Descriptive Video Service

A service that provides audio descriptions of visual content in television programs, films, and other video media for blind and low-vision viewers. Originally developed by WGBH in Boston in the 1980s, DVS was one of the earliest systematic efforts to make visual media accessible through narrated descriptions. The term is sometimes used generically to refer to any described video service, though it originated as a specific WGBH trademark. In Canada, described video is mandated by the CRTC for major broadcasters, and in the United States, the FCC requires described programming on major broadcast and cable networks.