Beyond Words: Reception of Audio Description in Public Places Complicated by External Factors
Main Article Content
Keywords
Audio Description, DeafBlind, Barriers, Blind, Low Vision, Constraints,, Preferences
Abstract
Audio description (AD) studies mostly focus on compositional concerns in audience-reception matters, such as comparing a description’s length, point of view, or word choices. This paper expands those boundaries, from the words of audience members, into broader disconnects caused by delivery approaches or listening contexts that can constrain or fully disrupt public experiences.
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Conway, M., Oppegaard, B., Bullen, M., Miguel, A., & Brown-Ogilvie, T. (2023). Describing people and portraits through audio description: Preferences of people who are blind, low vision, and DeafBlind. Helen Keller Services for the Blind. https://www.helenkeller.org/audio-describing-people-and-portraits-2022/
Fresno, N., Castellà Mate, J., & Soler Vilageliu, O. (2014). Less is more: Effects of the amount of information and its presentation in the recall and reception of audio-described characters. International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research, 14, 169–196.
Fryer, L. (2016). An introduction to audio description: A practical guide. Routledge.
Hartley, M., & Oppegaard, B. (2024). Collaboration, Friendly Competition, and Co-Creation: A Hackathon-Inspired Way of Audio Describing the World, One National Park Service Brochure at A Time. Heritage in Action, UNESCO-WHIPIC. https://unesco-whipic.org/reports/
Koirala, S., & Oppegaard, B. (2022). The light bulb went on: A historiography-based approach to disentangling audio description’s influential U.S. roots from its common practices. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 116(4), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X221116903
Maszerowska, A., Matamala, A., & Orero, P. (2014). Audio description: New perspectives illustrated. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Matamala, A., & Orero, P. (2016). Researching audio description: New approaches. Palgrave Macmillan.
Miles, M. (2003). Segregated we stand? The mutilated Greeks' debate at Persepolis, 330 BC. Disability & Society, 18(7), 865–879.
Nielsen, K. E. (2012). A disability history of the United States. Beacon Press.
Conway, M., Oppegaard, B., Bullen, M., Miguel, A., & Brown-Oglivie, T. (2022). Describing people and portraits through audio description: Preferences of people who are blind, low vision, and DeafBlind. Helen Keller Services for the Blind. https://www.helenkeller.org/audio-describing-people-and-portraits-2022/
Packer, T. L., McKercher, B., & Yau, M. K. (2007). Understanding the complex interplay between tourism, disability, and environmental contexts. Disability and Rehabilitation, 29(4), 281–292.
Parker, A., Oppegaard, B., Hopper, H., Magaoay-Baniaga, H., Swearingen, K., Cable, M.-C., Samson, L. (2025). Sound, touch, and place: An exploratory study of the potential for emotive cognitive mapping through the use of audio description and tactile objects at a national memorial. Anglica: An International Journal of English Studies, 34(2), 106–132. https://doi.org/10.7311/0860-5734.34.2.06
Perego, E. (2018). Audio description: Evolving recommendations for usable, effective, and enjoyable practices. In L. Perez-Gonzalez (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of audiovisual translation (pp. 114–129). Routledge.
Small, J., Darcy, S., & Packer, T. (2012). The embodied tourist experiences of people with vision impairment: Management implications beyond the visual gaze. Tourism Management, 33(4), 941–950.
Snyder, J. (2020). The visual made verbal: A comprehensive training manual and guide to the history and applications of audio description. Academic Publishing.
Tikao, K., Higgins, N., Phillips, H., & Cowan, C. (2009). Kāpo (blind) Māori in the ancient world. MAI Review, 2(4), 1–14.
World Blind Union, & American Council of the Blind: Audio Description Project. (2018, November). Survey of worldwide audio description: Final report. https://adp.acb.org/docs/WBU-ACB%20%20AD%20Survey-FINAL%20REPORT.pdf
World Health Organization. (2025). Blindness and Vision Impairment. https://www.who.int/health-topics/blindness-and-vision-loss#tab=tab_1
Yau, M. K. S., McKercher, B., & Packer, T. L. (2004). Traveling with a disability: More than an access issue. Annals of Tourism Research, 31(4), 946–960.
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Published
Apr 4, 2026
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Section
Research Articles and Essays
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Author Biographies
Matt Bullen, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
Matt Bullen is a researcher for the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. He graduated with a Master of Science degree from Portland State University's Orientation & Mobility Program in the Special Education Department.Brett Oppegaard, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Brett Oppegaard is a professor at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.
Megan Conway, Helen Keller National Center
Megan Conway is the Director of the Information, Research, and Professional Development Department in the Helen Keller National Center.