Widening media accessibility in the digital age

Widening media accessibility in the digital age

Enhanced media accessibility is increasingly regarded as relevant to a broad spectrum of the viewing public with many of us requiring additional support during our lifetimes, whether by choice or necessity, to engage with a highly digitised and media-driven world. As a result, audiovisual accessibility is now shifting beyond the traditional constraints of physical disability (sight- or hearing-impairment) to address the requirements of those with supplementary cognitive needs, including, but not exclusive to, those living with cognitive difference.

Using text-to-speech modalities as our sandpit, we plan to explore the creation of new types of audio, video and content description, applying both traditional techniques and emerging technologies, to assist audiences requiring support with narrative comprehension, plot contextualisation, and intra-textual cohesion.

The panel will open with a series of short presentations covering state-of-the-art research in the widening media accessibility arena, provided by our invited speakers. This will be followed by a round-table discussion centred on the influence of digital technologies and artificial intelligence on the development and diversification of text-to-speech audience offerings, with particular attention being paid to the language simplification and ‘easification’ movements.

Convenors

Sabine Braun

Sabine Braun

University of Surrey