Audio description and other access services for blind children
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AUDIO DESCRIPTION FOR CHILDREN: cinema, television and beyond Elena Di Giovanni University of Macerata, Italy
Transcript of Audio description and other access services for blind children
AUDIO DESCRIPTION FOR CHILDREN:
cinema, television and beyond
Elena Di GiovanniUniversity of Macerata,
Italy
What is AD / VD?• AD:
“transforms images into vivid narration” (Matamala and Orero 2007)
• AD IS:a “verbalization of the visual codes” (Kruger, 2012: 70)
an “additional narration” (Wikipedia)
a “descriptive narration” (University of Washington’s website, on accessibility)
“an additional commentary” (RNIB Brochure on audio description 2011)
Research in AD• Booming!• EU Projects: DTV4All, ADLAB, HBB4All
• Books: - Audio Describing Silence. Lost for Words (forthcoming)- Audio Description. New Perspectives Illustrated (2014)- L’Audio Descrizione Filmica per I Ciechi e gli Ipovedenti (2014)- Audiodeskription als Partielle Translation. Modell und Methode (2014)
Research in AD for children
• Palomo (2008)• Walczack and Szarkowska (2012) • Orero (2012)• Di Giovanni (forthcoming)
The contexts of AD
• Cinema• Television• Educational material• Websites• Theatre (operas, puppet shows, etc.)• Museums• Other cultural spaces / forms of entertainment
AD around the globe: an overview
• What happens in Europe? www.adlabproject.eu
• USA• Australia• U.K.• Spain• Poland• Italy
AD legislation in Europe
USA – general• Video description for TV (4 hours per week)
• DVDs (titles available for purchase and subscription)
• Museums – a lot of them are accessible http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/visit/accessibility
• Theatres – all sorts of performances
• Other: the White House
USA - children• TV – Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, TBS, TNT, USA (4
hours per week)
• DVDs - for purchase and subscription
• Online - audio described cartoons
• Theatres
• Theme parks !
Disneyworld - Florida• “Disney Parks have an unwavering commitment
to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment and accessible experiences for guests” www.disneyparks.disney.go.com
• Handheld Device that offers assistive listening, captioning and audio description
• Descriptions are provided for outdoor environments, routes, moving attractions
Australia• TV – recently approved law • DVDs – highest number in the world (NZ)
• Museums • Theatres • CHILDREN
U.K. – European leader • RNIB• TV – 2013, 6,000 TV programmes with AD• Cinemas – approx 400 across the country• DVDs – most of them are out with AD• Theatres – many• Museums – quite a few• Sports venues
U.K. - children• AD is available on all major animated films
for cinema release and the track is then transferred onto the DVD automatically (yourlocalcinema.com)
• AD on children’s TV programmes is widely available on the BBC and ITV kids channels – approx. 10% of programming (radiotimes.com)
• Theatre: all major musicals and other shows
Spain – news !
Spain - general• TV – AD since 1995• Cinema - cineaccessible.com• DVDs – Purchase, subscription• Museums – at least 25 are accessible for the blind/visually impaired (spain.info)
• Theatres – at least 10 venues, on the increase
Spain - children• TV – an undefined percentage • DVDs – Zipi y Zape, Justin y la Espada, Tadeo Jones, Asterix y Obelix
• Theatres – Teatralia• Amusements – Normas UNE regulating accessible children’s parks
Poland - children• TV - Since 2011, several channels offer shows
for children with AD (MiniMini+, teleTOON+)
• DVD - A few titles are available, e.g. Madagascar 2, Horton Hears a Who!
• Cinema - Screenings are occasionally organized
• Theatre: Performances organised from time to time
Italy• TV: approx 400 hours of AD per year• DVDs: purchase, subscription, Movie Reading
App• Theatres: a number of projects• Museums: on the increase
• CHILDREN: 1 DVD available for purchase, 50 through subscription, TV not on a regular basis, touch tours.
Advocating for blind children
How is AD done?• Audio descriptions should be timed to avoid
dialogue and other important audio elements.• A program will only be deemed to be audio
described if it is audio described in its entirety, although the level of description within individual scenes will be determined by the existing soundtrack.
• Descriptions should be in the present tense, and in clear, simple language.
• Descriptions should be neutral, avoiding interpretation, value judgments and aesthetic opinions.
(Media Access Australia)
Guidelines for children AD?
• Where a description is being written specifically for children’s programmes the vocabulary and sentence construction should be suited to the age group for which the programme is intended. The tone of the narration should also reflect the tone of the programme. Where the voice is describing an exciting adventure sequence, the sense of adventure should be apparent in the voice but without undue exaggeration.
• Interesting adjectives and expressive adverbs should be used where possible.
• ‘Goldfish with long curly eyelashes... a baby deer with big brown eyes...’
(OfCom)•
Pinocchio – Enzo D’Alò• Characters
• Places
• Information sequences
From screenplay to AD
A reception test: • DVD + questionnaire • 10 questionnaires were returned• 10 questions (6 closed, 4 open)• Average age: 10
Questions on:
• Sequence of information
• Characters’ descriptions
• What image do you remember best?
To conclude:Things are stirring,
but a lot more can be done.
ResearchDedicated guidelines
PromotionAwareness
