ABSTRACT The aim of the study is to develop and test a methodology for training qualified interpreters in audio description interpreting, thereby ensuring the accessibility of information for visually impaired individuals. The methodology includes a combination of theoretical and empirical research, with a focus on experimentation to assess its effectiveness. Additional research methods employed include system analysis, logical analysis, comparison, synthesis, deduction, and classification. The study involved students studying translation and linguistics at national universities in Kazakhstan, who participated in the training to develop audio description interpreting skills. The findings highlight the importance of audio description interpreting as a vital tool for providing visually impaired people with equal access to multimedia content. The study emphasises the role of audio description interpreters in enhancing the user experience and in collaboration with assistive technology developers to create more accessible digital resources. Furthermore, the study explores the development of essential skills, including Braille literacy, interpreting audio materials, and utilising specialised computer programmes for audio and text processing. The results from the experimental group showed significant improvement in these skills, confirming the efficacy of the developed methodology.

Auditory and informational stimuli are part of the broader multisensory experience of eating. Research shows that foreign accents can decrease the credibility and appeal of products in commercial contexts such as ads, customer service, or sales pitches, but few studies have tested regional accents, and none have tested post-consumption effects in the liking and sensory perception of food. Three studies (two tastings, one online) were conducted with audio descriptions in four Swedish accents (Southern, Western, Eastern, Northern), three different food stimuli (vegan cream cheese sandwich, pork and vegan dried sausages, pictures of regional dishes) and a total of 805 participants. The results revealed that while the speaker was perceived differently depending on his accent, the effects were not transferred to consumer liking, willingness to try (WTT), or sensory and emotional associations to the food stimuli. Altogether, they suggest that regional diversity of voices in ads and jobs such as salespeople and waiters are unlikely to influence the preference and perception of food products.

EARS4SEE: A multimodal audio description system dedicated to blind and visually impaired users

The article analyses the concept of objectivity in audio description (AD) in the landscape of expanding media accessibility practices and tightening regulatory requirements for the provision and quality of access services for blind and visually impaired people. This work is highly relevant because objectivity is considered as a regulatory norm, a quality criterion, and is at the same time the subject of growing academic and professional discussions. The understanding of its role directly impacts accessibility of cultural and media products. The aim of this study is to systematise our understanding of objectivity and its perception in the context of audio description. Furthermore, the article traces the evolution of this concept in academic and applied research and correlates regulatory guidelines with real-world practices and technologies for media accessibility solutions. Methodologically, the article is based on a systematic review of international and Russian literature, legislation and professional standards (e.g., the Russian Government Standards/GOST and European regulations), training guidelines for audio describers, and empirical studies with user participation. It demonstrates that objectivity is an essential requirement and a fundamental norm in standards and training methods. However, in practice and research, it is understood as a relative parameter, intertwined with the audio describer’s interpretation, linguistic, and ethical decisions. The present review highlights several research perspectives: those insisting on minimising interpretations; studies describing the inevitability of subjectivity and offering evaluation tools; and projects involving users in assessing the quality of audio described products. Additionally, it brings into the discussion modern technological developments that enable collection of user feedback with subsequent adaptation of practices to the requirements of their intended audiences. A conclusion is drawn regarding the need to shift the emphasis from "objectivity" as an abstract term to clearer quality criteria that take into account user experience and contexts where AD is created. Thus, the notion of quality in AD, as perceived by users, is not absolute, but exists in a continuum between objectivity and subjectivity. The outcomes of the present study can be used in culture management when establishing accessibility standards, raising awareness of the requirements and trends for audio description specialists, development of specialist training programs, in outreach communications with communities of blind and partially sighted people. This article is intended for media accessibility researchers, cultural and mass media institutions, developers of audio description standards, and AD practitioners.

ABSTRACT Researchers in translation studies (TS) are paying increasing attention to various aspects of audio description (AD). However, the role and status of AD within TS remain unclear. Is it a legitimate subfield of TS? To provide a clear picture of AD studies, the researchers conducted a bibliometric review of journal articles on AD from 2004 to 2024. A database was constructed, and the selection of journals in the database used the following criteria: theoretical importance and relevance to translation and interpreting research, geographical coverage and size of readership, and journal rankings. The articles were analyzed, and the relationships between AD and TS were explored from linguistic, sociological, epistemological and cultural perspectives. Based on thematic analysis of the data, categories and sub-categories were created, the distribution of categories of articles in each year was obtained, and statistics on the researchers and their research backgrounds were generated. The findings provide an up-to-date overview of AD studies that is expected to offer a precise ‘map’ specific to TS to guide researchers in the field.

Descriptive metadata is essential for discovery in audiovisual archives, yet many collections remain minimally described due to limited resources. Beginning in 2024, the University at Buffalo, University Archives launched an ongoing pilot project exploring the use of consumer-level generative AI tools to streamline audio description workflows. Archivists tested ChatGPT and Copilot on transcripts from over 2,000 hours of institutional radio content, using A/B prompt testing to refine outputs and generate concise summaries resembling traditional archival descriptions. The project prioritized free or low-cost AI tools that could be readily adopted by archives with varying resources. To date, 1,230 programs have been described using this approach. While achieving significant efficiency gains, the project also raised ethical questions around privacy, copyright, and professional practice. The pilot demonstrates the potential for AI-assisted description to enhance discovery while highlighting the need for ongoing evaluation of ethical and practical implications in archival work.

Advances in multimodal large language models enable automatic video narration and question answering (VQA), offering scalable alternatives to labor-intensive, human-authored audio descriptions (ADs) for blind and low vision (BLV) viewers. However, prior AI-driven AD systems rarely adapt to the diverse needs and preferences of BLV individuals across videos and are typically evaluated in controlled, single-session settings. We present ViDscribe, a web-based platform that integrates AI-generated ADs with six types of user customizations and a conversational VQA interface for YouTube videos. Through a longitudinal, in-the-wild study with eight BLV participants, we examine how users engage with customization and VQA features over time. Our results show sustained engagement with both features and that customized ADs improve effectiveness, enjoyment, and immersion compared to default ADs, highlighting the value of personalized, interactive video access for BLV users.

The debate over the subjectivity versus objectivity of audio description has long been a focal point in academic research. However, recent studies suggest that the two are not binary opposites but should instead be analyzed along a continuous spectrum. This paper employs the “thought-action continuum” evaluation model proposed by Palmer and Salway to examine the strategies and subjective-objective tendencies in describing characters’ psychological states in the English audio description version of Green Book provided by Prime Video. The findings indicate an overuse of strategies that make characters’ mental states explicit. Such strategies align with the “thought” end of the “thought-action continuum” evaluation model, demonstrating a strong subjective tendency. However, this approach does not align with the current academic emphasis on integrating subjectivity and objectivity along a middle ground. Therefore, this paper focuses on the main issues identified in Green Book and proposes corresponding optimization suggestions. The aim is to provide an improved approach for describing characters’ mental states in audio description—one that moderately shifts toward the “action” end of the continuum by incorporating objective behavioral cues. This study also offers a new perspective for research on the subjectivity and objectivity of audio description.

ABSTRACT This article examines three exhibitions curated by the lead author in New Zealand, developed through cross-sensory collaborations with four artists with visual impairment in China. Featuring non-visual photography, improvised music and dance, and installation art, the exhibitions served as experimental spaces to interrogate how access is constructed and embodied. Using site observation, sensory ethnography, and audience feedback, the study analyses how spatial design, information systems, and perceptual logics shape experience. While audio description and large-print materials supported engagement, Braille labels and tactile installations were often ineffective due to infrastructural and sensory misalignments. The article reframes accessibility as a cultural and epistemological practice, calling for the dismantling of ocularcentric assumptions and the centering of non-visual ways of knowing. Drawing on Critical Disability Studies, the research positions persons with visual impairment as co-creators of curatorial meaning and proposes a shift from symbolic inclusion to structural transformation in exhibition-making.

ABSTRACT This article discusses the reception of the alternative audio description (AD) produced for the documentary Where Memory Ends. The first two sections focus on the making of the documentary and the creation of the AD in English and Spanish. This is followed by an analysis of how the audio-described version of the film was received by 116 blind, partially blind and sighted people in three screenings in New Jersey, London and Madrid. Although this analysis includes quantitative data, the aim of the article is not to present an experimental study, but rather to explore the extent to which the spirit with which the documentary Where Memory Ends was made, and the human connections built on- and off-screen during its production, could be conveyed to a blind and sighted audience through the use of personal and intimate AD.

ABSTRACT Audio description is an essential accessibility tool for visually impaired individuals. While traditionally guided by standards like Spain’s UNE 153020:2005, which emphasize neutrality and objectivity, recent research highlights the coexistence of subjective and objective elements (Schaeffer-Lacroix et al., 2023). This study builds on these insights to explore the effectiveness of two distinct AD styles, standard and impactful, in the context of adult media or pornography, a genre that heavily relies on emotional and aesthetic engagement (Attwood, et al., 2019). The research adopts a survey-based methodology to evaluate sighted participants’ perceptions of these AD styles. Four erotically charged audiovisual scenes were audio described in both styles: the standard version prioritized objectivity and refinement, while the impactful version utilized explicit language and stylistic devices like metaphors and intensifiers to enhance emotive resonance. Survey participants evaluated excerpts from these descriptions using Likert scales, providing data on arousal, offensiveness, and ease of understanding. Results reveal that impactful AD elicits higher emotional arousal and surprise, aligning with the immersive nature of adult content. This study contributes to ongoing discussions in media accessibility by demonstrating that the stylistic nuances of AD can influence audience reception, particularly in genres where emotional and sensory immersion are crucial.

This article aims to reflect on inclusion and accessibility resources in television journalism, focusing on audio description and seeking to point out aspects and parameters that we consider significant for its implementation in television journalism. We believe that in TV journalism, audio description is essential to promote accessibility and equal conditions for all viewers. This study is based on reports from people with visual impairment, more specifically from students at Escola Louis Braille de Pelotas, about the Audio Description tool, addressing points that they identified as important and that they point out as necessary in the construction of more accessible television journalism.

Recent studies in Cognitive Translation and Interpreting Studies have spurred a surge in experimental research, particularly in Audio Description (AD) reception studies. However, experimental research has largely focused on the linguistic composition of scripts, leaving the impact of vocal delivery comparatively underexplored. Addressing this gap, the current study investigates the cognitive and emotional effects of narrator voice gender within the complex framework of poetic AD for contemporary dance. Using a within-subjects design, 33 participants with blindness or visual impairments listened to dance performances with ADs voiced by synthetic male and female narrators. A multi-method approach was employed, combining subjective measures (mental effort, valence, arousal, enjoyment, transportation, and recall) with physiological indicators (electrodermal activity and heart rate variability). Results showed that female voices were associated with significantly lower perceived cognitive effort and higher emotional valence and arousal. Physiologically, female voices elicited lower levels of phasic skin conductance, suggesting a calming rather than arousing effect. However, no significant effects were found on enjoyment, transportation, or recall performance. These findings suggest that narrator’s voice modulates the cognitive and emotional experience of poetic AD, particularly at a subjective level. The study contributes to the growing field of inclusive media by highlighting the importance of voice characteristics in shaping accessibility and engagement.

This study aimed to produce educational oral health materials to improve the communication between dentists and people with visual disabilities and people who are blind. A literature search was conducted on Google Scholar, SciELO, and Virtual Health Library by using the descriptors: Visually Impaired Persons, Health Promotion, and Health Education. Twenty English or Portuguese-written records published after 2010 were selected and reviewed to produce an easy-to-understand educational booklet on tooth brushing, dental caries, and periodontal medicine. A 10-page magnified booklet was printed on A3-size paper with a 14-point font size. Then, the booklet was transcribed to Braille and produced by a specialized company on A4-size and 120-gsm papers and finished with a plastic cover and black spiral. Next, the PDF file of the magnified booklet was loaded into an artificial intelligence app and converted into a female-narrated video. The video was imported to a music production platform to extract the audio description file (9 minutes and 46 seconds). Oral health education and motivation for oral self-care are important for the autonomy of visually impaired individuals. The production of educational materials such as magnified booklet, Braille booklet, and audio description on several dentistry topics seem efficient tools to provide adequate care to visually impaired patients.

ABSTRACT The article reports on a study aimed at assessing the benefits of experimental AD for sighted persons. The study involved sighted participants in two experimental groups, the AD and the control one, who were asked to watch a movie clip with or without experimental audio description (AD) and fill in a questionnaire concerning the cognitive (e.g. memory retention) and experiential (e.g. emotional engagement) assessment. In addition, the AD group was asked to provide the overall evaluation of the quality of the AD. The results show statistically significant differences between the AD participants and the control group in both the cognitive and the experiential assessment, indicating that experimental AD enhanced the cinematic experience of sighted viewers. Moreover, the AD participants expressed their overall positive opinion of this type of AD. It is therefore suggested, in line with the functionalist approach to AD, that alternative AD styles may ensure not just accessibility, but also greater social inclusion of persons with sight loss by making AD more enjoyable and beneficial for sighted persons. The study also opens up a discussion on more creative types of AD, in which the human input may outweigh the possibilities offered by generative artificial intelligence.

Audiovisual Translation (AVT) advocates for further access to multimedia content for individuals with special needs. Audio Description (AD) and Audio Introduction (AI) tools serve to facilitate the engagement of Blind and Partially Sighted (BPS) individuals with these contents, contributing to media accessibility. Given the emergence of AI as a phenomenon in Iran, this study delves into the perceptions and suggestions of BPS audiences regarding this supplementary tool. For this purpose, four AIs were selected. Subsequently, the data were collected through a semi-structured online focus group and interviews conducted on the “TeamTalk” platform. The gathered data were then transcribed and analysed using grounded theory. The results unveiled four interconnected categories, each with corresponding subcategories, essential for the production of AIs. The findings highlighted that AI is a beneficial tool, aiding in the comprehension, visualisation, and enhanced enjoyment of content among BPS individuals. Lay summary Audio Introduction (AI) provides supplementary audio information before the main content of the Audio Description (AD) and offers additional context to enhance the understanding of the blind and partially sighted (BPS) audiences. We studied the perceptions of AI among BPS individuals in the context of Iran, aiming at getting insight into how AIs impact BPS audiences’ comprehension and enjoyment of multimedia content. Twelve participants, with diverse backgrounds and varying degrees of vision loss, were invited to participate. Data was collected through semi-structured online focus group discussions and individual interviews using the “TeamTalk” platform. These sessions were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using grounded theory procedures. The findings indicate that AIs significantly enhance the understanding and enjoyment of audiovisual products for BPS individuals. Participants reported that AIs help bridge visual gaps, providing context and room for anticipation which helps better understanding. This additional initial information enables BPS audiences to make more informed choices about the content they consume. However, the study also identified some challenges. If AIs are too lengthy, detailed, judgmental, and revealing, they can become tedious and distract the audience from the main content. Participants stressed the importance of balancing necessary information with conciseness and engagement. In conclusion, AIs proved to be a valuable tool for improving media accessibility for BPS audiences. By catering to the specific needs and preferences of this group, AIs can make multimedia content more inclusive and enjoyable.

Creating an accessible media environment through verbal descriptions of visually transmitted information for individuals with visual impairments remains a pressing issue. This article examines the specifics of updating the substantive block of reference and encyclopedic information in audio descriptions of works of art. The study utilized audio descriptions of works of art posted on the specialized online resource “Describe Me.rf.” The study analyzed the frequency of nine identified types of reference data (genre, style, technique, material, orientation, etc.), which provide meaningful context for subsequent image descriptions, and six types of encyclopedic data. It was found that reference information is predominantly the most representative. The set, quantity, and sequence of implementation of these types of data vary significantly across texts, which may be due to the lack of a unified approach to their updating and other factors. Through quantitative analysis, the author established certain patterns of their contextual use and differences in localization relative to the substantive block of descriptive information. The author identified criteria for updating the information in question when creating audio description texts for works of art. These include the implementation of desired and optional data; the sufficiency of the types of information provided; the localization of different types of information in the overall composition of the audio description; the sequence of reference information of different types, taking into account the linguopragmatic tactics of “from general to specific” data representation; brevity of reference information representation and the choice of typical linguistic means for the actualization of reference information of different types.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) broaden access to learning, but inclusivity remains uneven when accessibility and personalization are treated as peripheral rather than foundational design requirements. This PRISMA 2020-aligned systematic review (2018–2025) examines how accessibility by design and Adaptive and Personalized Technologies for Learning (APTeL) are implemented in MOOCs and how they relate to learner outcomes (access, engagement, persistence, achievement). Fifty-six empirical studies met the inclusion criteria by addressing WCAG- or ARIA-based accessibility and/or APTeL mechanisms such as learner modeling, recommender systems, adaptive sequencing, and adaptive feedback. Across this corpus, media-level accessibility was most common, with captions and transcripts reported in 68% of studies, alternative formats (for example, alt text and audio description) in 46%, and assistive technology checks in 34%, while explicit WCAG or ARIA citation (29%) and explicit UDL alignment (21%) were comparatively limited. Personalization efforts centered on learner modeling (54%), recommender systems (41%), adaptive sequencing (36%), and adaptive feedback (30%). Outcome reporting favored engagement proxies (75%) over achievement (38%) and persistence or retention (32%), and only 11% of studies disaggregated outcomes by disability. The clearest benefits appeared when accessible and operable interaction pathways were co-designed with APTeL adaptations explicitly mapped to learning objectives, UDL checkpoints, and assessment strategies. However, heterogeneous conformance reporting, limited assistive technology validation, sparse UDL mapping, and weak outcome validity reduce interpretability and restrict causal claims about impact on learning and persistence. The review specifies design and practice implications for accessibility-aligned APTeL in MOOCs, identifies methodological and ethical gaps that constrain generalizability and equity inferences, and proposes priorities for platform policy and rigorous, disability-aware evaluation frameworks.

Audio description (AD) in cultural heritage settings serves as an accessibility service that enables blind and partially-sighted visitors to interact with the diverse visual content in museums and galleries. With the growing need to provide enabling services for a broader audience in audio-visual media, the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools has become significant in cultural heritage contexts as well. In this context, the current study evaluates the applicability of Large Language Models (LLMs) and artificial intelligence (AI) tools through generating ADs of selected static artworks. It does so by implementing a corpus based linguistic analysis of AD texts that are produced by three modalities: (1) a Human-Authored AD Corpus; which consists of AD texts written by experts, (2) a Baseline AI AD Corpus which is a compilation of texts that an untrained AI model generates, and (3) a Trained AI AD Corpus in which AD texts are generated through an AI model that is specifically trained with domain-specific datasets. The results of the corpus analysis are presented and discussed within the framework of adherence to the characteristics of museum AD. As part of a vast doctoral research project, this study is the first attempt to investigate the linguistic attributes of Turkish museum AD and to train an AI model to generate AD texts for static artworks. The results of the analysis indicate that, while human-authored texts remain the gold standard for the time being, AI-based automatic description systems have significant potential to meet accessibility standards and facilitate the development of inclusive, semantically robust automatic description tools.

This study examines the Eşit Masallar (Fair Tales) series, which reinterprets five canonical fairy tales through an egalitarian lens, as feminist retranslations within the evolving landscape of Feminist Translation Studies and Retranslation Theories. To this end, it develops an expanded conception of feminist retranslation that extends beyond the retranslation of women’s works or explicitly feminist texts. It frames feminist retranslation as a selective, interventionist, and ideological practice that actively challenges patriarchal and intersecting forms of oppression, while extending its scope beyond interlingual and verbal retranslations to encompass intralingual, intermedial, and multimodal practices. Drawing on paratextual and textual analyses, the study investigates why, how, and to what extent the Eşit Masallar series can be understood as feminist retranslations. The paratextual analysis demonstrates that Eşit Masallar operates at the macro level as a form of selective feminist retranslation, in which canonical fairy tales are deliberately chosen for their pedagogical authority and recontextualised by ideologically driven agents through an accessibility-oriented dissemination strategy. The comparative narrative analysis further shows that, at the micro level, the series systematically deconstructs patriarchal norms, gender stereotypes, and “happily-ever-after”conventions embedded in canonical Western fairy tales through narrative omissions, additions, modulations, and manipulations. Protagonists, whether female or male, are reimagined as active, resourceful, and socially engaged agents, while resolutions prioritize solidarity, collective problem-solving, and social responsibility rather than romance or passive transformation. Furthermore, the series’ multimodal and intermedial dimensions, including digital editions, audiobooks, accessible versions with audio description and sign language interpreting, theatrical adaptation, and its subsequent English translations, reinforce its feminist retranslation status as conceptualized in this study and collectively construct a potentially infinite feminist retranslation chain.