Audio description for the non-blind

The tractability of audio description (AD) suggests that its scope and range is near limitless; it can be adapted, re-purposed and re-versioned for applications and audiences which reach far beyond the limitations of the original accessibility service provided for blind and partially sighted individuals (BPS). Many non-blind (NB) individuals value video descriptive resources for their intersemiotic mediatory qualities, finding them expedient, assistive, informative and educational. For people with cognitive accessibility needs, the latest advances in AD research point towards an opening-up of description services to help those with narrative processing issues resulting from autism, dementia, learning difficulties and neurological pathology or trauma. In the field of cognitive research, AD is now being used more widely to provide a new perspective on meaning-making, mental modelling, concepts such as immersion and presence, and the interplay between sound and visual cueing as human beings mediate multimodal narrative. Furthermore, AD and other forms of video content description are being researched as rubrics for human storytelling, informing advances in machine learning and the automation of video descriptions for the purposes of archive retrieval, content management and ultimately, greater access to information, entertainment and educational resources for all.