Audio Description Services
Arts & Disability Ireland is the sole provider of Audio Description Services for Live Performance in the Republic of Ireland. Audio description provides blind and visually impaired people with a simultaneous commentary of the visual elements of theatre, dance, film, television and video.
For a theatre performance the audio described commentary is transmitted live to individual theatregoers requiring the service via headsets. The audio describer’s role is to select essential information about the production’s visual elements and slip it into the gaps in the dialogue, without being in any way intrusive. Blind and visually impaired theatregoers also receive programme notes in advance of the performance in Braille, audio or large-print, giving them detailed information about the set, characters and costumes. These programme notes are also read by the audio describers 15 minutes prior to the start of the performance.
At present Arts & Disability Ireland provides Audio Description services to the Abbey Theatre and Dublin Theatre Festival, and hopes to continue to roll out the service nationally over the coming years.
Visit our What’s On guide for details of all forthcoming Audio Described and Captioned performances. The programme notes which accompany all Audio Described productions are available in Audio and Large Print formats on the righthand side of this page, under the heading ‘AD Audience Resources’. An archive of Audio and Large Print programme notes for previous Audio Described productions are available here.
If you are an arts venue representative, and you would like to find out more about how Audio Description can make your programme accessible to people with a visual impairment, download our Audio Description Factsheet in the Venue Resource Section of this page, or visit the Contact Us page for details on how to reach us, we’d love to hear from you!
Audio Description Services for Organisations
Are you a venue or arts organisation representative who is interested in making live performance more accessible to people with a visual impairment? Download the information leaflet below to find out more about Arts & Disability Irelands Audio Description Service. Want to know more? Visit the Contact Us section of this website to find out how you can reach us, we're happy to answer any questions you may have about this service.
Audio Description Services for Users
In this section you will find Audio and Large Print versions of production programme notes for users of Arts & Disability Ireland's Audio Description Services for Live Performance. Click the Play Button on the audio player to listen to the audio version of the notes, or download a Large Print text version of the notes in Word Format
The Pitman Painters - Gaiety Theatre / Dublin Theatre Festival - 10th October 2009
The Rivals - Abbey Theatre 12th September 2009
Go to Audio Description Services for Users Archive
