Enhancing audio description: accessible filmmaking, sound design and the importance of educating filmmakers

Abstract

The Enhancing Audio Description project explored the design of an alternative to traditional Audio Description for film and television for visually impaired audiences, by maximising the potential of sound design strategies for storytelling. The project's methodology sits within the field of accessible filmmaking, advocating for the integration of accessibility strategies to creative workflows while also acknowledging their artistic potential. The present article explores the use of the Enhancing Audio Description (EAD) methods by a group of film students and recent graduates in the creation of a short film, while also discussing the process and end result in the context of the lack of inclusion of education on accessibility in filmmaking degrees. The authors discuss how a lack of teaching in the field of accessibility to film students results in a reinforcement of harmful stereotypes that exclude disabled audiences. A greater interest in accessibility sparked at university level might contribute towards a more inclusive film industry.

Intellectual disability through gaming: Operationalizing accessibility, participation and inclusion

“…This could be even more relevant to foster change in both academia and industry, if this engagement with the civic society institutions that represent ID, and consequently with the individuals with ID, was promoted early on in the training of new game designers/developers. Even if this is a hypothesis, a similar conclusion was drawn by Lopez et al (2020) for other media, stating that "a greater interest in accessibility sparked at university level might contribute towards a more inclusive film industry". Also related to filmmaking, Franganillo et al (2021) reinforced the relevance of engaging with the civic society, to train more responsible and inclusion-driven media creators.…”

Intellectual Disability Through Gaming: Operationalizing Accessibility, Participation, and Inclusion

“…This could be even more relevant to foster change in both academia and industry, if this engagement with the civic society institutions that represent ID, and consequently with the individuals with ID, was promoted early on in the training of new game designers/developers. Even if this is a hypothesis, a similar conclusion was drawn by Lopez et al (2020) for other media, stating that "a greater interest in accessibility sparked at university level might contribute towards a more inclusive film industry". Also related to filmmaking, Franganillo et al (2021) reinforced the relevance of engaging with the civic society, to train more responsible and inclusion-driven media creators.…”

The value of audio description for the therapy of speech-communicative disorders

“…Reception by various groups of viewers of AD in which sound effects and audio spatialization is employed to supplement (and sometimes even replace) a verbal description and to create a fully accessible work (such as a film) is still a subject of research. However, the up-to-date evidence we have at our disposal proves this technique of audio-describing to be as well received by recipients as the traditional ones (Lopez et al 2018(Lopez et al , 2020b. Similarly, respondents taking part in the tests have equally favorable impressions towards first-person AD, which, for example, may help children to better understand the emotional states of others (Lopez et al 2020a).…”