The short answer
List the essential facts that the visuals supply, then decide how the audio will convey them. Integrate those facts into the main narration when possible, or plan description in genuine pauses and provide an appropriate described version. Write and review a cue sheet against the final cut. Captions transcribe audio; they do not by themselves explain an unspoken chart.
What you’ll take away
- Describe the evidence needed for the conclusion, not every visual ornament.
- A blank space in your script may already contain meaningful sound.
- If the explanation cannot fit, revise the timing or presentation rather than speaking over the original.
Find information that exists only on screen
Play the proposed sequence and list which facts disappear when the picture is unavailable. These can include a chart’s values and units, an instruction being replaced, the identity of the current speaker or a meaningful action. A brand color and decorative transition may not carry the argument. Decide using the purpose of this video rather than the amount of animation.
Our constructed example shows a change in source instructions during a thirty-second creator recap. The original voice says “Now the number makes sense” while the screen distinguishes a display count from different people reached. That line alone does not communicate the distinction. No real video, viewer or accessibility outcome was tested for this planning example.
Make the main narration do useful work
W3C describes integrated description: put necessary visual information into the main audio during planning. Replace vague references such as “this blue bar” with the fact the reader needs. “The fictional post has one hundred displays and sixty different reached accounts” conveys units more directly than announcing a color. Do not add a causal story that the chart does not establish.
Write the labels before recording. This can remove the need for a second voice to repeat the same point later. It does not mean reading every on-screen word or eliminating useful silence. Keep quoted speech, significant sounds and the distinction between observation and interpretation intact.
Use a complete original description cue sheet
The table is an original planning worksheet with proposed words and explicit conflicts. Its times are scene references for this invented script, not a claim that the words were recorded or fit every speaker. Read them aloud with the actual cut before choosing a delivery method.
The last row is intentionally unresolved: there is no genuine pause to add another sentence. A useful plan records that problem. It does not label a collision as complete simply because all the visual facts appear somewhere in a text file.
| Scene and visual fact | Proposed audio | Timing decision |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5s: title says year so far | “A fictional 2026 example, January through October.” | Integrate in the opening. |
| 5–12s: 100 displays / 60 reached accounts | “One hundred displays do not mean one hundred different people; sixty accounts were reached.” | Replace vague “this number” narration. |
| 12–22s: source instruction changes | “The revised instruction opens the original post’s analytics and keeps its exact label.” | Include the meaningful change in the main explanation. |
| 22–30s: a final limitation appears during speech | “This observation does not establish why distribution changed.” | No spare pause: shorten other speech, extend the cut or supply a described version. |
Choose a delivery the destination can actually provide
If descriptions fit genuine pauses, plan them without covering speech or important sound. If they do not fit, a revised or extended version may be necessary. Do not promise that a separate selectable description track will be available in every social video player. Verify the real destination’s controls and make the described version clearly identifiable if that is the chosen route.
A descriptive transcript can offer another way to access the information, especially when a reader cannot use either audio or visuals. It is still a different presentation from synchronized audio description. Choose the combination around the users and media, not a convenient file-count checklist. This guide does not certify a particular WCAG level or legal compliance.
Review the final audio and picture together, then separately
Use the cue sheet to confirm that the correct values, labels and changes are conveyed at the appropriate moment. Listen without watching and check whether the conclusion has its supporting information. Then compare against the picture to catch a stale date, reversed value or description of a scene that was cut. This author check cannot substitute for relevant users’ feedback.
After a video revision, recheck descriptions, captions and transcript as related versions. A correct description of the first cut can become misleading after two scenes are reordered. Preserve the final script, cue sheet and media reference so another editor can understand what was intended.
Recognize a finished plan and its remaining work
A finished planning record names the visual facts, proposed words, actual available time, delivery choice and unresolved collisions. For the example, the necessary next edit is to make room for the final limitation before recording. “All rows have text” would miss that open problem.
Recording, mixing, playback and destination checks come afterward. We have supplied an original complete worksheet and decision example, not a tested described production or an observed improvement in comprehension. Keep that boundary visible when reporting what has actually been delivered.
Sources & product references
Product details reflect the publication date. External features and interfaces may change.
