ORF Audio Description

Wien, Austria

196 Besichtigungen

AUDIO DESCRIPTION - VIDEO DESCRIPTION - VISUAL DESCRIPTION

These terms refer to TV for visually impaired people. About 300,000 people in Austria have a sight impairment, that is not fully correctable by glasses, contact lenses, surgery, or medication.

AD describes what can be seen: characters, settings and actions. It answers the questions: Who is doing what, where, how and when?

AD is available, e.g., for feature films and series, documentaries, TV shows, or sports events.

For AD on linear ORF TV, press the AD, sound, or SUBT button on your remote control. Select the audio description track – often labelled as Audio for the visually impaired or Dual audio. If you can’t find a suitable button, open your TV’s main menu, go to the Audio or Accessibility settings, and activate audio description there.

In the ORF ON stream, select settings and then audio description.

TV FOR BLIND AND PARTIALLY SIGHTED CONSUMERS

Live content

Live AD
- sports events
- TV shows

Pre-recorded content

Pre-recorded AD
- series
- feature films
- documentaries

TWO APPROACHES, ONE GOAL

LIVE IS LIVE

In case of live broadcasts, AD is also created live. Two people sit in a recording studio and describe what is happening on the TV screen, e.g., during the broadcast of a soccer game. A separate audio track is produced. AD users listen to this track instead of the original commentary. This is what we call live audio description.

AUDIBLE IMAGES

For pre-recorded broadcasts, AD is produced in advance: An author writes a script. It is best to have two authors writing a script as a team, where one person should be visually impaired. The script is edited and then recorded. Traditionally, this is done by professional voice actors. However, artificial voices are increasingly being used. The AD should only be heard in parts of the film without dialogue. There should also be room left for music and sound effects. In the end, the audio description track is mixed with the original audio track. The final track includes the original sound and the audio description.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THIS IMAGE?

A flock of flamingos during their courtship dance:
The birds march in unison through the river. Their delicate pink plumage stands out gently against the cloudy sky. Their wings are folded, the black tips of their beaks pointing downward. The vivid pink of their legs is reflected in the shallow water.

Illustration 1: Sample for Audible Image Description

AUDIO DESCRIPTION SHOULD …

capture the mood of the movie.
not give away, explain, judge or interpret the plot.
preserve the film as a work of art and become part of it.
only describe what is relevant.
be as detailed as possible.
be neutral, vivid and varied in its wording.
adapt its language according to the genre, format, and mood of the movie.
not reproduce stereotypes or social stigmas.
not withhold any information from the visually impaired audience.
describe facial expressions objectively, but still convey the correct emotion.
make visually impaired and sighted people laugh at the same time.
not reveal important information too early, but still include details necessary for understanding.
not include cinematic jargon but still convey cinematic effects.
use simple yet dynamic syntax.

So, audio description … is like walking on a tightrope.

How are we peforming?
Send us your feedback at
audiodeskription@orf.at

ORF has been providing AD for the past 20 years.

In 2024, more than 3,000 hours featured audio description — that’s around 8.5 hours per day. Highlights included the Olympic Games in Paris and the Paralympics. In addition, the cult series Liebesg’schichten und Heiratssachen was made available with audio description.

In 2025, the focus is on prime time TV. In the medium run, the goal is to provide AD for all AD-compatible programs between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. AD-compatible content includes movies, series, TV shows, sports, and documentaries. A classic news program like Zeit im Bild does not offer suitable pauses for AD. Important information is already provided through the original audio.

> 2027

2024: 3.461 h
2025: 3.651 h
2026: 3.772 h
2027: 3.896 h

Illustration 2: Hours of Broadcasts with Audio Description

ORF 1, ORF 2, ORF III, ORF SPORT +, ORF KIDS

ORF FOR ALL

LEGAL BASIS
ORF is a foundation under public law and as such must fulfill a number of duties and mandates laid down in the ORF Act. Section 5, § 2 of the ORF Act stipulates that the amount of accessible content must be continuously increased compared to the level as of December 31, 2020. In the categories of information, arts and culture, and education, the share must be increased by at least 2.5 percent annually and by at least 4 percent in the entertainment category.

IMPLEMENTATION
The priority of the “ORF-Aktionsplan” (action plan) is to make more program in all categories accessible to all people in Austria every year.

Representatives from various organizations of people with disabilities are involved in the development of the plan. In November 2024, a meeting took place with representatives of people with visual and hearing impairments as well as people with learning difficulties in order to talk about the plan. It was further discussed on November 21, 2024, in the ORF Audience Council and on November 27, 2024, in the ORF Foundation
Council.

To live up to its commitment to being a broadcasting company for everybody, ORF offered 28,000 hours of accessible content in 2024 — representing 63 percent of its total broadcast content. Efforts to increase accessibility focused particularly on children’s programs, news content, and prime time (7 p.m. to 10 p.m.). During prime time on ORF 1 and ORF 2, more than 90 percent of the program was accessible. By 2027, 70 percent of the overall program is expected to be accessible. To achieve this goal, the share of audio description, subtitles, Austrian Sign Language (ÖGS), and Plain Language will be continuously increased.

PLAIN LANGUAGE
ORF provides content in Plain Language across all media platforms (ORF III, news.ORF.at, regional radio stations, and ORF TELETEXT). Around 2 million people in Austria rely on Plain Language — including
people with learning difficulties, people who speak German as a second language, and elderly people. As part of the EU project ENACT (Easy-to-understand News for Collaborative Transformation), efforts
are being made to further develop these offerings.

In 2024, special attention was paid to the general elections: Interviews with leading politicians held in Plain Language were featured on ORF III and news.ORF.at.

In 2025, the radio station FM4 launched the podcast Einfach erklärt (“Explained Simply”) in Plain Language.

SUBTITLES

In 2024, 90 percent of ORF 1 and ORF 2’s prime time program was subtitled. For the first time, Guten Morgen Österreich was made available with subtitles. The children’s channel KIDS launched with a subtitle rate of nearly 100 percent. During the Olympic Games, the ORF subtitling team provided up to 10 hours of live subtitles per day.

In 2025, the nine regional news programs Bundesland heute were subtitled for the first time on linear TV, made possible by using AI. In addition, AI-supported automatic live subtitling was launched on ORF SPORT +. The long-term goal is to achieve a 100 percent subtitling rate.

Select ORF Teletext page 777 or subtitles (UT) in the ORF ON live stream!

AUSTRIAN SIGN LANGUAGE (ÖGS)

In 2024, 852 hours of ORF content were interpreted into Austrian Sign Language (ÖGS), an increase of 18 percent compared to 2023. Traditional programs included for example Zeit im Bild, konkret, Bürgeranwalt or Bewusst gesund. Additionally, ZIB Zack Mini and Sport Aktuell were offered with ÖGS interpretation. For the general elections, 55 broadcast hours were provided with ÖGS, and 15 hours for other elections were offered.

> 2027: Since 2025, Report, a weekly magazine at prime time on ORF 2, has been interpreted into Austrian Sign Language. By 2027, it is planned to broadcast more than 900 hours with ÖGS, focusing on prime time and current information.

ORF ON

The share of accessible content will also be increased on ORF ON. The subtitle (UT), audio description (AD), and Austrian Sign Language (ÖGS) rates on the streaming platform are very close to those on linear television. ORF ON archival programs currently use AI-generated subtitles.
Before the launch of ORF ON in May 2024, user tests were conducted with people with disabilities to ensure the best possible accessibility. Some of the users’ suggestions were taken into account from the beginning, others are being implemented continuously.

CURRENT PROJECTS
In line with a recommendation of the Audience Council, ORF's accessibility standards are already considered in the design stage of new content. The Accessibility and Inclusion department plays an important role in these processes.

In 2024, ORF significantly increased its video content on several platforms:
on news.ORF.at, sport.ORF.at, and ZIB YouTube. The aim is to offer as many videos with subtitles as possible. Subtitling is becoming increasingly relevant for an even larger target group, as many people watch videos on their mobile devices exclusively with text.

ORF also promotes inclusion through programs and stories on the topic. In 2024, the “Accessibility and Inclusion” department launched the inclusive ORF casting initiative “Make Yourself Visible” – a campaign to promote greater visibility for people with disabilities.