Writing Audio Descriptions in Third-Person Narrative Style
Writing Audio Descriptions in Third-Person Narrative Style records a distinct W3C-supported accessibility writing task while keeping implementation mechanics and unsupported house-style rules outside the guidance.
W3C WAI recommends writing audio description in a third-person narrative style, alongside its present-tense and active-voice guidance.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
This is an audio-description style recommendation, not a universal ban on first-person language in scripts, dialogue, quoted text, or other genres.
Further guidance
Content
Describe visible people and actions from an external narrative perspective rather than shifting into first-person narration unless the content itself requires a different approach.
Purpose
A consistent third-person perspective supports concise narration of what is visibly happening.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Description of Visual Information (opens in a new tab)World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) · W3C WAI guidance for writing descriptions of visual information needed to understand video.