Audio descriptions in iTunes movies

By blinky321, 6 December, 2012

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My name is Phillip chalked Dose the movies on Itunes that people can download from there iphones iPad or iMac have audio descriptions if not i think it should

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By frank perry on Saturday, December 22, 2012 - 09:03

There is no easy way to say this, but do people have any idea of just how many movies there actually are in iTunes. I once went to a dvd warehouse run by a company in Australia called JB hyfy, where there were 700000 titles and that was only movies, so we're not counting documentaries, television shows, mini series's, short stories, tele movies. Even if iTunes did have audio described movies, given the fact audio described disks use 2 jewell simulcast audio channels where the studios integrate it so as the audio description doesn't interrupt the movies normal sound music or dialogue. Studios don't release every single dvd as audio description. In fact up until this year 2012 universal studios never released an audio described title at all. There's no law requiring them to do so. Another thing. Your dvd shop the ones who sell audio described titles don't put tactile logos on disk covers, so unless you've got some sight, in other words, if you were totally blind, you would need assistance. If iTunes is meant to provide you with audio description, the logic of the argument suggests shops should have tactile logos on disks, audio description should have its own section in every dvd shop, bigpond quickflicks and net flicks should do it as well, not to mention free to heir television digital radio receivers and whilst we're at it, can we have audio description in clothing stores and supermarkets please? I hope you're beginning to see the problem. It's fine to advocate for accessibility, but advocacy has to come with the responsibility of common sense, sadly that is lacking at media access Australia. When media access Australia listens to common sense, they will adopt the approach of responsible education rather than this demanding everything should be in audio description. Unless they do, the laws will never change and I have to ask, if you're playing a file on your computer with one audio channel, how do you propose computer companies overcome that technical difficulty? And if they do overcome it and blind people have to pay extra, will you accept this or take everyone to court for discrimination again? And you've got screen readers on computers on top of the normal sound and audio description as well. People don't believe me when I say, I am in full support of audio description, believe it or not, I definitely support it. Let's just get one sector right first please shall we before we tackle iTunes, bigpond, netflicks, quick flicks and so on. Let's get the theatre sector working first, education and responsibility for that education begins where movies are usually first released, the theatres.

By Unregistered User (not verified) on Saturday, December 22, 2012 - 09:03

Serotek is a company which creates a screenreader and other accessibility products. The screen reader itself rivals Jaws in my opinion in many ways. Moreover, it has the System Access mobile network which has many many different sections containing accessible material for its users. One such section is called entertainment and within that section, you can listen to audio described movies and tv shows. The movies range in the hundreds if not thousands and is regularly updated. I just listened to Men in black 3, the amazing spider-man, the avengers, the expendables 2, and etc. The movies section has many different categories and has a movies added in the past 30 days section so you can usually get the latest films. Like I said, it ranges in the hundreds. The tv shows are also audio described, but can sometimes take a little while longer. I just listened to both seasons of game of thrones and all the seasons of house as an example. One thing to note is that the described movies and shows are audio only with no video whatsoever. This means you get the audio of the movie and the added description, but nothing to actually watch with your eyes. I know that some blind people prefer to have the video along with the movie, but I have no idea why it would matter. I myself have some vision and watch television, but when I have an audio described movie, I essentially close my eyes and let the describer do the visual work for me. The fee for the service is $400 or $25 for 48 months. Once the 48 months are up, you can either pay $120 a year or $15 a month to maintain updates and upgrades. For that price, you get system access which is a very usable screen reader, and the system mobile network which is an accessible web browser and has features such as the described movies and shows, access to listening to professional sprots events, audio and accessible books, accessible news, accessible text or audio chat rooms, and other things. Another thing to note is that system access and the mobile network are completely mobile which means that you can use the screen reader anywhere with an internet connection. For example, you can go to your friends house, go to a special accessible website, log on and use the screen reader and mobile on your friends house. Since everything is streamed, you can shut it down when your done and nothing will be left on your friends computer. I'm only plugging this software because people are looking for audio described movies and though ITunes doesn't have that features yet, there are other ways to get what you are looking for. I haven't tried it, but someone said that you can use google chrome on an iphone or ipad as well to access the mobile network and stream the described material that way. Hope this helps. Again, not trying to step on anyones toes, just trying to provide a resource. I think the point is accessibility

I agree with the previous post, how ever I did manage to stumble on the following. I'm not sure how to search for this in iTunes itself though. There might be more, but this is the one I found. I'm not going to post the entire description, cause most of it is the synopsis of the movie. Up (For blind viewers, audio description, DVS®) Plot Summary THIS VERSION OF "UP" IS FOR BLIND VIEWERS AND CONTAINS A DESCRIPTIVE VIDEO SERVICE® (DVS®) TRACK. I think you get the idea. here is the link for those that want a better look. https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/up-for-blind-viewers-audio/id327127329

From what I can gather, Apple are going to be putting more things in iTunes with the AD track for blind film lovers. Will post more when I can find the place I read that on.

By Joseph Westhouse on Saturday, June 22, 2013 - 09:03

I'd like to reply to Frank Perry's comments in post number 1... - The fact that not every DVD has an AD track doesn't seem relevant at all. The way I see it, if a DVD is released with an AD track, then the version of that film on iTunes should include AD as well. Asking for AD on every iTunes movie would be a bit absurd, but I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect it on the ones that include it in the DVD/Blu-ray release. 2: I agree completely, subscription services like Netflix should include an AD option (at least on the movies/shows that included it in the DVD release). They offer subtitles...so why not audio captions? 3: In some ways, the situation in theaters is better than that in the home release market. A lot more first-release movies are available with AD in theaters than on DVD; for example, I made sure to see The Hobbit in a theater that offered DVS because Warner Bros. doesn't include DVS on their home releases (which makes me very angry). In fact, most major or semi-major releases these days seem to have theatrical AD. The real issue with theaters is the fact that finding one with descriptive audio is so difficult to do, depending on your location. I have to drive a couple of hours to get to the closest accessible theater - even though I live twenty minutes or so away from the largest university in the state. Go figure.

By Siobhan on Saturday, June 22, 2013 - 09:03

Hi all. First i've never heard of big pond, I'll have to check that out. second, I really do not care for at all, audio description. I find it takes away from the movie more then it ads something.. I wonder if you search for blind viewers in itunes if it finds anything? Just my two cents worth. good luck finding what you want audio described. Me, I'll take good old sighted movies. :)

By Milica Milić on Sunday, March 22, 2015 - 09:03

Though it's true that there are so many movies and that not all of them are released with audio description, those that are, especially new movies that have to be added, should have AD. If they put the movie on the store with AD in mind, they should add it just like any other language option and not have to deal with the problem later. I agree that adding it for all the movies on the store already would take time, effort, and money, but that could always be a side project, and honestly how many people have they got working for them, I"m sure they could spare a few for the task. Some movies are just so visual and there would be no way to keep up with what's going on without any description of what the characters are doing.

By Usman on Sunday, March 22, 2015 - 09:03

Just to be clear, I believe apple is calling this video description, not audio. Just to clear up any confusion.

By david s on Sunday, March 22, 2015 - 09:03

Hmmm… This is for the person that had to drive hours to get to a theater with DA devices. If you’re in the US, any theater you go to should have them available as it is covered by the ADA law. If a theater you visit does not have it, talk to the management team.

Check this out
http://lflegal.com/category/movie-theater-access/

By Garland on Friday, January 22, 2016 - 09:03

If you search for descriptive audio in iTunes you will find 3 movies. All of which are for children. Does anyone know of a site that sells digital movies that are descriptive?