Audio description service enhances theatrical experience for blind patrons

PRNewswire; New York; August 30, 2005

Blind patrons of the theatre face a challenge when they decide to attend a live performance. Onstage dialogue without visual references can be confusing, potentially frustrating the theatrical experience.

Now an audio description service, Sound Associates' D-Scriptive, fills in those essential visuals, providing more clarity to the blind theatregoer.

D-Scriptive is the latest innovation in assistive technology and offers a detailed description of all the onstage action including choreography, blocking, lighting, sets and costume changes.

The D-Scriptive system features a small wireless earphone that the patron gets in the lobby before the show. Narration begins even before the lights go down, describing everything the audience sees on stage before curtain. It is automated and synchronised with sound and lighting cues to accommodate pacing variations from performance to performance. Crucial visual cues are described concisely so the flow of the play is not interrupted and the patron understands everything. The narration text is written and recorded at the Sound Associates studio.

"This new assistive technology furthers our goal to make every performance available to all theatre lovers," said Fitzgerald, designer of the D-Scriptive system.

Sound Associates' has also developed 'I-Caption' system, featuring a handheld wireless unit that displays real time dialogue and lyrics for the deaf, and 'ShowTrans', an automated multilingual commentary service for non-English speakers.