scholarly journals Participatory accessibility: Creating audio description with blind and non-blind children

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-169
Author(s):  
Elena Di Giovanni
Keyword(s):  
End Users ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Audio Description ◽  
Blind Children ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Partially Sighted

This article focuses on participatory accessibility by providing a definition, several theoretical insights and practical examples. By reporting on an inclusive and participatory experience carried out with blind, partially sighted and non-blind children in the drafting, recording and using audio description (AD) for a live opera performance, the aim is to bring into the spotlight the potential benefits of making accessibility a collective, open enterprise where end-users and creators are one. The article also advocates for the participatory turn in media accessibility research and practice.

scholarly journals Stories, journeys and smart maps: an approach to universal access

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xi Wang ◽  
Danny Crookes ◽  
Sue-Ann Harding ◽  
David Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Universal Access ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Emotional Engagement ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Reception Study ◽  
Audio Description ◽  
Museum Experience ◽  
Interactive Map ◽  
Partially Sighted

AbstractThis paper proposes a new approach to universal access based on the premise that humans have the universal capacity to engage emotionally with a story, whatever their ability. Our approach is to present the “story” of museum resources and knowledge as a journey, and then represent this journey physically as a smart map. The key research question is to assess the extent to which our “story” to journey to smart map’ (SJSM) approach provides emotional engagement as part of the museum experience. This approach is applied through the creation of a smart map for blind and partially sighted (BPS) visitors. Made in partnership with Titanic Belfast, a world-leading tourist attraction, the interactive map tells the story of Titanic’s maiden voyage. The smart map uses low-cost technologies such as laser-cut map features and software-controlled multi-function buttons for the audio description (AD). The AD is enhanced with background effects, dramatized personal stories and the ship’s last messages. The results of a reception study show that the approach enabled BPS participants to experience significant emotional engagement with museum resources. The smart model also gave BPS users a level of control over the AD which gave them a greater sense of empowerment and independence, which is particularly important for BPS visitors with varying sight conditions. We conclude that our SJSM approach has considerable potential as an approach to universal access, and to increase emotional engagement with museum collections. We also propose several developments which could further extend the approach and its implementation.

scholarly journals Audio Description from a discourse perspective: a socially relevant framework for research and training

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Braun
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Audio Description ◽  
Global Coherence ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Socially Relevant ◽  
Partially Sighted ◽  
And Training

The topic of this paper is Audio Description (AD) for blind and partially sighted people. I will outline a discourse-based approach to AD focussing on the role of mental modelling, local and global coherence, and different types of inferences (explicatures and implicatures). Applying these concepts to AD, I will discuss initial insights and outline questions for empirical research. My main aim is to show that a discourse-based approach to AD can provide an informed framework for research, training and practice.

Quality Assessment in Audio Description

2019 ◽  
pp. 155-177
Author(s):  
Louise Fryer
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assessment ◽  
Rating Scales ◽  
European Research ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Research Project ◽  
European Research Project ◽  
Audio Description ◽  
Training Materials ◽  
Professional Profile ◽  
Partially Sighted

Audio description (AD) is one of the younger modes of translation. It shares many similarities with interpreting, although AD users have specific needs because they are blind or partially sighted. As quality is of concern in both fields, this chapter explores the overlaps to see what can be learned for AD from research already carried out in interpreting. Macro and micro criteria suggested for each discipline are compared, and describer competencies are discussed in the context of AdlabPRO, a European research project that seeks to define the professional profile of an audio describer and develop training materials and courses. The chapter concludes that assessment protocols and rating scales developed for interpreting might be adopted for AD, after appropriate adaptation to accommodate areas where the fit is incomplete. These include synchrony and the need for the AD to be considered, not in isolation, but in relation to the existing audio elements of the source text (ST).

Accessibility

2011 ◽  
pp. 151-174
Author(s):  
Ardis Hanson
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Geographic Information ◽  
End Users ◽  
Information Resources ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Critical Component ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Geospatial Information ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
The Impact

With the creation of the Internet and the continued evolution of technologies in GIS, networking, and knowledge management, access to geospatial information is a critical component of research and practice. Interoperability is the “new paradigm for joining heterogeneous computer systems into synergistic units that facilitate a more efficient use of geographic information resources” (Harvey, Kuhn, Pundt, Bishr, & Riedemann, 1999, p. 213). As geographers reassess the description of geographic methodologies and techniques across different platforms in the online environment, so have researchers in other disciplines assessed the use of applied geographic techniques for a wide variety of analysis. Such efforts have led some researchers to use new descriptive classifications to identify functionalities in the new scholarship, such as in creating new ontologies for GIS (Fonseca, Davis, & Cmara, 2003; Goodchild, 2004; Goodchild & Haining, 2004; Mark, Skupin, & Smith, 2001). This chapter examines the impact of these new ontologies, reviews the impact standards have on access and issues for end-users in accessing geospatial information.

scholarly journals Seeing films through sound: Sound design, spatial audio, and accessibility for visually impaired audiences

2020 ◽  
pp. 026461962093593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Lopez ◽  
Gavin Kearney ◽  
Krisztián Hofstädter
Keyword(s):  
Creative Process ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
End Users ◽  
Short Film ◽  
First Person ◽  
Sound Design ◽  
Spatial Audio ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Audio Description

Enhancing Audio Description is a research project that explores how sound design, first-person narration, and binaural audio could be utilised to provide accessible versions of films for visually impaired audiences, presenting an alternative to current audio description (AD) practices. This article explores such techniques in the context of the redesign of the short film ‘Pearl’, by discussing the creative process as well as evaluating the feedback supplied by visually impaired audiences. The research presented in this article demonstrates that the methods proposed were as successful as traditional AD in terms of providing information, enjoyment, and accessibility to audiences, demonstrating that both practices can coexist and, as a result, cater for the different stylistic preferences of end users.

The Exploration of a “Tactile Aesthetic”

1976 ◽  
Vol 70 (9) ◽  
pp. 369-375
Author(s):  
Judith A. Rubin
Keyword(s):  
Life Experiences ◽  
Potential Usefulness ◽  
Projective Testing ◽  
Structure And Stability ◽  
Objective Standard ◽  
Blind Children ◽  
Partially Sighted

To investigate whether blind children have a “tactile aesthetic” qualitatively different from that of their sighted and partially sighted peers, a group of scrap wood sculptures created by blind, partially sighted, and sighted children were presented to judges who were children also blind, partially sighted, and sighted. The study suggested not a lack of aesthetic sensitivity in the blind, but rather a different aesthetic influenced as much by associative response to shape, form, structure, and stability relating to the individual's life experiences as by any “objective” standard of formal beauty. The potential usefulness of tactual stimuli for projective testing was implied, as well as a suggestion for modification in attitude and perception by sighted individuals who teach or present art to blind children.

Evaluation and collaboration in creating online audio descriptions of visual art

2021 ◽  
pp. 026461962110559
Author(s):  
María Olalla Luque Colmenero ◽  
Silvia Soler Gallego
Keyword(s):  
Visual Art ◽  
Formative Evaluation ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Summative Evaluation ◽  
Resource Quality ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Audio Description ◽  
Partially Sighted ◽  
Selection Of

AccesArte is an accessibility project that is part of the internship programme at Kaleidoscope, a non-profit organization founded by the authors to apply audio description (AD) research to developing accessibility programmes. The project consists of ADs of a thematic selection of visual artworks, and the development of eclectic and experience-oriented AD types. It uses online, open access videos and performs a formative and summative evaluation of the resources, with the latter being online, open and ongoing. The goal of this article is to offer a detailed description and critical analysis of the project, with an emphasis on the formative evaluation process. In this regard, the formative evaluation has allowed us to include blind and partially sighted (BPS) consultants in the process, improve resource quality, and enrich the interns’ learning experience.

Cross Country Running for Visually Impaired Young Adults

1978 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 212-214
Author(s):  
John J. Sonka ◽  
Michael J. Bina
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Physical Condition ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Blind Children ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Visually Handicapped ◽  
Partially Sighted

Describes a cross country running program for boys and girls at the Wisconsin School for the Visually Handicapped. Totally blind children were assigned sighted guides, while partially sighted children ran alone, though guidance was available from colored flags positioned along the course to indicate turns. Advantages of the program were improved physical condition, “feeling better,” practice of O & M skills, and opportunities to interact with faculty and with sighted children on other school teams.

Deixis, personal reference, and the use of pronouns by blind children

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 655-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
MIGUEL PÉREZ-PEREIRA
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
General Characteristic ◽  
Time Span ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Personal Reference ◽  
Blind Children ◽  
Different Ages ◽  
Partially Sighted ◽  
Reversal Errors

Blind children are considered to use personal reference terms late and with a great deal of reversal errors. However, in previous research, there has been a dearth of both quantitative and qualitative data on their use of pronouns. In the present paper data from a longitudinal study of five children (three totally blind, one partially sighted, and one sighted) is presented. The children had different ages at the begining of the study, ranging from 0;9 to 2;5, and were followed for a time span of over 12 months. Every spatial deictic term and personal reference term used by the children was analysed. Special attention was given to the analysis of the reversal errors. The data obtained clearly showed that the blind children began to use personal reference terms as early as the sighted children, and that the use of reversals was not a general characteristic of the language of the blind children, since only one of the four blind or partially sighted children produced a noticeable percentage of reversals. The analysis of the contexts in which reversal errors were produced showed that imitation does not fully explain them, and some proposals for a multiplex explanation of reversals are offered. Thus, the data do not give support to the idea that blind children in general show problems with pronouns, nor to those claims that link blind children with autistic children in this regard.

Acceptance of Self-driving Cars

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 1449-1453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Nees
Keyword(s):  
User Acceptance ◽  
Emerging Technology ◽  
End Users ◽  
Measurement Scale ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Potential Factors ◽  
Self Driving Cars ◽  
Unrealistic Expectations

Despite enthusiastic speculation about the potential benefits of self-driving cars, to date little is known about the factors that will affect drivers’ acceptance or rejection of this emerging technology. Gaining acceptance from end users will be critical to the widespread deployment of self-driving vehicles. Long-term acceptance may be harmed if initial acceptance is built upon unrealistic expectations developed before people interact with these systems. A brief (24-item) measurement scale was created to assess acceptance of self-driving cars. Before completing the scale, participants were randomly assigned to read short vignettes that featured either a realistic or an idealistic description of a friend’s experiences during the first six months of owning a self-driving car. A small but significant effect showed that reading an idealized portrayal in the vignette resulted in higher acceptance of self-driving cars. Potential factors affecting user acceptance of self-driving cars are discussed. Establishing realistic expectations about the performance of automation before users interact with self-driving cars may be important for long-term acceptance.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document