1
00:00:07,260 --> 00:00:10,890
 Easit - Easy Access for
Social Inclusion Training

2
00:00:12,190 --> 00:00:16,120
This is Unit 3B, Easy to understand
and audio description.

3
00:00:16,130 --> 00:00:17,920
Element 1: Processes.

4
00:00:17,930 --> 00:00:21,990
Other video: Interview with professionals -
listenability.

5
00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,000
Hello, this is Annalisa Navetta.

6
00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:24,010
I am a student
Hello, this is Annalisa Navetta.

7
00:00:24,010 --> 00:00:24,900
I am a student

8
00:00:24,900 --> 00:00:28,320
of Translation at the University of Trieste.

9
00:00:28,620 --> 00:00:33,960
In this video, "listenability" in audio description

10
00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:39,700
is defined and tackled by professional
audio describers and a scholar.

11
00:00:39,790 --> 00:00:43,160
Listenability is a measure
of the ease or pleasure

12
00:00:43,170 --> 00:00:46,940
in listening to something like music,
or an oral text.

13
00:00:46,950 --> 00:00:52,600
Easy to understand audio descriptions
should have this quality

14
00:00:52,610 --> 00:00:56,080
to be received, enjoyed
and understood well.

15
00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:58,600
It is hard to list all the features

16
00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,040
a listenable AD should show.

17
00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:06,320
These include a slow pace and volume,

18
00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:08,790
the use of a clear and engaging voice,

19
00:01:08,790 --> 00:01:11,600
removing interfering sounds

20
00:01:11,610 --> 00:01:14,520
that might blur the soundtrack.

21
00:01:14,820 --> 00:01:18,800
Do professionals and academics
know what listenability is?

22
00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,400
What are their suggestions

23
00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:23,630
on making ADs listenable?

24
00:01:23,910 --> 00:01:27,310
We will ask four audio describers.

25
00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:29,720
Bernd Benecke, head of AD

26
00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:31,480
at Bayerischer Rundfunk,

27
00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:33,280
the only German broadcaster 

28
00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:35,210
with an AD Editor;

29
00:01:35,210 --> 00:01:39,100
Louise Fryer, a UK
experienced describer,

30
00:01:39,110 --> 00:01:43,000
director of Utopian Voices,

31
00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,500
and doing research

32
00:01:45,500 --> 00:01:47,120
for media accessibility;

33
00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,890
Joel Snyder, president of
Audio Description Associates,

34
00:01:50,890 --> 00:01:53,500
Director
of Audio Description Project

35
00:01:53,500 --> 00:01:55,900
and American Council of the Blind;

36
00:01:55,900 --> 00:02:00,670
as well as academic
and AD expert, Christopher Taylor,

37
00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:06,480
who has worked at the University
of Trieste, researching AD.

38
00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:09,320
Let’s hear 
what they think of listenability!

39
00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,400
Have you ever heard 
the term “listenability”,

40
00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:14,400
especially in relation to AD?

41
00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:18,280
No, but I can guess what it means:

42
00:02:18,290 --> 00:02:21,000
make things easier to listen.

43
00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,040
I've never heard this term in relation to AD.

44
00:02:24,050 --> 00:02:28,080
I have, and I have addressed
that to a certain extent.

45
00:02:28,090 --> 00:02:33,480
I believe the tone of voice,
the pace,

46
00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:38,480
the quality

47
00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:44,390
that suggests that you are speaking

48
00:02:44,390 --> 00:02:47,080
to an individual human being

49
00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,600
as opposed to a group,
as opposed to being read.

50
00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,880
People want to hear 
a voice that sounds like

51
00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,080
they are reading to them
in a rote way.

52
00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:02,040
It’s easier to talk to people, 
with or without a script.

53
00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:09,440
If you have a script, you should make
it sound spontaneous.

54
00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,120
That is important in listenability,

55
00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:17,440
TTS has yet to be able 
to provide this.

56
00:03:18,100 --> 00:03:22,520
Yes, together with readability,
comprehensibility, etc.

57
00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,880
Listenability has become
a buzz-word in audio-visual circles.

58
00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:32,000
According to you, how should be
an AD that is easier to listen?

59
00:03:32,300 --> 00:03:35,920
First it has to do with the text.

60
00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:41,320
If you write a text that is easy to understand,
you have a text that is easy to listen to.

61
00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:45,480
But also how you mix it,

62
00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:51,480
what you do with the description
in terms of sound level.

63
00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:56,120
Is your description on the same
sound level as the original soundtrack?

64
00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:01,560
Or do you higher the volume so that the
description is over the dialogue

65
00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,520
which makes it more understandable?

66
00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,640
You can do the same 
with the dialogue if you can,

67
00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:12,520
If you lift up the dialogues compared
to the music and to sound effects.

68
00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,120
These things 
make things easier to listen to.

69
00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:21,880
The app I talked about
is called Dialogue Plus.

70
00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:27,080
They transmit just the film dialogue,

71
00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,680
so people can lift up the volume

72
00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:36,400
and listen easily to the dialogues,

73
00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:37,760
and understand them.

74
00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,720
An AD can be made easier to listen to

75
00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,800
using a natural 
rather than a synthesized voice,

76
00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:45,600
so the listener

77
00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:49,600
can rely on appropriate prosody.

78
00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,300
When speaking over music 
or a battle scene,

79
00:04:52,300 --> 00:04:55,600
the volume should be balanced,

80
00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:58,900
so the AD is heard, 
and emotions get through.

81
00:04:58,900 --> 00:05:00,200
I have covered that.

82
00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:04,800
This idea of tone,
of coincidence, of pace,

83
00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:08,360
of vocabulary level, too.

84
00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:13,900
All those aspects apply
to people with learning disabilities,

85
00:05:13,900 --> 00:05:17,850
but they apply 
to whatever audience.

86
00:05:17,850 --> 00:05:21,680
Knowing your audience 
is important.

87
00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:27,080
Often your audience 
is gonna be heterogeneous.

88
00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:31,650
At other times you know that
this particular description

89
00:05:31,650 --> 00:05:36,400
is intended for an audience
with learning disabilities.

90
00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:42,120
Eease of listening - listenability -

91
00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:46,760
needs to be understood 
and employed more frequently.

92
00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:52,360
A clear voice enunciating slowly
with simple sentence structure,

93
00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:55,120
and vivid but understandable lexis.

94
00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:01,960
The technological advances 
in personalisation

95
00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:03,920
come to one’s assistance here.

96
00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,960
The possibility
to slow down delivery speed,

97
00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:12,840
adjust type of voice, etc.
They all make for better "listenability".

98
00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:18,640
This video was prepared by Elisa Perego
and produced by

99
00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,950
Angelika De Marchis, Laura Marini, Annalisa Navetta

100
00:06:21,950 --> 00:06:23,800
from University of Trieste

101
00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:26,440
The narrator was Annalisa Navetta.