Attachment_AudioDescription.docx

National Park Service Harpers Ferry Center Wayside Exhibit Audio Description Specifications

Section 2 Technical Specification for Audio Description Production

SECTION 1. WAYSIDE EXHIBIT AUDIO DESCRIPTION

The text and image content of each new wayside exhibit is most often a custom design to tell a specific interpretive story at a specific site. Audio description enables visitors who are blind or who have low vision to enjoy and make meaningful connections to national park site resources. Audio description provides an audible narrative that reveals not only the content of each wayside exhibit, its text and images, but also describes what sighted visitors see in the surrounding vistas.

1.1 General Requirements

No later than with the submittal of the Wayside Proposal, the Contractor shall develop and present an AUDIO DESCRIPTION PRODUCTION PLAN (a document) that outlines the audio descriptive elements of the wayside and the plan of action for research, script development, talent selection, recording, navigational aids for visitors with poor sight, recommendations for hardware to play the audio descriptive content, and other aspects of audio description production.

Actual recording of the description of each site and each new wayside shall be done after installation, so that the audio describer is working from what actually exists for sighted visitors. This requires travel to the actual sites where the new exhibits have been installed.

All audio description shall be written, narrated, and recorded by trained, professional audio description providers.

All audio description work performed under this contract shall conform to accepted industry standards and practices. All work must be in accordance with Attachment B, Programmatic Accessibility Guidelines.

1.2 Specific Requirements

1.2A Draft Audio Description Script

Upon acceptance of the AUDIO DESCRIPTION PRODUCTION PLAN, the Contractor shall prepare a draft script. This draft script shall clearly indicate the description of the elements to be audio described for each wayside location, the proposed narrator for each block of narration, and the approximate duration of each audio track.

The draft script shall also differentiate between audio description and wayside exhibit text.

1.2.B Final Script

The contractor shall prepare a final script for the audio-described tour.

1.2C Rough Production Cut

The contractor shall produce a rough cut of the audio description. Approved narrator(s) voice is not required at this stage. The rough cut shall be of sufficient quality to demonstrate the proposed audio description.

1.2.D Approval of Narrators

The contractor shall submit voice samples of the proposed male or female narrators.

1.2.E Fine Production Cut

Upon approval of the rough cut, the contractor shall record the audio description soundtrack in a professional studio using the approved narrator(s).

1.2.F Master Production Cut

The contractor shall deliver the final approved audio description soundtrack as specified below under “Production Specifications.”

SECTION 2. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR AUDIO DESCRIPTION PRODUCTION

2.1 All digital audio shall be created at the sampling rate of 48 KHz.

2.2 Author and prepare all digital audio files for playback on commercial grade MP-3 players. (256KB bit rate/DRM free).

2.3 The final audio mix for the audio-described tour shall be mo.

2.4 The final approved program shall be an MP-3 digital audio file and as a WAV or AIFF audio file.