Use source-video minutes as the starting unit
Source duration is easy for clients to understand and gives agencies a consistent base for estimating. It is not the whole price. A ten-minute interview with long natural gaps is different from a ten-minute product launch filled with animated text, rapid cuts, and continuous dialogue.
Build a base rate per source minute, then apply clear adjustments for complexity, turnaround, language, and review. This makes proposals easier to compare without hiding difficult work inside an arbitrary flat fee.
What drives audio description cost
- Visual density: fast action, demonstrations, charts, and frequent purposeful text require more analysis and editing.
- Speech density: continuous dialogue can require shorter writing or extended pauses.
- Accuracy risk: medical, legal, financial, safety, and technical content needs stronger terminology review.
- Voice and language: additional voices, translations, pronunciation work, and language review increase production effort.
- Delivery package: a described MP4, mixed audio, narration-only audio, captions, transcript, and player implementation are separate outputs.
- Client revisions: source-video changes after approval can force retiming and rerendering.
- Turnaround: urgent delivery may require parallel review or after-hours work.
Separate automation from professional review
Automation can reduce the time needed to inspect frames, draft descriptions, synthesize narration, and render outputs. The client is still paying for a usable result. Include time to review names, on-screen text, scene meaning, timing, voice, and the published player.
An agency can offer service levels such as automated first pass, agency-reviewed output, and specialist-reviewed output. Define each level precisely. Do not label an unchecked export as professional review.
Protect the margin in your proposal
- Quote from the final locked source video.
- State the number of included languages, voices, and output formats.
- Include one clearly defined correction round.
- Treat editorial source changes as a new scope.
- Charge separately for player integration and page testing.
- Set a minimum project fee for short videos.
For a large library, price a pilot batch first. The pilot reveals average visual density, terminology needs, client-review speed, and the percentage of videos that require extended description.
Give the buyer a useful comparison
A lower per-minute price can exclude captions, translation, revisions, or final mixing. Show what is included. A clear package helps procurement compare like with like and reduces disputes after delivery.
Turn accessibility into recurring revenue
Agencies already producing monthly campaigns, training, or public information can attach accessible-video delivery to the same retainer. Keep a client glossary, approved voices, output template, and review checklist. Reuse the process, not unreviewed wording.
VoxDescribe prices processing in Minutes and produces four editable outputs from one upload. Review current VoxDescribe pricing or see the full production workflow.