
Pricing
Our minimum fee for the full process (from scriptwriting to delivery of the final video file) starts from £400 ex VAT, but you should discuss your full requirements with a member of our team and we’ll be able to quote accordingly.
Timescales
We can create approximately 10-20 minutes of AD transcript per working day.
The turnaround time for the voice recording will depend on the availability of your chosen voice artist, however we would typically allow a a minimum 2-3 working days.
If video editing is required, we may require some additional time, but we will be able to advise you of this upon review of the video file(s).
