Mapping the AD Development Patterns Between China and Europe: China, Spain and the UK in Focus

Abstract

China is a country which has a substantial population with disabilities, and efforts to take care of their socio-cultural needs and make the physical environment accessible to them have proved challenging as the primary media access service in China AD is volunteer-dependent. However, the transition to professionalisation is already on track with efforts by a few AD stakeholders. At the same time, there are differences between AD development patterns in China and some European countries where AD has come of age (Tor-Carroggio, I., and G. Vercauteren. 2020. “When East Meets West: A Comparison of Audio Description Guidelines in China and Europe.” Hikma 19 (1): 167–86). The aim of this article is twofold: firstly, to systematise the differences in AD development between China and Europe, with Spain and the UK as reference countries; secondly, to investigate whether there are any areas where China and Europe can learn from each other to improve this service in the future. The results show that the high input from users in China can be useful for AD practices in Europe, while collaboration at all levels backed by European legislation can be essential in promoting AD professionalisation and standardisation in China.