Behind SBS’s audio description: scripting risqué content for blind or low vision audiences

SBS is a leader in the audio description (AD) space, and with the release of our newest in-house TV series, Erotic Stories, our Access Services team shares insights into how AD is scripted, especially for risqué programming. 

But first, what exactly is AD? Audio description is the narration of the non-verbal elements of a program or film. During gaps in dialogue, it describes visual elements such as scenes, settings, actions and costumes. It is particularly beneficial to people who are blind or have low vision.   

One of the most exciting things about SBS’s in-house AD team is that we work with contractors from the blind and low vision community to quality-check (QC) our scripts before recording the AD. This is done over video conferencing by sharing the program vision and audio with our quality-check contractor while our AD producer does a ‘live’ read through of the script. Edits are made where necessary and additional descriptions are added to ensure greater clarity for blind and low vision audience. Extra description is most often added for scene changes and to identify which character is speaking.  

NITV Production Coordinator, Lily Meek, spoke of her experience recording the AD for an episode of Erotic Stories. 

“Audio describing Erotic Stories elicited the same feelings as watching it! It was blush-inducing. There’s something unnatural about jumping into a booth and exploring the range of your ‘sexy’ voice or figuring out if you even have one?! For me, therein lies the magic of the series – audio describing the ‘Powerful Owl’ episode especially was a lesson in exploration, vulnerability, and fun.  

“It’s one thing to audio describe more factual content – but with something as sexually adventurous as Erotic Stories, you want to go head-to-head with ensuring the AD is just as cheeky. For me, that meant getting out of the ol’ comfort zone and finding something that worked.” 

With sensual or erotic material, it’s important that AD conveys all the details. One of the problems of audio description is that some describers can censor themselves or find it difficult to describe the tone and essence of a risqué scene.

“Traditionally this type of content has aimed for neutral descriptions and delivery, but obviously this denies the intended audience part of the experience,” says Victoria Hunt, Manager of SBS Access Services. 

“Our bespoke approach aims to reflect a program’s themes and world view with distinct vocabulary, tone and mood which captures more fully what’s happening on screen.” 

Among the titles SBS has produced in-house AD for are Erotic Stories (bespoke), While The Men Are Away, Night Bloomers, Blue Velvet (bespoke), Body Double (bespoke), Zola (bespoke), Safe Home, Asking For It, Appetite, Iggy and Ace, Larapinta, Audrey Napanangka, Keeping Hope, True Colours, The Australian Wars, Off Country and New Gold Mountain. 

One of the best practices writers can follow is ‘The 5Ws’ system: the Who, What, Where, When and Why of a story. The same principle applies to good AD, but in a different order of importance: the When, Who, Where and What, with the ‘Why’ usually left to the program itself, as this category is far more subjective and can be inferred from dialogue and the action and facial expressions that are described. 

SBS quality-checks a selection of commissioned programming that we produce in-house, but this valuable feedback is shared with our provider to ensure that our learning benefits all programs and the widest possible audience. As sighted writers, it is impossible for the AD team to know the experience of a blind or low vision audience member, and this QC process has proven to be the most crucial part of the AD workflow.