Although music videos are often not released with audio description, this video shot at a concert in Catalonia presented an opportunity to explore alternatives that might work in this context.
The song is in Catalan and so, along with audio description, audio subtitles were also added.
The main requirement here was that despite the access tracks, viewers remained immersed in the experience of the concert.
The volume of the audio description was set at a level lower than usual so as not to drown the original soundtrack and overwhelm the viewer. As a result, there are parts where the describer can be heard clearly and then the volume dips and goes into the background so that the viewer only catches the key words to be able to sing along or to understand what the singer is saying when he addresses the crowd.
Content credit: Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals
The moderator of the session in which this clip was shown later shared: “I could see people smiling when the describer said – "I know it’s a Tuesday night but c’mon, let’s get some energy." To me, that says people were engaged. They were singing. So, there was an audience for it. They liked that it did not interrupt the flow of the original content."
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