Did you know that some DVDs have audio description tracks that allow blind people to understand what they can’t see?  I didn’t until last night when a group of pals and I were looking at the special features on the theatrical release of Michael Mann’s Miami Vice.  Audio description tracks feature a narrator who describes what is happening outside of sounds and dialogue.   After listening to part of the track on Miami Vice my curiosity was peaked into what other DVDs that I owned might have this feature that is not not only helpful in allowing blind people to enjoy cinema but is also really interesting from a filmmaking perspective (the reality of what the images are actually doing).

As I started to try and figure this out I realized that 1) there are not that many DVDs that actually have audio description tracks and 2) even when they do have them they aren’t labeled, making it really hard to even find DVDs that have this feature.  There is no way to search for said DVDs on Amazon’s advanced search feature and it took me a lot of Googling to even find a website that listed blind appropriate DVDs.   And even when I found that list it became clear that only some versions of films have the track - and it’s  usually the version that isn’t readily available.

I don’t get why this is so?  There is so much information about movies on Amazon and on DVD packaging that it makes no sense not to include audio description track information, especially seeing as it kind of discriminates against a certain group and makes it hard for them to enjoy cinema.  Unfortunately I can’t imagine that this will actually change in the future unless it becomes a more publicized issue, which I doubt it will.

For an idea of what an audio description track is and how it can help blind people engage with a film watch the video below: