Audio descriptions are an assistive feature that provides audible guidance for viewers who may not be able to perceive all visual content in a video. They function as an additional audio track that describes what’s being shown in the video.
In many cases, viewers can get the whole picture of your video’s content just by listening to the audio track. But when elements are presented only visually, audio descriptions provide spoken narration for viewers.
What kind of audio description should I choose?
Wistia supports two kinds of audio descriptions: standard and extended.
Standard audio descriptions work best when your video has natural gaps in dialogue, since they won't play over existing audio.
If your video is dialogue-heavy with little room, choose extended, which will automatically pause the video so descriptions have time to play. We'll outline options for ordering or uploading audio descriptions below.
Order audio descriptions in Wistia
Note
Standard and extended audio descriptions are available to order on all paid Wistia plans. Owners, Managers, and users with "Can manage" permissions can order audio descriptions. Audio descriptions are produced by our partner, 3Play Media.
To order a new audio description for your video, click the "Customize" button on the media page, then select "Audio description". Here, navigate to the "Order" tab.
Wistia provides options to order one of two types of audio descriptions:
(Standard) audio description: Narrates scenes while the video plays.
Extended audio description: Automatically pauses the video to narrate scenes in more detail.
Click "Order" to open the purchase modal, where you can choose between AI-generated and professional (human-reviewed) descriptions.
You can also choose whether to automatically enable audio description in the play bar once it's ready.
Glossary of terms
The "Glossary of terms" box automatically pulls any terms you've added to the keywords glossary in your account settings. Here, you can specify spelling for terms such as product names, people, and acronyms.
Pricing
Note
Charges for audio descriptions are issued on your monthly billing date.
The cost per minute varies based on the choice of standard or extended and AI or professional. The total price of your order will be specified in the ordering modal before you confirm your purchase.
Audio description type | Pricing | Turnaround |
Standard audio description (AI) | $1.00 per minute | Typically ready same day |
Standard audio description (Professional) | $8.00 per minute | 5-day turnaround |
Extended audio description (AI) | $1.50 per minute | Typically ready same day |
Extended audio description (Professional) | $12.00 per minute | 5-day turnaround |
Supported languages
Audio descriptions can be ordered in English or Spanish. The audio description language must match that of the original video.
Cancel an order
If an order is still in progress, open the "Manage" menu next to it and select "Cancel Order".
Upload audio descriptions
Note
Only standard audio descriptions can be uploaded; we do not support uploading extended audio descriptions at this time.
To upload an existing audio description to your video, open the Customize menu on the media page and select "Audio description."
In the "Upload" tab, select a language from the dropdown menu, then drag and drop, or click to open the modal, to upload an audio description from your device.
You can also select "None, not needed" for videos that don’t require audio descriptions. Selecting this option will remove the accessibility warning for missing audio descriptions.
Accepted file types
Wistia accepts MP3, OGG, and WAV files for audio description uploads. You can add as many audio descriptions as needed to accommodate multiple languages.
Supported languages
Wistia has a large list of supported languages for uploaded audio descriptions. Expand the language dropdown menu to browse the full list.
Manage audio descriptions
Click the ellipsis menu next to any existing audio description to download, edit, or delete it from your video.
Note
Only custom audio description uploads can be edited in Wistia.
Audio description limitations
Audio descriptions are only compatible with HLS playback (i.e., the assets we use for adaptive streaming). If the player serves a non-HLS fallback file instead, audio descriptions will not work. This can occur in rare instances of an encoding error or in older browsers that do not support HLS. If that’s the case, reach out to us.
Audio description files must match the duration of the video file.
Audio description files must contain both the video's original audio and your description. If viewers choose to enable audio descriptions in the player, it will play as an alternate audio track for your video.
Note
If you edit a video in the Wistia Editor, any attached audio descriptions will be removed, and you'll see a warning before saving. To keep them, choose the "Save as New Video" option, which will preserve your original (with AD and its stats) alongside the edited copy. You can also download the AD file even after editing.
Order audio descriptions in bulk
Need to enable audio descriptions for many videos? You can order extended audio descriptions programmatically via the Wistia API.
Note
We do not have API support for standard audio descriptions at this time; only extended audio descriptions can be managed via API.
Record your own audio description
If you're interested in learning how to create your own audio description, our very own video producer, Chris, breaks it all down in the video below: