Audio describer (media accessibility) — 4 out of 5 stars

• What it is: Writing the audio description track for film, TV, streaming, and live performance — the concise narration, fitted between dialogue, that tells blind audiences what is happening on screen or stage.
• Certificate or training: Specialist training such as the American Council of the Blind's Audio Description Project institutes and similar programs; no degree and no license — the craft portfolio is the credential.
• Cost to get qualified: $500–$1,500 for training
• Time to job-ready: 2–4 months of training and practice scripts
• Typical pay: $40,000–$65,000 a year; much of the work is freelance per project
• Why it works for a blind person: Description exists for blind audiences, and blind describers write from the audience's chair — knowing firsthand what information matters, what is insulting filler, and what makes a scene land. Working with a sighted viewing partner for the visual source, the writing itself is pure craft.

Job 72 of 100 · Words, media, and language

Start here, step by step

1. Learn the words first: description is fitted into the gaps between dialogue — the word budget is set by silence, not by how much there is to say. Good description states what is; it does not interpret or editorialize.
2. Study the craft where it is taught: the ACB Audio Description Project's training and guidelines are the field's reference point, and described content itself is your textbook — listen critically to the best of it.
3. Set up the working partnership: describers who are blind typically work with a sighted viewer who narrates the visual track in detail, or with detailed production materials. Build that routine before paid work depends on it.
4. Write practice scripts from short scenes, timed to the gaps, and get them critiqued by blind listeners — your audience's ears are the quality standard.
5. Pitch the vendors: streaming description flows through a small number of production companies that contract writers. Relationships and reliability open those doors.
6. Add live description (theatre, museums, events) as a second market — it is local, growing, and values describers who understand the audience because they are the audience.

How AI can help

Use AI to tighten draft lines to fit a gap and to check a script for consistency of names and terms. AI cannot judge what a blind listener actually needs in a scene — that judgment, informed by living it, is precisely what producers are buying.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

One of the strongest fits in this whole guide — lived experience is a genuine professional advantage — held from five only because the market is freelance-heavy and flows through a few vendors, so income steadiness must be built, not assumed.

Pros and cons — the honest version

Pros

• Your perspective is the qualification, not an accommodation
• Training is short and comparatively cheap
• Streaming demand keeps growing with accessibility law

Cons

• Freelance-heavy income — workaround: combine vendor contracts with live description for theatres and museums to smooth the year
• Few vendors control most work — workaround: be the describer who never misses a deadline; reliability is the currency in a small field
• You need a sighted viewing routine for source material — workaround: establish the partnership before pitching, and write it into your workflow, not as an afterthought