Exploring the Potential of Media Accessibility as a Pedagogical Tool: Students as Audio Describers

Abstract

There is growing recognition of Media Accessibility as an educational asset in the classroom. More specifically, recent research has demonstrated its potential as a didactic tool for foreign language learning (Bausells-Espín in J Audiovis Transl 5(2):152–75, 2022; Talaván in Int J English Stud 19:21–40, 2019) and developing students’ speaking, intercultural and digital literacy skills (Khanlou et al. in J Dev Phys Dis 33:1–25, 2021). In this chapter, we will focus on the creation of non-professional audio description (AD) by secondary students as part of a workshop carried out at Ítaca campus in Barcelona, Spain. During the workshops, students were asked to design and create an accessible, immersive story using the GreenVerse platform, developed as part of the GreenSCENT project (Smart Citizen Engagement for a Green Future, Nº 101036480). We begin this chapter locating this research within the growing body of work on the use of Media Accessibility as a pedagogical tool (Black in J Audiovis Transl 5:73–93, 2022; Herrero and Escobar in Transl Translanguaging Multilingual Contexts 4:30–54, 2018; Talaván in Int J Engl Stud 19:21–40, 2019), arguing the case for its integration in the classroom. We will then present the workshop methodology, followed by an analysis and comparison of the AD created by students. This analysis will assess where and how the AD aligns with or deviates from established guidelines and best practices, specifically following the ADLAB project recommendations (Remael et al. in ADLAB audio description guidelines, 2014) for English and the UNE 153020 Standard (AENOR, 2005) for Spanish. Our results show that students deviated from established guidelines in the areas of content selection, with students more prone to include evaluative statements in their ADs, owing to the purpose of the task at hand and students’ unfamiliarity with AD norms and conventions.