MET workshops
A picture is worth a thousand words... or is it? An introduction to audio description
With the European Accessibility Act taking effect, the need to provide equal access to media has once again come to the fore. For language professionals, this opens up a whole range of opportunities to diversify the services they offer. Audiovisual translation (AVT) is a key factor in this process, which includes audio description (AD), a practice that makes different types of multimodal texts accessible to and enjoyable for people who are blind or have low vision. This workshop will provide a general introduction to AD and its basic concepts, existing guidelines and legislation, and the skills needed by a professional audio describer.
Facilitator: Ralph Pacinotti
Purpose: To introduce participants to the basic rules for AD – namely what, when and how to describe content – and enable them to develop skills (like multimodal text analysis, information selection, verbalization and editing skills) that are also relevant in many other contexts.
Description: The workshop will start with a general overview of the concept and types of AD and where it can be applied. Participants will learn more about the needs, expectations and preferences of the primary audience and the reasons why other social groups may also benefit from AD. Special emphasis will be placed on current standards and guidelines, with a discussion of key concepts like “equivalence” and “subjectivity”. After outlining what AD is in different contexts (screen, live, museums, etc.), the workshop will focus more specifically on AD for screen products. Participants will develop an understanding of the challenges specific to this mode and the role of the describer for screen AD in the overall workflow. Above all, they will learn what information to prioritize, how much information is necessary and what language to use. In the second half of the workshop, participants will practise these skills with an exercise.
Participant profile: Language professionals who are new to AD and wish to learn the basics to see if they might be interested in pursuing a specialization in this field. Prior experience in other AVT modes (e.g. subtitling) is an advantage, but not a requirement.
Outcome: Participants will be able to assess the challenges that multimodal texts pose to people who are blind or have low vision and understand how AD makes audiovisual content accessible to the target audience. They will also be able to formulate descriptions and choose the appropriate AD strategies, with a focus on linguistic and textual skills.
Preparation: Participants will be asked to bring a laptop. The video used for the exercise will be made available in advance.
About the facilitator: Ralph Pacinotti holds an MA in Translation Studies. An (audiovisual) translation trainer at the University Institute for Translation and Interpreting Studies Carlo Bo in Bologna, he was involved in the EU-funded ADLAB and ADLAB Pro projects and has been holding seminars about AVT, especially audio description, at university level since 2018. He gave a presentation at the International Conference on Audio Visual Translation–Intermedia 2019. His research interests include AVT history, audio description, and the didactics of AVT.
