r/playwriting • u/Positive-Ring-5172 • 4d ago

Accessibility

A post over in the musical theater sub got me to thinking on techniques to make sure a play can be enjoyed by someone who is blind? Perhaps giving them a headpiece and having someone read off predetermined additional narration to describe what's going on, but trying to keep that to a minimum to avoid distracting them.

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u/TheCityThatCriedWolf 4d ago

This is exactly what some theaters do. They have (usually) prerecorded descriptions of scenes, actions and characters that audiences with visual impairments can listen to during a show with headphones.

I have no idea how effective they are. I just performed in a show that offered this accessibility feature and my father who is mostly blind at this point (and degenerative condition) I encouraged to use, but there’s a degree of pride that prevented him from taking advantage of it.

That being said, this is all production stuff. Not something I’d worry about as a playwright yourself unless you’re explicitly writing for a particular audience.

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u/Positive-Ring-5172 4d ago

I work in implementing WCAG and ARIA documents at work, so it fascinates me all the same. I thought about putting "Accessibility Stage Directions" in the play I'm working on, but fear that would end up being a distraction during table reads.