A friend of mine recently created a petition urging Disney to add audio descriptions to the movies that they produce. Audio descriptions, when done well, can make a blind person feel like they're part of the action, just like the visual effects and action can for a sighted person.
The best audio descriptions don't just list what's on the screen or even try to describe the visual elements of the screen exactly, they recreate the experience of visually watching a movie using sound. Producing high-quality audio descriptions isn't easy, and is just as much an art as creating the original movie. For that reason, it's difficult to imagine how it could be automated, but I bet we researchers could provide better tools and interfaces for helping the average video producer better create audio descriptions for their YouTube videos. And who knows, some of those tools might be useful for the pros too.
For now, sign the petition, but keep thinking how you might better support the creation of audio descriptions through research!
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