NNELS creates Human Narrated Audiobooks on demand for Patron Requests. As a Production Assistant you will be assigned to write image descriptions for the narrators.

Tickets for titles will be in the NNELS Narration Production Queue/Waiting Room, and will be assigned to you by the Production Coordinator.

The ticket will include a comment with the following information:

• number of images
• complexity of images
• deadline for descriptions

The deadline is created based on type/number of images and the average time it takes to complete the descriptions. A breakdown of the average time per image and type is as follows:

• Complex image = 35 minutes per image
• Medium image = 20 minutes per image
• Simple image = 3 minutes per image

Each assigned title will have two documents:

1. Original Ebook for reference (for context)
2. Word Doc with images in order (write all descriptions in this file)

These files will be uploaded to a subfolder in the Unedited folder in Cyberduck. The folder is labelled: Narration Images.

You do not insert the Image Description in the Alt-text box. Simply enter the description below the image under the provided heading. There is no need to create a Google Doc. All your work will go into the provided Word Doc.

Begin each description with the phrase: BEGIN IMAGE DESCRIPTION (Location) and end each description with the phrase: END IMAGE DESCRIPTION.

After each description, if there is a caption, transcribe the caption beginning with the phrase: Caption Reads: …

See video on How to Set Up Word Doc for Human Narration Image Descriptions.

Once you are finished, upload the completed file to the edited folder, and pass the ticket back to the Production Coordinator.

The biggest difference between Image Descriptions for Human Narration and Image Descriptions for Alt-text is the length and amount of detail included in your description.

You want to keep your descriptions between 2-4 sentences long.

Since the descriptions will be shorter, your descriptions will be more general than when you are describing Alt-text for an EPUB3.

The same guidelines for how to write descriptions for Alt-text apply to writing Simple and Medium Descriptions for Human Narration. You can find these guidelines on the page for Images: Alt-text and Image Description

If you are stuck, or unsure of how to describe any image, please post the image along with your question to the Alt-text Q&A

We do not do traditional long descriptions for Human Narration.

If you have a Long Description, simply write the entire description below the image and use narrative style (i.e. no special formatting such as tables.)

Try to keep the description as short as possible (250-500 words on average).

Since this is significantly shorter than Long Descriptions for Alt-text, a lot of detail will need to be sacrificed. You will need to be more general in your description, and summarize more than if you were writing a Long Description for Alt-text.

It is okay to make short paragraphs (2 sentences) with the description to help the narrator read it more clearly.

The same guidelines for how to write descriptions for Alt-text apply to writing Long Descriptions for Human Narration. You can find these guidelines on the page for Complex Images and Long Descriptions

If you are stuck, or unsure of how to describe any image, please post the image along with your question to the Alt-text Q&A