Gotham CCSL

Audio Description
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Professional, broadcast-ready audio description for film, television, and documentary — making your content accessible without compromising the viewing experience.

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Accessibility

What Is Audio Description?

Audio description is a narrated track that describes key visual elements of a film or television program — actions, facial expressions, scene changes, and on-screen text — inserted into natural pauses in the dialogue.

It allows blind and low-vision viewers to follow a story's visual content without interrupting the original soundtrack, and it's increasingly required by streaming platforms and broadcasters as part of standard accessibility compliance.

Dark, cinematic audio narration recording booth with microphone and acoustic foam panels
  • 1 Visual StorytellingActions, settings, and expressions the story depends on but never states aloud.
  • 2 On-Screen TextSignage, captions, titles, and any text integral to understanding the scene.
  • 3 Scene & Time TransitionsShifts in location or time that a sighted viewer would pick up visually.
  • 4 Character & Costume DetailVisual cues tied to character identity or narrative meaning.

Scope

What's Included

Narration Script Writing

Concise, accurate descriptions written to fit within natural dialogue pauses, without altering the pacing or tone of the original content.

Timing & Spotting

Every description is precisely timed and spotted against the final picture, so narration never overlaps dialogue or critical sound design.

Professional Narration Recording

Clean, broadcast-quality voice recording delivered as a mix-ready audio track.

Platform Compliance

Formatted to the accessibility and delivery standards required by major streaming platforms and broadcasters.

Final Mix & Delivery

Delivered as a fully mixed, standalone audio description track, ready for platform ingestion.

QC Review

Every track is reviewed against the final picture before delivery to catch timing or accuracy issues before they reach a distributor's QC team.

Compliance

Platform & Accessibility Requirements

Audio description is no longer optional for most distribution paths. Streaming platforms increasingly expect it at delivery, and federal accessibility rules continue to expand which content requires it by law.

Streaming Platforms

Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+ all support audio description as a standard audio track, and increasingly expect it as part of a title's delivery package rather than treating it as optional.

FCC Broadcast Rules

Under the Communications and Video Accessibility Act, audio description requirements for broadcast television continue expanding to additional markets each year, with coverage growing through the mid-2030s.

ADA & WCAG Standards

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA — increasingly referenced in ADA compliance — require audio description for prerecorded video content published by covered entities.

Philip Kotur working at Systems Two studio on post-production documentation

Workflow

Our Process

  • 1 Script DevelopmentWe write a full narration script, carefully timed to fit within natural pauses in dialogue and sound design.
  • 2 Client ReviewYou review the script for accuracy, tone, and any project-specific terminology before recording begins.
  • 3 Narration RecordingProfessional voice talent records the final script in a controlled studio environment.
  • 4 Mix & QCThe narration track is mixed, timed against final picture, and reviewed for accuracy before delivery.

Investment

Pricing

Standard

$20–24 / minute

For most feature films, television episodes, and documentaries with standard narration density and pacing.

Extended / Complex

$28–30 / minute

For dense narration, tight dialogue-pause timing, multi-language delivery, or other production complexity.

Final pricing depends on runtime, dialogue density, and delivery requirements. Contact us for a project-specific quote.

Philip Kotur, founder of Gotham CCSL

Specialists, Not Generalists

Why Gotham CCSL

Accessibility-Exclusive Focus

Audio description is one of the three disciplines we specialize in — not a side offering handled by a generalist post-production team.

Compliance Tracked Continuously

Platform and regulatory accessibility requirements evolve — we track those changes so your delivery meets the current standard.

Precision Timing

Every narration track is scripted and timed against the final picture, so description never talks over dialogue or key sound design.

Part of the Gotham Lab Family

Gotham CCSL is the CCSL and accessibility specialist division of Gotham Lab — New York's full-service post-production studio.

★★★★★
Gotham CCSL delivered a flawless document on a very tight deadline. The CCSL was accepted by Netflix without a single revision request. I won't use anyone else.

Paul McGuire

Producer

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Get In Touch

Let's Make Your Project Accessible

Whether you need a full audio description track, a CCSL, or a dialogue spotting list, Gotham CCSL is ready to help.

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