Dr. Margaret R. Pfanstiehl, who became almost entirely blind due to a degenerative disease called retinitis pigmentosa, founded the Metropolitan Washington Ear in 1974. Margaret was on the cutting edge of the information access movement almost as long as the movement has existed. After earning her Ed.D. degree in 1971, she learned of a radio reading service for the visually impaired in St. Paul, Minnesota and decided that D.C. needed something similar.
Starting from scratch, she devoted herself to translating that idea into a reality. She garnered support and funding from governments around the Washington, D.C. region and negotiated with WETA, the local public radio station, for the use of its sub-channel. She raised over $100,000 in operating funds for the first year and recruited and trained volunteers. Her efforts resulted in the establishment of the Metropolitan Washington Ear, Inc., a nonprofit organization and radio reading and information service focused on improving and enriching the lives of individuals who are blind, have low vision, or have physical disabilities by enabling them to be well-informed, fully productive members of their families, their communities and the working world.
In the late 1970's, she was one of the founding members of the International Association of Audio Information Services (IAAIS), the leading member organization for radio reading services.
In 1981, Margaret and her late husband Cody were recruited by Wayne White at Arena Stage to use their expertise to develop a system for live commentary and narration techniques for theatrical productions. And in response, they developed the unique art and technique of Audio Description. The Arena Stage's production of "Major Barbara" was the first play in D.C. to be audio described. After their success at Arena Stage, Margaret and Cody became tireless advocates for making theater, television, film, museums, and exhibits accessible to people who are blind or have low vision. They travelled the United States and abroad to train others in the technique of Audio Description. They developed descriptions for museums and exhibits, including Ellis Island and the Statute of Liberty, and films, such as the local IMAX favorites "To Fly" and "The Blue Planet" at the Air and Space Museum.
In 1982, Margaret and Cody teamed up with the producers of the "American Playhouse" series to create a separate soundtrack that was broadcast on radio reading services around the country in sync with televised plays. In 1986, Dr. Barry Cronin at WGBH –TV in Boston launched Descriptive Video Services (DVS) and for the next few years Margaret and Cody worked closely with WGBH to train narrators and write descriptions for television programs. Today a corps of dedicated Washington Ear volunteers, trained by Margaret, Cody and Bill Patterson of Audio Description Solutions, continues to provide Audio Description at performances in many of the major live theaters in the Metropolitan area.
In 1991 Margaret took another innovative step and launched a Dial-In newspaper service that was one of the first in the country. In 2000, her support of access for individuals with disabilities and testimony before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) were in large part responsible for its decision to require broadcasters to adopt technology to provide video description via a secondary audio programming channel.
Dr. Pfanstiehl was much recognized for her work. In 1982, she was honored as a Washingtonian of the Year. In 1990, she was awarded the prestigious Emmy award for her leadership in the field of accessible television for viewers who are blind or have low vision. In 2003, she received the C. Stanley Potter Award from the IAAIS. This award is named for the father of radio reading. It recognizes and honors outstanding contributions to the Audio Information industry. It is an award that she cherishes. And in 2009, she received the Excellence in Accessibility Leadership Award at the Kennedy Center for her lifetime commitment and enduring advocacy on behalf of audio description and other forms of information access for the visually impaired community.
Dr. Margaret Pfanstiehl will be remembered for pioneering the fight to make information access a normal part of everyday life for the visually impaired community. She always had an acute awareness of what could and should be done to make information access, in its various forms, a normal part of everyday life for the visually impaired community. And under her continuing leadership, The Metropolitan Washington Ear became a broad-based, meaningful, exemplary service provider for listeners and callers.
From: Washear.org web site about Dr. Phanstiehl In MemoriumThe ACB maintains the most up-to-date list of programs with Audio Description (also known as Video Description.)
Here is a link where you can search for film and series titles. This is a recent change to the ACB Audio Description page. Rather than try and give direct links to the various networks, this is there page with the networks listed...
Search the Film and Series Title Directory
UK TV show Schedules
Sherry Molengraft provided the following to enable Audio Description for the Peacock app on an iPhone on the Audio Description Project email list.
To enable audio description for the Peacock app:
There is a link from Hallmark Channels that gives the listing of audio described movies on their channels. These may only be available for cable subscribers. Use your Screen Reader's find feature to locate a specific channel, but the listings are at:
https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/video-descriptionAfter consulting with the Audio Description Project folks, I am posting some resources for those who run into issues with AD on their TV/streaming programs. I hope to add more as time goes by.
Here is information about Amazon Prime Video Accessibility. ON the page below, there are links to several specific topics concerning accessibility. The topics are:
If you cannot get the Accessibility Feature to work, you can write to:
audio-description-feedback@amazon.comOr see the FCC Complaint form below.
Netflix provides a couple ways to give them feedback on accessibility. One way is on their general Contact Us form:
When visiting the help.netflix.com/contactus page, members can type in phrases such as "audio description" into the text field that asks to describe their issue and then hit the "Enter" key. On the next page, there are help articles related to the topic entered and two buttons at the bottom of the screen to get further support from an agent either via phone call or chat.
For specific feedback about an audio description issue, use their feedback form:
Accessibility Feedback Form.If you are getting nowhere with a specific station, you might try filing a complaint with the FCC's Disability Rights Office. You'll need to provide the following information:
" Your name, address, contact information, and preferred method of response
" The channel number, name, network, or call sign, and, if applicable, the name of your TV provider
" The date and time when the audio description problem occurred, the name of the program with the audio description problem, and a detailed description of the audio description problem.
Any additional information that may assist in processing your complaint (such as recordings of the audio description problem, or a written explanation of the problem).
FCC contact information:
Phone: 202-418-2517Renee S. Arrington-Johnson wrote a paper detailing their experience with an issue wiht YouTube TV that reveals how much work it is to deal with the problem of Audio Description not being passed through.
Read it hereThe American Council of the Blind believes the below sites are operating illegally. I am still going to list these resources because I'm not personally convinced it is illegal. It is up to the individual's ethics whether they use the below resources.
Audio Vault is the easiest site to use to get the mp3 files for audio described movies. Note, you have to sign up for a free account to download described audio files from the Audio Vault, much like the way the Blind Mice Movie Vault works, only easier.
Audio Vault.netI found out on January 4th, 2024, that you now have to make a donation in order to download any files from the Blind Mice Movie Vault.
You do have to established a free account before you can go directly to the Movie Vault where they have MP3 files of movie soundtracks with audio description.
To create an account, go to their main page: Blind Mice Mega Mall
Then, you can use the next link to go directly to the movie vault. Note, you will have to login but then you will be on the movie vault page.
Most TV's now have the ability to turn on the Audio Description channel, often it is the Secondary Audio Programing feature under the audio controls. If your TV does not have that, check with your cable company about how to access their content with audio description.
If you are an xFinity customer you can call their accessibility help desk: 855-270-0379
If you have an iPhone/iPad, go to Settings, General, Accessibility. In the section titled Media, you can enable Subtitles and Captioning. Only enable that if you want VoiceOver reading the captions, or you have a braille display and want to read them on your display.
The next item is Audio Descriptions, it defaults to off, double tap to turn it on using VoiceOver. This way, things you stream with audio description should play the audio description automatically.
Some services will require you to select description from the audio controls within their app.
according to: Mr. Web Counter