How do you describe a sunset, or fireworks to someone who is blind?

These are just a couple of the challenges facing James McKenzie, who is enrolled in Canada’s first research-based post-secondary program in real-time described video at Ryerson University.

“I like the creative aspect,” says McKenzie, 36, as he works with instructor Margo Whitfield on audio description for an animated short film about a girl who befriends a baby dragon.

“There are so many different ways you can describe the action for someone who can’t see for themselves,” he adds. “I want to be as accurate as possible.”

The new Inclusive Media program, offered on weekends through Ryerson’s Chang School of Continuing Education, is aimed at training professionals to help the broadcast industry comply with Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications regulations introduced this year that require all prime-time television to include described video — also known as audio description — for people who are blind, have low vision, or developmental disabilities that make it difficult to follow plot lines or read facial cues.

Audio description is also used for live theatre, sports and public events.

Real-time closed captioning, which has been mandatory for all Canadian broadcast material since 2007, is also part of the Ryerson program.

YouTube video clip of student James McKenzie practising audio description on “Sintel” an animated short video from the Netherlands by director Colin Levy.

Audio description for broadcast is tricky, because it involves listening for often very small breaks in dialogue and choosing just the right nouns, verbs and adjectives to describe everything from physical action and facial expressions to costumes, settings and scene changes, says Whitfield who taught McKenzie the introductory course this fall. And since time is often short, audio describers have to choose the most important aspect to highlight.

Unlike traditional audio description, which began as neutral “objective” narration of news broadcasts more than a generation ago, Ryerson students learn to use their voice in a more dynamic way that compliments the action and tone of each scene.

For example, in the film about the girl and the dragon, Whitfield encourages McKenzie to add a sense of urgency to his voice when he describes the sudden appearance of a very large dragon. That way he doesn’t have to squeeze in the word “suddenly.” And the drama in his voice more closely matches the action.

“Our focus in this program is to integrate audio description with the content of the film,” she says. “Voicing can portray fear and other emotions and is important to what’s happening on the screen and to the story.”

McKenzie, who came to Canada from Trinidad about six years ago and works full-time in Toronto’s financial district, discovered audio description “by pure accident” several years ago when he was searching online for freelance writing jobs. He was intrigued and even took an online test for several jobs through a company in Japan.

“I never heard back about those jobs,” he laughs. “But I was determined to find out where I could take some courses and learn more about it.”

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He started watching audio-described shows on Netflix, which offers the service for most of its original productions and some movies and TV series. But he has since learned that Netfix uses a more neutral form of audio description than what Ryerson is teaching.

“It’s hard to find good quality voicing matched to the tone of the scene and that is what we are hoping to teach and promote through our program,” Whitfield says.

John Rae, 70, who has been blind since his early 20s due to a genetic disorder, welcomes the Ryerson program, which is funded this year by the Broadcasting Accessibility Fund, a non-profit body supported by the broadcast industry. He hopes graduates will help spread the word.

“We want full access to entertainment and information. So whether it’s movies, live theatre, television or videos that are used for entertainment or education, they should be audio described,” says Rae, past president of the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians.

“And this should be built into the production budget when a new video, movie or TV show is being planned. Not as an afterthought,” adds Rae, who gave a guest lecture to McKenzie’s first term class on how audio description has enriched his life.

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“As more and more production houses get involved in this work, there is a need for more people who have the skills to do it. Because this takes skill,” he says.

Although this is Ryerson’s first education program in audio description and closed captioning, the university has been conducting research on inclusive media and design since 2006, led by Deborah Fels, who holds a PhD in Human Factors Engineering.

Fels is also involved in developing international standards for audio description and is helping the Americans design a certification process for which Ryerson students will be trained.

“I am hoping the American certification can be broadened to include regulation and practice in other countries,” she says.

With the rise of subscription podcasts and audio books, Fels believes there is a business opportunity to market audio described films, videos and TV shows to a broader audience. That revenue could help offset the cost of audio description, which she says is about $1,500 per broadcast hour. Broader appeal would also encourage more interest in doing it, she adds.

“Radio drama used to be very popular,” she says. “Wouldn’t it be great for people to be able to listen to their favourite TV shows during long car drives?”

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In Ryerson’s advanced audio description course, which begins in February, students will learn how to describe more sensitive material such as sex scenes, violence and discrimination, which may be challenging for students depending on their own biases, Whitfield says. The course will also focus more on real-time audio description in which describers don’t prepare scripts in advance.

McKenzie says he looks forward to the challenge.

“Right now it is just a hobby, but my goal is to one day do this full-time.”

Rae says the blind and those with low vision are anxious for McKenzie and others to learn the skill so they can get more access to films, television and theatre.

And he is particularly pleased Ryerson will also be teaching audio description for sensitive material.

“We deserve access to the full scope of what’s available to everyone else,” Rae says.

“For example, in my experience, sex scenes almost never get described. So we miss out on the eye candy whether male or female. I’m not saying it has never been described in detail. But describers make choices and that’s what they don’t usually choose to describe,” he says.

“We would like the opportunity to enjoy or to not enjoy these scenes like everybody else does. In some movies it’s an integral part and that’s where we definitely lose out. But we should be included too.”

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