How do you plan audio description for a ticketed performance?

Someone buys a ticket to your performance, collects a headset and takes their seat. They can hear the actors perfectly. Then the audience laughs at something happening silently on stage, and the headset tells them nothing. The equipment was available, but the part of the experience they needed wasn't there.

To plan audio description, book a qualified provider for the actual production, arrange the preparation and rehearsal access they need, and test what listeners will hear through the equipment they'll use. Your booking information, arrival arrangements and staff support need to match that service, right through to the end of the show.

The interesting part is how many people contribute to that result. The describer needs the current production. The technician needs the right feeds. The box office needs the exact performance date. Front of house needs to know how to help somebody whose receiver stops working after the lights go down. You can hire excellent people and still leave a gap between their jobs.

This guide is for operators selling tickets to theatre, dance and other live performances. We'll work through commissioning, equipment, booking information, a sample operating plan and the decisions to make when something changes. The aim is a performance someone can confidently book and follow, with a realistic budget for delivering what you promise.

Start by defining what the audience will receive

Audio description adds spoken information about important visual action for blind and partially sighted people. During a live performance, that might include an entrance nobody announces, a character's reaction or a change of setting. It needs to work with the production's dialogue and sound, so the listener can follow the performance without losing the information already audible.

VocalEye's explanation of live description describes trained describers speaking in real time, with important visual details delivered between dialogue through individual listening equipment. That distinction matters when you brief the team. Turning up the actors' microphones won't explain an unspoken exchange. Reading out the programme won't describe what happens later on stage.

A useful starting question is, "Which parts of this production depend on sight?" Ask it with the creative team and the description provider. A spoken play, a dance piece and an outdoor procession present different challenges. You don't need to decide the wording yourself, but you do need the provider to understand the performance you're asking them to describe.

Then define the scope in writing. Name the production, venue, performance date and language of description. Say whether the service covers the full performance, including any interval announcements or audience participation. Identify any sections outside the agreement. If an optional installation in the foyer has no description, avoid wording that implies the whole visit has it.

Separate the live commentary from an audio introduction and a touch tour. An introduction explains the visual world before the performance. A touch tour can offer a planned opportunity to explore selected props, costumes or parts of the set. Those can support the experience, but each needs its own preparation, permissions and audience information. Don't assume a supplier's quote includes all of them.

Write the offer in terms an attendee can use. "Live audio description in English for Saturday's 7pm performance, through receivers collected in the foyer" is a useful beginning. "Accessible performance" leaves too much unanswered. It doesn't tell somebody what support is present or which date to choose.

This is one part of your wider event accessibility planning. You still need the route into the venue, suitable seating, helpful booking arrangements and a way to ask questions. A clear description service doesn't make an inaccessible arrival disappear, and a step-free entrance doesn't make the performance understandable on its own.

Commission the service while production decisions can still change

The first thing you want to do is get the producer, venue and description provider talking before you announce the described date. Give them enough information to tell you what preparation is possible. A quote based only on the show's title can leave everyone imagining a different amount of work.

Ask prospective providers about their experience with this kind of performance, the people who will prepare and deliver it, and how they review the description with blind or partially sighted listeners. Relevant skill matters more than a confident promise to cover anything. Someone familiar with scripted drama may need a different preparation approach for an improvised movement piece.

Discuss the artistic challenges directly. Does the performance use projected text? Are characters deliberately difficult to identify? Does an important reveal happen in silence? Is the audience moving? These aren't reasons to exclude a production automatically. They're reasons to involve the provider early enough to decide how the description can support it.

The American Council of the Blind's guidance on creating description for live performance recommends opportunities to attend rehearsals and practise delivery against the production's dialogue, music and sound effects. Ask your provider to turn that principle into a preparation plan for your show, with the material, access and time they need.

Agree who is responsible for the description itself and who is responsible for delivery equipment. One company may provide both, but the quote should say so. Confirm who supplies the booth or working position, monitors, microphones, receivers, headphones, technical support and any required connections. An equipment hire charge doesn't necessarily include somebody to run it throughout the performance.

Your written brief should also settle review, revisions, cancellation, travel, cover arrangements and any proposed reuse. If you want a recorded introduction for later performances, discuss the rights and permitted uses. Don't assume payment for one live performance gives you permission to publish the recording, train another describer from it or use it on a livestream.

Keep one named event lead responsible for the complete service. They should be able to get answers from production, box office and the venue, approve necessary spending within agreed limits and resolve conflicting instructions. They don't have to write the description or operate the sound desk. Their job is to make sure somebody has accepted each part of the work.

Before accepting the quote, read it alongside the public promise you intend to make. If your copy offers a touch tour but the supplier only quotes for commentary, settle that difference now. It's much easier to adjust a brief before ticket launch than to explain a missing activity to somebody who planned their travel around it.

Give the describer the production they will actually describe

Preparation depends on access to accurate material. Identify what exists, what is still changing and who can release it. A rehearsal recording can help, but it needs to be the relevant production rather than a previous company's interpretation. A script with old character names may create more work instead of saving time.

VocalEyes' service guidance for theatres and producers asks for viewing access, an up-to-date script, a recent production recording and a programme, with coordination across stage management, technical staff, front of house and box office. Its suggested timing is specific to its service and preparation process. Agree a workable schedule with your own provider rather than adopting one universal lead time.

Make a material list together. For your production, it could include the current script, cast and character list, pronunciation notes, scene changes, set and costume information, projected text and the running order. Explain which documents are final and which are working versions. If access is restricted, arrange an appropriate way for the provider to review the material.

Name the person who reports changes. A new costume colour might be minor in one production and essential to identifying a character in another. Let the describer judge the consequence once they know about it. Don't ask stage management to guess whether an alteration matters enough to mention.

Agree a practical update process. Production sends a dated change note to the provider and event lead. The provider confirms whether the introduction, commentary or rehearsal needs updating. The event lead checks whether the change also affects public information. That keeps a production correction from remaining in a private conversation while everyone else uses the earlier version.

For a short run or a single performance, raise the preparation problem at the start. There may be no opportunity to watch several public performances before the described one. Ask what rehearsals, recordings and technical access would make delivery viable, and what limitations remain. A shorter calendar doesn't make preparation unnecessary.

For dance or a performance with little dialogue, ask the provider how they will balance description with the music and other meaningful sound. More available silence doesn't automatically mean that continuous commentary is helpful. Include the artistic form in the brief and evaluate the approach with listeners, rather than borrowing the description plan from a spoken play.

For improvisation, identify what can be prepared and what will remain unpredictable. The provider may need information about the format, performers, likely activities and how audience contributions will be heard. Agree how they will follow unscripted action and which rehearsal opportunities are useful. Don't let a request for a script become a dead end when the production doesn't have one.

A moving performance needs another conversation. List the locations the audience visits and how the describer will follow the action. Test listening and audience support during the transitions as well as at each stop. A service that works in the opening room may not continue outdoors or in the next building. Confirm that movement is practical with the venue and relevant attendees before advertising the described route.

If recorded description is proposed, settle how it will follow live action when timing changes. Ask who operates the cues, what preparation that person receives and how the audience experience will be tested. Reusing a recording may be appropriate for a particular production, but it still needs an agreed delivery method and permission for the intended use. Don't present it as an automatic replacement for a missing live provider.

Pay attention to the describer's working conditions too. They need an agreed way to see and hear the action, communicate with the relevant staff and work without their speech disturbing the audience or performers. If they rely on a monitor, test the actual view and sound. A camera that misses activity at the edge of the stage can leave them unable to describe an important moment.

Build review time into the plan after changes. "We sent the new recording" is only the beginning. Somebody needs to confirm that it was usable, that the description has been updated where necessary and that the new arrangement still works in rehearsal. Close those questions before the audience starts relying on your published information.

Choose listening equipment around the audience and the room

Ask the provider and venue technician to recommend the delivery arrangement for the actual space. Bring them the seating plan, performance format, known listening requirements and any existing equipment details. You need an explanation of what the proposed system will do, where it will work and what listeners need to use it.

Keep the description feed distinct from other sound services in the discussion. A venue may already have equipment for amplified stage sound, but that doesn't establish that the describer's microphone reaches the right receivers. If the same system supports several services, ask the technician to demonstrate the selected channel and exactly what the listener hears on it.

Our guide to arranging hearing loops covers a related but different listening task. If somebody wants description and also uses hearing equipment, discuss the actual combination with them and the specialist. Don't promise compatibility because two devices both have an accessibility label.

Ask about receiver controls, headphone options and the way the original performance sound remains audible. Some listeners may want to use their own headphones. Confirm connectors and compatibility before offering that option, including any arrangement that depends on a particular adapter. Explain the choices clearly instead of expecting attendees to discover a mismatch at collection.

If the proposed service uses a phone, test the whole task with the relevant users. That includes finding the connection instructions, joining the network if required, opening the service, selecting the correct audio and adjusting the volume. Ask what happens without a suitable phone, enough charge, mobile data or confidence using the interface. Budget for the agreed alternative.

Allocate equipment from confirmed demand and an agreed allowance for additional requests and failures. There is no useful universal receiver percentage for every performance. A locally established described series, a newly marketed show and a touring event with limited booking history will have different information available. Ask the provider how they recommend planning stock, then monitor reservations as sales develop.

For a simple fictional example, imagine you have 18 confirmed receiver requests and hire 24 usable receivers for that performance. Before any additional allocations, six remain. If two are then found faulty, you have four unallocated working receivers. You cannot still tell staff there are six spares, and you cannot promise all four for walk-ups while also counting them as replacement stock.

Keep that example separate from a recommended stock level. The right allocation needs the supplier's advice, actual requests and a decision about replacements. Record what is working, what is reserved, what is issued and what is unavailable. A carton containing 24 units is not evidence that 24 people can receive the service.

Test the listening experience before you sign it off

A microphone check at the sound desk is a useful start. You also need someone to listen through the audience equipment from the locations you're offering. That is where you discover the wrong feed, an unusable control or a seat with a problem that the technician couldn't hear from backstage.

Agree the test with the description provider, technician and event lead. Include paid input from blind or partially sighted people with relevant experience when planning and evaluating the service. Their feedback can reveal problems your team misses. Treat it as part of making decisions, with a clear brief and time to act on the findings.

Test the performance conditions you can reproduce, including the introduction, live description and the original programme sound. Listen while the action moves, while lighting and other equipment operate, and at any transition where the feed changes. If an interval creates a separate announcement or channel arrangement, test the return to the show as well.

Ask listeners specific questions. Can they hear and adjust the description? Can they still follow the original dialogue? Does the commentary arrive at the useful moment? Can they use the supplied controls? A general "Is that okay?" may produce a polite answer without telling you which part was difficult.

Keep technical performance and editorial quality distinct. A clear signal carrying an outdated description needs a content correction. Excellent description on a receiver that keeps losing the feed needs a technical correction. Name the finding, assign the right person and repeat the relevant check after the fix. Buying another microphone won't repair a script that refers to a removed set piece.

Check the collection process too. Ask a tester to use the public instructions to find the desk, request equipment, learn the controls and reach a tested seat. Repeat the task for someone who also booked the touch tour. That can expose a scheduling conflict even when every receiver works perfectly.

Agree what counts as ready before the test. You might require that all offered seating areas have passed the listening check, the current introduction has been approved, the equipment team has working replacement units and staff can demonstrate the collection procedure. These are event-specific acceptance conditions, not a substitute for the supplier's technical standards or the venue's professional assessments.

Record unresolved issues honestly. If a proposed seating area hasn't been tested, don't quietly sell it on the assumption that neighbouring seats worked. Ask the specialist what further check is needed, and adjust the offer until it is confirmed. The sign-off should describe the service you're ready to deliver, rather than a list of things you hope will be solved by doors opening.

Make the touch tour a separately planned activity

A touch tour needs a clear purpose and an agreed route. Ask the description provider and creative team which elements would help someone understand this production. That may be a selected costume, an important prop or an explanation of the performance space. More objects and a longer route don't automatically make a better tour.

Check what participants can actually reach and explore. A stage may have steps, machinery, delicate scenery or restricted areas. Arrange a suitable activity with the venue and production team, with competent safety input where needed. If a proposed route excludes somebody who booked, resolve the arrangement before confirming their place rather than waiting for them to reach the stage door.

Describe the activity accurately in the booking information. Say where it happens, whether people move around, how long the planned session lasts and how to discuss an individual requirement. If only selected props will be brought to the foyer, explain that. Don't call it access to the whole set when production has agreed something much narrower.

Agree group size, staffing and timing with the people delivering it. A booking limit should reflect the actual activity and support available. Count companions where they occupy places, and explain any separate reservation process. A performance ticket doesn't necessarily reserve a touch-tour place, so the distinction needs to be visible before somebody arrives.

Consider what happens immediately afterwards. Participants need time to leave the tour, use facilities, collect any remaining equipment and reach their seats before the audio introduction. If your schedule forces them to choose between the tour and the introduction, change the schedule. Both activities exist to help them follow the same performance.

The RNIB's guidance on supporting someone through sighted guiding advises introducing yourself, speaking directly to the person and asking how they would like to be guided. Include that in staff preparation. Assistance should follow the person's preference, with staff explaining their role and any relevant obstacles rather than taking control of the person.

Settle consent around touching people, costumes and props before the tour. A performer may demonstrate a movement verbally or offer an agreed object for exploration. Participants should be able to decline any part. Avoid creating an activity that assumes every person with sight loss wants the same kind of contact or explanation.

Have a specific alternative for a production change. If a prop becomes unsafe to handle, the provider and production team can decide what explanation or other material is appropriate. Tell participants about a material change through the agreed contact route. The duty team should know the revised activity before they begin directing people towards it.

Let buyers identify the right performance without making a phone call

Put audio description information where somebody chooses the performance date. If only one date in a run has the service, a general access paragraph lower down the website is easy to misread. Name the date and time in readable text, and repeat it in the relevant booking confirmation and pre-arrival information.

Explain how somebody reserves a receiver and whether that is separate from reserving a seat or touch-tour place. Tell them what happens after the request. A form submission that disappears without confirmation leaves the buyer unsure whether the equipment will be waiting. Have a monitored contact route for questions and a clear way to correct a booking mistake.

Ask for the information needed to make the arrangement. That could be the performance, booking reference, number of receivers and the person's preferred way to discuss equipment or assistance. Avoid inviting medical histories into a general notes box. Decide who needs the request details for delivery and keep private correspondence out of the public seating plan and general staff chat.

Be clear about price and any equipment conditions before purchase. For this guide's sample below, the organizer includes description and receiver use with the performance ticket. Your own pricing and booking arrangements need to meet the obligations that apply where you operate. Don't improvise a separate access charge because the supplier's bill arrives late.

If you ask people to reserve by a particular date, explain why and how later requests will be handled. An equipment-order deadline helps planning. It shouldn't silently become a blanket statement that anybody booking afterwards cannot ask for support. Give staff an actual process for checking remaining provision and explaining what can be confirmed.

Check seat choice with the attendee and the venue. Some partially sighted people may want particular viewing conditions as well as description. Others may prioritise an aisle, companion seating or a route for an assistance dog. Our guide to accessible seats and companion tickets explains the wider allocation decisions. Confirm which offered seats have passed the listening test before attaching a description promise to them.

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative's accessible events guidance recommends asking about requirements and providing accessible information and materials in advance. Apply that to the buying task itself. Keep essential details as page text, use meaningful headings and links, and ask relevant testers to complete the actual booking and request process.

Promotion also needs to reach the people who might use the service. Work with the provider and relevant local organizations on appropriate listings and communication. Give them the confirmed facts and a link to the current offer. Don't ask a community partner to promote a described performance while the production team is still deciding whether it can happen.

Build the budget around the complete service

Get a quote for the agreed work before deciding what the event can afford. Preparation, rehearsal, travel, delivery, technical installation and audience support may involve different people and charging arrangements. Ask what is included, what could change and when you need to confirm decisions that affect the price.

Budget the event team's work as well. Someone needs to answer requests, manage equipment reservations, brief staff and handle changes. The venue's ordinary staffing might cover part of that, but check the duties rather than assuming an already-paid employee has unlimited spare time. If the same person must guide tour participants and issue receivers elsewhere, you have a staffing conflict to resolve.

Consider this invented budget for one described performance. All amounts are in US dollars and are planning assumptions, not supplier rates or a recommended spend. Description preparation and delivery cost $1,200. Equipment and technical support cost $500. Paid audience testing costs $180. Additional front-of-house cover costs $160, and accessible programme preparation costs $60. Those selected costs total $2,100.

Now imagine the performance has 300 tickets available for sale. Spreading $2,100 over all 300 would be $7 per available ticket. If only 240 tickets are sold, the same cost is $8.75 per sold ticket. Neither calculation says that price increases are possible or that a buyer should pay an access surcharge. It shows why your event budget needs a realistic sales assumption.

Look at the whole event plan when deciding how to fund the provision. That may include existing income, an access budget, confirmed support or changes to discretionary spending. Keep speculative sponsorship separate from money already committed. If funding falls through after you've sold the described performance, you still need to address the promise you've made.

For a series, ask which costs can genuinely be reused. A prepared introduction may need revision when the cast or design changes. Equipment might need moving and retesting. Staff still need briefing at each venue. Compare quotes for the actual repeat work rather than dividing a first-performance bill by the number of dates and assuming the rest will be nearly free.

Don't judge the service by an invented sales uplift. You can record actual reservations, delivery costs, feedback and repeat attendance where you have a suitable basis to do so. You can't turn a handful of requests into a reliable forecast of additional revenue, or infer that low take-up means preparation was unnecessary. First check whether people could find and book the offer at all.

A worked plan for one evening performance

Let's put the decisions together. Imagine a fictional production called The Last Platform at River Theatre. It has a 7pm Saturday performance, an interval from 7:50pm to 8:10pm and an expected finish at 9pm. These are example timings for this production, not recommended durations or a universal schedule.

The organizer commissions live description in English for the whole performance, an audio introduction and a separately reserved touch tour. The provider agrees the preparation access with production. The event lead holds the current scope, the technician owns equipment readiness and the front-of-house supervisor owns collection and audience support. The stage manager confirms the tour route and communicates production changes.

For this example, the touch tour is planned from 5:45pm to 6:15pm, with its meeting point staffed from 5:30pm. Equipment collection opens at 5:30pm and remains available for later arrivals through the performance. Tour participants are asked to collect receivers before the meeting time where possible. A separate staff member handles equipment while the tour team runs the activity.

The auditorium opens at 6:15pm. The audio introduction starts through the receivers at 6:40pm and finishes before the 7pm start. That leaves 25 minutes after the tour ends for participants to reach seats and prepare for the introduction. Whether that is enough must be checked for the actual route, facilities and participants. If rehearsal shows it isn't, the team changes the plan before confirming the public times.

At the technical rehearsal, the team checks the described feed in every seating area it will offer, tests a receiver replacement and rehearses the communication with stage management. The provider confirms that the current introduction and description match the production. The event lead records remaining actions and only confirms readiness when those actions have been resolved.

The supervisor briefs collection staff using the actual receivers. Staff demonstrate the power and volume controls, explain the return point and check that each listener can hear the expected feed before leaving the desk. They offer assistance without assuming it is wanted. Equipment checks, cleaning and charging follow the supplier's instructions, with faulty units removed from available stock.

At the interval, a support staff member is available at the agreed foyer location and the team checks any reported problem. The technician monitors the service throughout the performance. Collection and return duties have separate cover from audience assistance whenever those tasks overlap. The collection point remains staffed for returns after the show until issued equipment is accounted for or any outstanding return has an agreed follow-up. Staff cover and venue access are booked for that work, rather than ending at the 9pm curtain.

One useful final rehearsal is to ask each lead what happens if the person they expect to call is busy. The event lead needs a deputy. Front of house needs an immediate way to reach the technician. Stage management needs to know who can request a hold and who decides it. Put those arrangements in the duty brief so they work when someone is dealing with another problem.

Sample information for the event page and reminder email

Here's how that fictional plan could read to a buyer after the arrangements have been confirmed. Replace every production detail with your own checked information. In a real listing, include the full performance date and working contact details, and link the access guide by its descriptive title.

The Last Platform's Saturday 7pm performance has live audio description in English. A trained describer explains important visual action through individual receivers during the performance. Use of a receiver and the description service is included with your performance ticket. Other performances in this run do not have audio description.

Please reserve a receiver when booking, or contact our access team with your performance date and booking reference. We will confirm the reservation and discuss any equipment questions with you. Please contact us at least one week before the performance where possible to help us plan equipment. Later requests are welcome, and we will check what can be arranged before confirming availability.

A separate touch tour runs from 5:45pm to 6:15pm. Places must be reserved and confirmed separately from your performance ticket and receiver. The tour explores selected props and costume materials with the production team. Contact us before booking the tour to discuss the route, participation or assistance you would find useful.

The tour meeting point and receiver collection desk are in the entrance foyer and are staffed from 5:30pm. Please collect your receiver before the tour where possible. Auditorium doors open at 6:15pm. The audio introduction begins through the receivers at 6:40pm, ahead of the 7pm performance. Collection is also available for later arrivals; ask foyer staff for the access desk.

The performance has an interval from approximately 7:50pm to 8:10pm and is expected to finish at 9pm. Return your receiver to the foyer desk afterwards. If you need help during the performance, speak to an usher, who can contact the access team. Please read our arrival and access guide for entrance, seating, facilities and departure information.

The same facts can form a short reminder email, with the date, collection location and introduction time near the top. Link the current introduction and access guide where available. Our guide to writing an event accessibility guide covers the wider visit information, so you can keep this message focused on using the described performance.

Loopyah's attendee email tools let you send event updates to ticket holders and send yourself a test first. Use them to deliver the checked performance information to the relevant buyers. The event team still confirms receiver and tour reservations through its agreed process, and should check how information reaches people attending through a group booking.

Agree what staff will do when something goes wrong

A receiver failure and a lost description feed need different responses. For an individual faulty unit, staff should know where tested replacements are held and how to reach the attendee without unnecessary disruption. For a wider feed failure, the technician needs to investigate the system while the event lead and stage manager consider the consequence for the performance.

Agree this process before doors open. Who can report a problem? How does front of house contact the technician? Who decides whether to hold or pause? How will affected listeners receive an update they can use? A message on a staff radio is useful internally, but it doesn't tell somebody wearing a silent receiver what is happening.

Don't promise that every technical problem can be solved immediately. Establish the support you can actually provide and the authority to offer booking remedies where appropriate. If the described service is unavailable before the performance, tell affected buyers promptly, explain what is confirmed and discuss their options. A programme synopsis isn't equivalent to the live service they booked.

A provider absence needs its own plan. Ask what cover is available, how the substitute would prepare and when cancellation would have to be communicated. Somebody reading unfamiliar notes into a microphone at short notice may not deliver an acceptable replacement. The event lead should make that decision with the provider and production team, rather than putting an unprepared colleague in the booth.

Keep emergency arrangements with the venue's assessed event plan. Don't assume the description receiver is an emergency communication system or that the describer is responsible for evacuation instructions. Explain the staff roles and communication arrangements relevant to attendees through the appropriate briefing and individual conversations. If the venue's plan changes, the access arrangements need checking with it.

After the show, record what actually happened. Separate faulty equipment, description issues, unclear information and staffing problems. Ask listeners for specific feedback through an accessible route, without making the next visit dependent on completing a survey. The useful question is what prevented somebody from following or using the service and what needs to change before you offer it again.

Before the next on-sale date, bring that record to the producer, venue and provider. Confirm the new production version, preparation access, equipment plan and public wording. Reuse the decisions that still work, and resolve the ones that didn't before another buyer commits their evening to the performance.