The ADLAB Project: Audio Description for the Blind

Abstract

Taylor provides an overview of the ADLAB Project, financed by the European Union. The main purpose of the project, that of promoting audio description (AD), that is the describing of the visual content in film, television, theatre and so on, for the blind and visually impaired communities in Europe, is illustrated via the four stages of the project. Firstly research into real user needs is explained, particularly in terms of the provision of AD, followed by an illustration of the text analyses performed in order to identify the critical elements that emerge in creating ADs. The testing phase is then described leading finally to the creation of a manual of ‘strategic’ guidelines for audio describers.

Appendices

Appendix

See Fig. 12.1.

Fig. 12.1

Master matrix

Annex 2: ADLAB Manual (parts and chapters)

2.1 Introduction

• 1.1 What is audio description? A definition

• 1.2 Overview of the process from start to end

• 1.3 What is a story and how is a story told?

• 1.4 Audio description: from visual to verbal narration

• 1.5 How to use these guidelines

These introductory chapters contain information that the readers will need when they tackle the section on AD scriptwriting, irrespective of whether they wish to read all the chapters consecutively or just consult a chapter on a specific subtopic.

2.2 AD Scriptwriting

The core of the book, the section dealing with the strategies for writing the AD script, consists of three main chapters, further subdivided into subchapters.

• 2.1 Narratological building blocks

  • 2.1.1 Characters and action

  • 2.1.2 Spatio-temporal settings

  • 2.1.3 Genre

• 2.2 Film techniques

  • 2.2.1 Film language

  • 2.2.2 Sound effects and music

  • 2.2.3 Text on screen

  • 2.2.4 Intertextual references

• 2.3 The language of AD

  • 2.3.1 Wording and Style

  • 2.3.2 Cohesion

2.3 Information on the AD Process and its Variants

This part offers additional information about peripheral text forms that are sometimes used in conjunction with AD, other types of AD as well as information of a more technical nature. It has four main chapters.

• 3.1 Technical issues

• 3.2 Audio Introductions

• 3.3 Combining AD with audio subtitling

• 3.4 Introduction to other forms of AD

  • 3.4.1 Audio describing theatre performances

  • 3.4.2 Descriptive guides

2.4 Appendices

This last part of the manual contains an example of an AD script and an audio introduction, as well as additional hints for descriptive museum guides, a glossary and suggestions for further reading.