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ANNA, MATAMALA. ACCESSIBILITAT I TRADUCCIÓ AUDIOVISUAL,
VOL
. 24. BIBLIOTECA DE TRADUCCIÓ I INTERPRETACIÓ. VIC: EUMO
EDITORIAL, 2019, 209 PP., ISBN 978-84-9766-687-9
The recent developments in technologies used for the creation,
delivery, and consumption of audiovisual media are fostering new fields of
research and practice in Audiovisual Translation, (AVT) and Media
Accessibility (MA) in particular. Traditional media channels such as TV and
cinema are being replaced by new media formats, such as video-on-demand
(VoD) platforms, videogames, or more recently virtual reality environments.
These new realities are challenging traditional practices and opening up novel
fields of research in Translation Studies. Accessibility has gained momentum
since the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities by the United Nations in 2006. Since then, three key pieces of
legislation have followed at a European level, namely the European Web
Accessibility Directive (2016), the updated European Audiovisual Media
Service Directive (2018), and the European Accessibility Act (2019). This
accessibility legislative framework is now being transposed in the different
European Member States and has a direct impact on AVT and MA research
and practice. As Matamala states, this new media landscape is a unique
opportunity for professionals and researchers in these fields.
This seminal book on accessibility and AVT consists of eleven chapters,
and its structure moves from the general to the specific. It presents a
pedagogical approach for professionals and researchers alike and establishes
an open dialogue with the reader, as all chapters offer dedicated sections with
food for thought that invite the reader to analyse realities, identify challenges,
and explore different solutions related to the different modalities and services
under study. Each chapter also includes a section about the areas in which
research has been conducted, and a detailed bibliography covers both
theoretical and practical studies.
The first chapter introduces the concept ‘audiovisual content’ and
outlines the different AVT modalities and MA services. The author then
explains the emergence of the term ‘audiovisual translation’, and its
relationship with ‘media accessibility’. At the end of this chapter, she proposes
the use of the nomenclature ‘audiovisual accessibility’ when referring to
access to audiovisual content. The author also promotes a broader view of
accessibility in line with Greco (2016), in which accessibility is interpreted as
a proactive principle, and access as a requirement to cater the needs of all
users, and not only for people with disabilities.
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Chapter two presents the different challenges associated with the
translation of audiovisual content, and issues that professionals often face
when making it accessible. Recurrent challenges, such as linguistic variation,
terminology, culture, and humour, are discussed and illustrated with relevant
examples. A detailed list of tools and resources for professionals and
researchers working with the English-Catalan language combination is offered
in chapter three, along with relevant recommendations on how to conduct
research with end users.
In chapter four, dubbing is discussed with special attention given to
dubbing into Catalan. The author first provides a classification of the dubbing
practice considering both technical and linguistic aspects. Secondly, a
detailed description of the dubbing process with relevant examples for each
step is outlined. Thirdly, a specific section is devoted to recommendations and
standards, such as style guides from different audiovisual Catalan media
organisations. The chapter finishes with a section about the different areas in
which dubbing-specific research has been conducted. It provides a detailed
bibliographical review covering theoretical and practical studies, including new
collaborative practices, such as fundubbing, which are challenging traditional
practices in this field. Mention to emerging practices such as cyberdubbing
(Baños-Pinero, 2019) through non-standard dubbing practices and new uses
could also be added.
Chapter five deals with voiceover, which the author refers to as an
under-resourced AVT modality, and one that is often not properly
differentiated from lip-sync dubbing. The author first provides a definition of
voiceover and distinguishes between practices in Western and Eastern
European countries. Secondly, its relationship with other AVT modalities is
outlined. Thirdly, the author provides a classification of voiceover practices
considering both technical and linguistic aspects. Fourthly, a detailed
description of the voiceover process with relevant examples for each step is
provided. Finally, in the section dealing with recommendations and standards,
it is established that most audiovisual media organisations worldwide consider
voiceover as a type of dubbing, and, therefore, style guides dealing
exclusively with voiceover are often not provided. There is also mention of
relevant projects such as ALST (2016), which explored the use of text-to-
speech and speech-to-text technologies in the voiceover process.
Chapter six deals with subtitling and focuses on interlinguistic subtitles
aimed at hearing people, with special attention paid to subtitles in Catalan.
First, a classification of the subtitling practice considering both technical and
linguistic aspects is provided. Then, an overview of the subtitling practice is
outlined according to the format of the audiovisual product, i.e., DVD, Blu-Ray,
and VoD. Finally, in the section dealing with recommendations and standards,
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it is stated that apart from the renowned recommendations in the Code of
Good Subtitling Practice (Ivarson and Carroll, 1998), there are other relevant
subtitling handbooks dealing with interlinguistic subtitles in different
languages. Chapter seven provides insight into the interpretation of
audiovisual content and introduces Sign Language Interpreting (SLI). The
author distinguishes between the interpretation of two oral languages in AV
content, and the interpretation between an oral language and a sign language
in AV content. This is a bridge chapter between the previous ones, which are
more focused on AVT modalities – namely dubbing, voiceover and interlingual
subtitling practices and research – and the next chapters that deal with
accessibility services: namely subtitling for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
(SDH), audio description (AD) and audio subtitling (AST). The chapter
introduces Sign Language (SL) with a focus on Catalan Sign Language. The
author also provides a classification of technical and linguistic aspects that
must be considered for SLI. Next, a detailed description of the Sign Language
process is provided and illustrated in relation to the HBB4LL project in
particular. Finally, the section dealing with recommendations and standards
refers to international standards, such as the ISO 18841:2018. In addition, the
author stresses the fact that SL interpreters always refer to the existing codes
of the SL associations in their countries/regions. The chapter finishes by
pointing to the different areas in which research in the SL field has been
conducted. It should be stressed that contrary to the AVT field, research
conducted in SL is mainly experimental with end users, and mostly linked to
research and innovation European projects, such as DTV4LL, HBB4LL,
CONTENT4LL, ImAc or EASYTV.
Chapter eight explores subtitling for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
(SDH) users. The author first outlines the different product types, namely pre-
recorded, semi-live, live, and live subtitles with dynamic transcription. Next,
the different subtitling techniques are outlined. Then she provides a
classification of subtitling considering both technical and linguistic aspects.
Finally, the section dealing with recommendations and standards refers to
international standards such as ISO 20071-23:2018, and current national
standards, such as the UNE 153010: 2012. In addition, references to the
available style guides from the different Catalan AV media organisations are
mentioned. The chapter finishes by acknowledging the different areas in
which research in the SDH field has been conducted, with specific mention to
the increasing reception research studies with end users and projects that are
being carried out in the subtitling field.Chapter nine describes audio
description (AD) and the related accessibility services, namely audio
introductions, audio guides and touch tours. Second, a differentiation between
pre-recorded, semi-live and live AD is explained. Third, a description of the
AD process considering both technical and linguistic aspects is provided.
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Finally, the section dealing with recommendations and standards refers to
international standards such as ISO 20071-21:2015, and current national
standards, such as the UNE 153020: 2005. In addition, a reference to the
available style guides to produce AD from the different Catalan AV media
organisations is provided. At the end of the chapter, a detailed list of
references that covers both descriptive and experimental studies is provided,
with specific mention to innovative research studies in this accessible service,
such as Easy-to-Understand ADs (Arias-Badia & Matamala, 2019; Bernabé-
Caro and Orero, 2019), which aim to make verbal content easier to
understand, covering the needs of a broader audience, i.e. people with
cognitive and learning disabilities.
Chapter ten offers insight into audiosubtitling (AST). It first provides a
description of this accessibility service and its similarities with AD. An
important contribution of this chapter is its focus on new technologies, such
as text-to-speech. In addition, it clearly explains the distinction between AST
that are delivered mixed with the audio soundtrack and automatically provided
to users, and AST that are delivered independently and mixed on a user’s
device. The chapter finally discusses current standards and research in this
new emerging MA service.
The last chapter sheds light on new media environments, such as
virtual reality, collaborative models, new processes, modalities and services,
and the creation of new professional profiles in the industry. What is
particularly helpful in the book is its didactic approach, which provides not only
detailed descriptions of the processes and agents involved in the different AVT
modalities and accessibility services but also specific sections with activities
based on the reading that allow readers to reflect and explore the realities in
their contexts. In addition, extended bibliographical reviews that cover
theoretical and practical studies guide readers to discover the different
research areas that have been covered and are currently being conducted in
the different modalities and services. It is also worth acknowledging that the
book is written in the Catalan language, and while it provides a solid
background on practices and research in different countries, it deliberately
limits itself to English into Catalan AVT and MA practice. For this reason,
certain sections might be of real interest to those working with that language
combination. This inevitably restricts the potential readership of the volume.
However, there is no reason why a version of this book should not appear in
English translation, as MA is an emerging field that is being reinforced with a
legislative framework in most countries, and the same theory and professional
practice applies to the different modalities irrespective of language
combination.
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To sum up, the book presents relevant insight into different theoretical
questions as well as current practices, pointing out the increasing role of
technology and reception studies across the different areas of the audiovisual
media field. As such, it makes an important contribution to the literature on
AVT, and on MA in particular.
R
EFERENCES
Arias-Badia, B. y Matamala, A. (2019). Audio description meets Easy-to-Read
and Plain Language: results from a questionnaire and a focus group in
Catalonia. Zeitschrift für Katalanistik, 33, 251-270.
Banos-Piñero, R; (2019) Fandubbing across time and space. From dubbing
‘by fans for fans’ to cyberdubbing. En I. Ranzato y S. Zanotti (Eds.)
Reassessing Dubbing: Historical approaches and current trends. (pp.
145-167). London: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Bernabé-Caro, R. y Orero, P. (2019). Easy to Read as multimode accessibility
service. Hermeneus, 21, 53-74.
Greco, G. M. (2016). On Accessibility as a Human Right, with an Application
to Media Accessibility. En A. Matamala y P. Orero (Eds.), Researching
Audio Description. New Approaches (pp. 11-33). London: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Ivarsson, J. y Carroll, M. (1998). Subtitling. Simrishamn: TransEdit.
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