Verbal description tours

Verbal description tours (also called "audio description tours") use language to convey the visual, spatial, and sensory dimensions of an artwork, object, exhibition, or space. While they are created with blind and low vision visitors in mind, they can offer an engaging way for any visitor to experience and interpret cultural content.

Verbal description tours and alt text both use language to communicate information to blind and low-vision visitors. However, alt text is intended to be a concise, objective description of a single image in your guide. Verbal description tours can be more interpretive and evocative, and can describe the entire object, space, or artwork.

This article provides guidance based on recommendations from accessibility organizations, museum and cultural institutions, international accessibility standards, and academic research.

In This Article

Content recommendations

Organize verbal descriptions in your guide

Examples

Additional resources

Content recommendations

Help visitors find their way

  • Begin your verbal description tour with an audio track that introduces the tour and explains what visitors can expect:
    • Describe the overall layout of the space, including the number of rooms or floors and any outdoor areas.
    • Explain where to find locations or amenities like the information desk and bathrooms.
    • For multi-floor spaces, provide clear directions for reaching ramps, stairs, or elevators.
  • Use consistent language and measurements when giving directions throughout the tour.
  • Present information in a consistent spatial sequence (for example, from left to right or from the general layout to finer details).
  • When describing a building, room, garden, or other physical environment, begin with information that helps visitors understand where they are and how the space is organized.
    • Start with the overall layout and scale.
    • Explain how visitors move through the space.
    • Describe important architectural features and materials.
    • Establish the setting before describing individual objects within it.
    • Include historical or cultural context when it contributes to understanding the space.

Follow a predictable structure

  • Start each verbal description with the most vital information:
    • For an artwork or object, begin with relevant label information such as the artist or maker, title, date, medium, dimensions, and collection information. 
    • Before moving into details, give the listener a sense of the whole. Briefly describe the primary subject, composition, mood, and prominent colors or visual features. This creates a framework that listeners can use to understand the more detailed description that follows.
  • Establish spatial relationships:
    • Explain where important elements appear in relation to one another.
    • Move in a consistent direction, such as left to right or top to bottom.
    • Use clock-face orientation when it is useful for communicating position.
    • Clarify whether something is above, below, behind, beside, or in front of another element.
    • Use familiar reference points when helping visitors navigate a physical space.
    • Prioritize the dominant or most meaningful features before moving into smaller details.

Write clearly and descriptively

  • Use clear, precise language:
    • Favor concrete descriptions over ambiguous or highly figurative language.
    • Explain specialized art, design, or architectural terms when you use them.
    • Include relevant information about technique, medium, artistic style, and historical or cultural context when it helps the listener understand the work.
  • Use sensory and embodied language:
    • Consider whether touch, sound, smell, movement, temperature, or other sensory references can help convey a visual quality or spatial experience. For example:
      • Describe a surface as “smooth like river stone.”
      • Invite visitors to imagine or make a physical movement that mirrors a form.
      • Mention the sound of a creaky historic floor, the smell of old books, or the warmth of sunlight when those details are relevant to the experience.
    • Some institutions may also incorporate tactile elements or direct visitors toward objects or architectural features that can safely be touched. Hear an example.
  • Include color mainly when it is important to understanding an artwork, object, or space. Use familiar color names and describe more specific shades when they contribute meaningful information. 

How much interpretation should a verbal description include?

You know your content and your audience best. Use the resources below to inform your organization's approach.

Organize verbal descriptions in your guide

There are several ways to organize verbal descriptions in your guide. The right approach will depend on your content and the needs of your visitors.

Regardless of how you organize your verbal descriptions, clearly identify the content so visitors can find it easily. You can include Verbal Description in the audio title, audio description, or both.

A dedicated verbal description tour

You can create a self-contained tour designed for blind and low-vision visitors that combines visual description with interpretation, history, orientation, and navigation.

An integrated approach

You can also incorporate verbal description into a broader guide experience.

For example, an Item might offer one audio track with visual description and another with additional interpretation or historical context. You can use related content to connect content about the same artwork, object, or location.

Further reading:

Examples

Explore verbal description projects created by museums and cultural institutions, including the ones below.

On Bloomberg Connects

Other

Additional resources

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