Turn on audio descriptions on your Mac

When you turn on audio descriptions for a video, the scenes in the video are described to you.

Turn on audio descriptions for a video

If the video you're watching includes audio-described (AD) content, you can turn on audio descriptions in the same way that you turn on subtitles or change audio languages. This works with apps such as the Apple TV app, iTunes, QuickTime Player, DVD Player, and HTML5 video in Safari.

  1. Move your pointer over the video to reveal the playback controls.
  2. Click the captions bubble icon .
  3. Choose an audio-description track or other audio option.
    TV app player with Descriptions menu open

Some third-party apps and websites use custom controls for videos. If you know that a video includes audio descriptions but you don't see a way to turn them on, you might need to contact the app developer or website owner for more information.

Turn on audio descriptions for all videos by default

  1. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Accessibility.
  2. Click Descriptions in the sidebar.
  3. Select “Play audio descriptions when available”.
    Accessibility System Preferences Descriptions with ”Play audio descriptions when available.” selected

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