The audio description professional. A sociological overview and new training perspectives

Audio description (AD) for people with sight loss is a mediation service that connects them with visual reality through the work of a still not fully recognized professional figure: the audio describer. In spite of the current promotion of an inclusive society and the growing need for accessible products, AD professionals are still few and often untrained. To address this situation, the European project ADLAB PRO aimed to define a curriculum for ensuring professional AD implementation in all cultural and media sectors, and to create flexible and customizable training materials to develop or upgrade the AD professional profile. In this chapter, we will rely on project results to outline the current AD training practices in Europe, the sociological profile of the AD professional, and his/her required skills and competences. As to the training, we will answer questions about how necessary it is, who actually provides it, to what extent universities should be involved, and what describers think would be most useful, thus revealing the complexity and the hybridity of the AD professional as well as the need for a new training perspective.