Audio Description and ADP Website Tips
![Did You Know?](../images/DidYouKnow.png)
Here are a collection of tips (newest first) that have been published on the ADP website on audio description and how to best use the site to find things that perhaps you didn't know existed here! The most recent tips are listed first, and this list will be updated every time a new tip is published (and one is retired from the main page). If you have discovered something you think we should share with others, be sure to write the webmaster using the link at the bottom of the page.
Website Tip: National Geographic on Disney+
Disney is a part-owner of National Geographic Global Networks and as such includes many National Geographic videos on their website. Over 120 of them have audio description. To find such titles as Baby Sharks, Black Travel Across America, and Dr. K's Exotic Animal E.R., go to the Disney+ AD listing and click the "National Geographic Only" button.
Website Tip: Disney DVD Chime Feature
If you play a physical DVD or Blu-ray disc of a Disney (or subsidiary like Pixar) title since 2010, when you insert the disc into the player, you should hear a chime. At this point, if you press 5 on your remote (possibly followed by Enter), the audio description track should be activated.
The ADP Email Discussion List
It's been around a long time. It's members ask questions about AD in all its forms and help each other. You can get individual emails or a daily digest. Learn more about the ADP Email Discussion List!
Website Tip: Network Shows on Streaming Services
Three of the streaming services with AD offerings are owned by the parent companies of the four commercial broadcast TV networks: ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. You may wonder which of the networks' shows you can find on their streaming service, and we just made that easy for you by adding buttons to select only listings from their TV networks.
- For Hulu, you can find shows on ABC and Fox.
- For Peacock, you can find shows for NBC.
- For Paramount+, you can find shows for CBS.
Website Tip: DVDs and Blu-ray Discs
In February 2022 we changed the way you find out everything you need to know about audio described DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
- Instead of multiple pages, you access ONE page for all DVD listings, new and old: DVDs.
- On that page you can select the current year's DVDs, last year's DVDs, all DVDs, DVDs for kids under 13 (rated G or PG), or sort all the DVDs by Rating or Genre.
- For titles released in 2022 and beyond, the link behind the title takes you directly to Amazon. For pre-2022 titles, the link takes you to our old-style detailed listing, which in turn will take you to Amazon.
Our list is updated weekly as new titles are added, and recently added titles are listed on the main page.
Website Tip: Old Movies
Audio description tracks have been added to some very old movies! Here are a few [list may be outdated over time...]:
- Disney+: Steamboat Willie; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
- HBO Max: Grand Hotel; The Wizard of Oz; Casablanca.
- iTunes: A Night at the Opera; Mutiny on the Bounty; Bambi
- Paramount+: Murder on the Orient Express; The Elephant Man.
- Prime Video: Our Town; Citizen Kane; It's A Wonderful Life.
Our list is updated weekly as new (old) titles are added. See the complete list. (This link is always at the top of our home page ... right there with Latest Additions.)
Audio Description Tip: Facebook Groups About AD
There are FOUR Facebook Groups of interest to people who either use or provide audio description:
- The Audio Description Project (us!)
- Audio Description Discussion for everyone about any AD topic
- The ADNA Showcase for anyone who provides professional AD services
- Audio Description Horror Films for anyone into the horror genre
Website Tip: Miscellaneous Stuff!
Website Tip: When Do We Update?
Generally speaking, we update this website twice a week: Tuesday and Friday afternoons. Why Tuesday? Because that's when 99% of new DVDs are released. Why Friday? Getting you ready for the weekend! (Spectrum Access updates intermittently.)
- Tuesday Updates: DVDs, TV Series, Disney+, Hulu, iTunes, Max, Netflix, Prime Video.
- Friday Updates: Cinema, TV Series, Apple TV+, Google Play Store, Paramount+, Peacock, Vudu.
Website Tip: Our Search Options
When you arrive on the main page, the cursor is placed on the "Search Master AD List" option. You can just type the name or partial name of a video and press Enter to see if it is audio described anywhere. The same option appears on the Master AD List page.
Website Tip: Finding Described Videos
You can always browse our massive list of more than 6,000 audio described titles in our Master AD List, but you can also refine your search in several ways.
Website Tip: Streaming Access to AD
While we list audio described titles from 11 services on our website, we also tell you everything we know about all streaming services, including other methods to access described content (such as TV network apps or media tools) on our Streaming Services page. We even list what we know about services that don't currently offer any description (so you can write and ask for it!). And if you want to cut the cable, we have an article on that subject also.
Tip: Turning on AD on an Apple TV
Here's a tip about how to turn on audio description on an AppleTV. Press the Siri button and say "Switch to English," swipe right once, then press Select. While you can say "Switch to English Audio Description," it won't, just leaving you on English ... so don't waste words!
Website Tip: Choosing Videos for Children
We offer several ways for you to choose audio described titles best suited to children under 13. (Posted Sep 21)
- Use the "Kids' DVDs (G/PG)" option on our DVDs page.
- In any of the streaming service listings, you can select the button labeled "By Rating," then select "Young Children" or "Older Children."
- We also offer general information on our Described Programming Oriented Toward Children page where we note that a third of Netflix described programming is oriented towards children.
- And of course there is a ton of children's programming on Disney+.
- Finally, you will want to check out Imagination Videobooks.
Website Tip: Streaming Service Details
You can dig deeper into each streaming service's AD title listings by clicking on one of several buttons at the top of each listing.
![Buttons shown are: Movies Only, Series Only, By Year, By Genre, and By Rating](../images/5Buttons.jpg)
You can ask to see only movies, only series, or break the listing down by year the title was released, by genre, or by rating. You would be surprised at how old some of the titles are! Not all information is available for all services, so sometimes there are fewer than five buttons. You can also search our listing of All DVDs by year and rating.
Website Tip: Foreign Language AD
[The following information has changed. All non-English AD titles are now listed on our Non-English AD page.]
The Disney+ streaming service not only offers audio description language tracks in English,
but they also offer 55 foreign language AD tracks in Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, French Parisian, German,and Latin Spanish.
These titles are listed at the bottom of the Disney+ AD Titles page (with a link from the top).
Netflix's listing of foreign AD titles is so large that it gets its own page! They have over 1000 titles in 45 languages!
There is a link to it at the top of our regular Netflix AD Titles page.