Audio description. A public broadcaster’s core business and headache

For some years now broadcasters have been confronted with the reality of audio description, which often places them in a difficult position, stuck between legislation, internal or external obligations, societal responsibility, declining budgets and production companies for whom audio description seems just another costly administrative box to tick. But things might be changing as awareness of audio description and accessibility in general grows in an international market which starts demanding audio description as a non-negotiable deliverable. In this chapter, the role of the broadcaster as a stakeholder for audio description will be discussed. This role can be interpreted in various ways, each with a different level of engagement towards the audio description product and the target audience. The position of the public broadcaster, and the number one priority of VRT – creating and distributing accessible content for all, which includes audio description for the blind and visually impaired – will be analysed. VRT’s vision and provision of best practises as a broadcaster offering audio description, and within an ever evolving media landscape, will be illustrated in this chapter.