1st Edition
Innovation in Audio Description Research
This state-of-the-art volume covers recent developments in research on audio description, the professional practice dedicated to making audiovisual products, artistic artefacts and performances accessible to those with supplementary visual and cognitive needs. Harnessing the power of the spoken word, the projects covered in this book illustrate the value of audiovisual content descriptions not only in relation to the role of breaking down physical, cognitive and emotional barriers to entertainment, but also in informing broader media practices such as video archive retrieval, video gaming development and application software creation.
The first section maps out the field, discusses key concepts in relation to new developments and illustrates their application; the second part focuses on new audiences for AD, whilst the third part covers the impact of new technologies. Throughout this book contributors focus on methodological innovation, regarding audio description as an opportunity to engage in multi-dimensional linguistic and user-experience analysis, as it intersects with and contributes to a range of other research disciplines.
This book is key reading for researchers, advanced students and practitioners of audiovisual translation, media, film and performance studies, as well as those in related fields including cognition, narratology, computer vision and artificial intelligence.
List of Contributors
Introduction: Mapping new horizons in audio description research
Sabine Braun and Kim Starr
Chapter 1: Immersion, presence and engagement in audio described material
Louise Fryer and Agnieszka Walczak
Chapter 2: New approaches to accessibility and audio description in museum environments
Christopher Taylor and Elisa Perego
Chapter 3: Easier audio description: exploring the potential of Easy-to-Read principles in simplifying AD
Rocío Bernabé and Pilar Orero
Chapter 4: Film language, film experience and film interpretation in a reception study comparing conventional and interpretative audio description styles
Floriane Bardini
Chapter 5: Audio description 2.0: re-versioning audiovisual accessibility to assist emotion recognition
Kim Starr and Sabine Braun
Chapter 6: Towards a user specification for immersive audio description
Chris Hughes, Pilar Orero and Sonali Rai
Chapter 7: Mainstreaming audio description through technology
Anna Jankowska
Chapter 8: Comparing human and automated approaches to visual storytelling
Sabine Braun, Kim Starr and Jorma Laaksonen
Index
Biography
Sabine Braun is Professor of Translation Studies and Director of the Centre for Translation Studies at the University of Surrey (UK).
Kim Starr is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Translation Studies, University of Surrey.
A well-balanced volume providing a timely reflection on how far AD has come in the past decade, both in terms of its practice, its contexts, and as a field of research. Impressive in breadth, this will doubtlessly be a baseline for the field in years to come.
Jan-Louis Kruger, Macquarie University, Australia
This volume mirrors new and exciting developments in the robustly developing area of audio description. It is a much needed and very useful guide to all the latest technologies, new applications and new audiences.
Agnieszka Chmiel, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland
