After, losing my vision I found myself interested in watching (listening) only to television shows/movies I had watched before losing my vision. I watch the shows because I could visualize in my mind what I remembered seeing when I watch the show before my vision loss.


When I began my education and training program of learning to live as a blind person, I discovered a service that provides what is known as narrated programs. Narrated programs consisted of television shows and movies produced with descriptive dialogue. A narrator fills in missing information that a visually impaired/blind individual watching would be unable to understand without an explanation of what was happening on the television screen.


The Narrative TV Network offers narrated (audio described) programming for the vision impaired on the Internet (YouTube.com) and in conjunction with digital (cable), TV companies such as Comcast.


The Narrative TV Network website contains a link to a TV Guide of all the narrated network programming with a listing of the networks/channels offering narrative shows in the USA and around the world. The TV Guide lists what programs air and the day and time of showing.


TV Guide located at:
www.narrativetv.com


Any visually impaired/blind individual or family member/friend who has Internet access can obtain narrated television shows/movies free of charge. A website called YouTube contains a channel called the Narrative TV Network.


The Narrative TV Network (NTN) provides over 200 videos narrated for the vision impaired. The network uploads new shows or movies on a regular basis.


The list of programs includes a variety of offerings such as documentaries, movies, television shows and educational programs. The TV Guide lists includes programs for all ages and interests.


Examples of shows posted on the www.youtube.com website titled the Narrated Television Network include:

1. NTN - 133The Birth of a Blue Whale

2. Inside of North Korea – Lisa Ling follows an eye doctor on a ten-day visit to North Korea to perform 1,000 surgeries for people with cataracts. During the ten days the reporter and camera crew records, what life is like in the country of North Korea.

3. NTN132 - A Journey in to Iceland’s Volcano

4. NTN5 – A Jurassic Sea. A research team discovers pre-historic animal remains in the Arctic.

5. NTN4 – Ultimate Factories: Building a New York City Subway Car.

6. NTN6 – Ultimate factories: Building a Lamborghini.

7. NTN11 – National geographic: The Free Mason’s – A Secret Society.

8. The Ultimate Gift – A full version movie.

9. NTN12 – National geographic: Inside the State department

10. Dog Town – Second chances.

11. NTN46 – The solar system: Earth’s Invisible shield.

12. NTN49 – Inside 911: The Zero Hour.

13. What Do You Do When You See A Blind Person?

14. NTN102-1 – “This Is the Army” – Part one of a six-part movie by Erving Berlin.

15. NTN61 - Easter Island Underworld: Discovering a Lost People. A group of National geographic Explorers investigates a maze of caves discovered under Easter Island.


The direct web address to the YouTube Narrated TV Network is:
www.youtube.com/user/NarrativeTV/videos


Editor’s note: I have Comcast cable TV in my home and enjoy the audio described channels (channels 190 to 194). Each channel provides different programs on different days of the week. A list of what programs are offered on what day can be found on the TV Guide schedule on the NarrativeTV Network website.