Machine translation (MT) tools like Google Translate can overcome language barriers and increase access to information. These tools also carry risks, and their societal role remains understudied. This article investigates typical uses and perceptions of MT based on a survey of 1200 United Kingdom residents who were representative of the national population in terms of age, sex, and ethnicity. We highlight three main findings from our analysis. First, participants often used MT for non-essential purposes that rarely justified professional human translations. Second, while they were highly satisfied with MT they also expressed desires for higher MT quality. These desires were usually motivated by expectations of perfection rather than fitness for purpose. Third, participants’ future vision for MT involved increasingly blurred boundaries between text and speech. The article calls for more MT research on the interface between written and spoken communication and on the ethical implications of rare but significant high-risk uses of the technology.

State-of-the-art training methods for audio description (AD) are essential in preparing future professionals to meet the demand for accessible media content. Gamification, the application of game elements in non-game contexts, has been gaining increasing scholarly attention in the field of teaching and learning over the past few years. It is considered an effective pedagogical approach and has been applied in diverse contexts but not yet in AD training. This paper first provides a brief review of current AD teaching practice before investigating the implementation of gamification strategies in the language industry and in translator and interpreter training. It then introduces a gamified in-class activity based on the framework of Werbach and Hunter (2012). The process of gamification, the design of the activity, and its reception by students are presented and discussed. As it seems to be the first attempt at applying gamification to the teaching of AD, there is plenty of space for improvement and further gamification. Reflection and suggestions on the activity design and gamification as a pedagogical approach are thus provided in the hope of exploring new methods in AD teaching as well as other topics in translator and interpreter training. Lay summary Audio description (AD) is a service that verbally describes relevant visual elements of artwork or media products, making them accessible to blind and partially sighted users. Up-to-date training methods for AD are important in preparing future professionals to meet the demand for accessible media content. Gamification refers to the use of game elements in non-game contexts, which is considered an effective pedagogical approach and has been applied in diverse contexts but not yet in AD training. This paper first provides a brief review of current AD teaching practice before investigating gamification strategies in the language industry and in translator and interpreter training. It then introduces a gamified in-class activity and discusses the process of gamification, the design of the activity, and its reception by students. As it seems to be the first attempt at applying gamification to the teaching of AD, there is plenty of space for improvement and further gamification. Reflection and suggestions on the activity design and gamification as a teaching method are thus provided to explore new approaches in AD teaching and other topics in translator and interpreter training.

The concept of privacy is central to technology use, but in machine translation (MT) research the meaning of privacy, and what it represents to everyday MT users, are both often left unquestioned. This article examines user conceptualisations of privacy and their implications for the understanding of human-MT interaction. It draws on the privacy literature, on an online forum and on a survey of MT users. The findings show that while users have concerns about sharing information such as passwords, images, and contact details with MT providers, some of them can conversely see MT as a technology that provides privacy. The article discusses these findings in relation to the informational and relational dimensions of privacy. It argues that relational privacy, and the interpersonal exchanges for which MT can be used as a substitute, should be considered more explicitly in discussions of the societal implications of MT technology.

The term 'accessibility' refers to the 'ability to access', which has traditionally been associated with designing for people with disabilities. In recent years, research and development on accessibility have shifted the focus from 'disabilities' to 'diverse abilities', emphasising the criticality of equal access for everyone to social, cultural, political, and economic life. This includes physical and digital access to the same tools, services, organisations and facilities. Access is a fundamental necessity for respecting the human dignity of all (World Health Organization 2021). Film accessibility addresses the essential process of making a film fully accessible and inclusive. The conventional methods to achieve film accessibility include audio description (AD) for the blind and visually impaired audience, subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) and sign language interpreting (SLI) for the audience with hearing impairments. This special section addresses film accessibility by focusing exclusively on the audio description practice and research in the context of China.The history of AD in mainland China can be traced back to the early 2000s, when two volunteers established Xinmu Cinema (心目影院, Xinmu Yingyuan), a dedicated cinema for the blind and visually impaired audience in Beijing (Ma 2020, 18). In a mere 20 years, multiple audio description volunteer groups and service providers have been established in several cities. Among them, Bright Cinema (光明影院, Guangming Yingyuan), for example, has produced AD for more than four-hundred films, involving more than five-hundred volunteers in the past 5 years. 1 AD has been perceived as more than just a means of accessing entertainment but also valuable tool for learning and socialising (Tor-Carroggio 2021). Thanks to the rapid

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