This evening I opted to watch Control and it made me realize how much I miss Descriptive Video (DVS) when it isn’t available.
As movies go Control was certainly not one I’d recommend. That said it is a bit frustrating to sit through a movie, only to have it end with the sound of a gun and not know which character or characters die at the end.
A recent article in the Quad-City Times gives a good explanation of how DVS works. The short version is that movie goers that are blind get a small walkman-like device that is used to hear a special audio track for the movie. Gaps in dialog are filled with descriptions of actions, scenes and character appearance. A sample from The Lion King is available online.