EASIT: Easy Access for Social Inclusion Training
This is unit 1, Media Accessibility;
element 5, Media accessibility services,
video lecture "Sign language interpreting".
I am Anna Matamala, from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
and in this short lecture I will be talking
about sign language interpreting.
When you don't understand a language,
interpreting can be a useful access service.
This interpreting can take place
from an oral language into another oral language.
For instance, Swahili into Portuguese.
But also from an oral language into a sign language,
for instance from Catalan into Catalan Sign Language.
In this case, it is an access service for those who cannot hear the original,
but communicate in sign language.
Of course, interpreting can also happen
between two sign languages
and from a sign language into an oral language.
Sign languages are the main means of communication for Deaf people,
and I write Deaf with a capital letter in this case
to point out I am referring to a community.
Sign languages are natural languages
as any spoken language.
The difference is that sign languages are visual-gestural languages:
they use hands and arms, facial expressions, eyebrow positions,
mouthing, head tilts, shoulder and torso positions.
It is important to highlight
that the same way there are many spoken languages,
there are also many sign languages, not just one.
Interpreting into either spoken or sign languages
can be useful in many settings:
radio programmes, television, scenic arts, cinema, live events, etc.
The interpreting can be simultaneous,
that is happening at the same time
the source content is delivered, with a slight delay;
can be consecutive,
in which source content and interpreting alternate;
and liaison, in which interpreting happens when needed,
in a less structured way, generally in social contexts.
Interpreting can be live or recorded, with or without preparation,
and the interpreter can actually be in the place
where the event is taking place or can be interpreting remotely.
Focusing exclusively on sign language interpreting on screen,
the interpreter can be shown differently.
I will give you three examples.
First example: the image of the interpreter
is inserted in the main image,
what is called a picture-in-picture.
Second example: the image of the interpreter
is integrated with the background image using chroma.
Third example: the screen is split in two.
You can find many more examples on the website signlangtv.org.
Apart from human interpreters,
there is now research on automatic interpreting
in which avatars or virtual characters are used, and speech recognition,
machine translation and sign language synthesis
(or text-to-sign technologies) are being used.
This does not come without controversy,
but I would suggest you keep an eye on these developments.
In 2017, HBB4ALL, a European project
that researched access services in HbbTV,
produced some very interesting guidelines
on sign language interpreting
which I invite you to read.
The guidelines stress some important factors
you should be aware of
for a successful sign language interpreting:
When filming, special attention should be paid to aspects
such as illumination, the size of the signing space or the shot type.
The interaction of the visuals and the screen layout
with the sign language interpreter should also be considered.
We are asking users to split their attention
and we should make it as easy as possible for them
to process all the information on screen.
The colour combination is also important.
Some colours may cause eye fatigue and affect perception.
The shape and size of the sign language interpreter on screen
is normally considered one of the main features
to be taken into account.
If the signer is not visible enough,
signing will not be accessible.
Its position is also important.
In this regard, user personalization and customization
may be the way to go:
user content is personalised to their needs,
and users are also offered the opportunity to customise it.
I invite you to learn more about sign languages
through additional readings and by paying attention
to how sign language interpreters are present
on different types of audiovisual content.
This video lecture has been prepared by Anna Matamala,
from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
You can reach me at anna.matamala@uab.cat.
The project EASIT has received funding
from the European Commission
under the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships
for Higher Education programme,
grant agreement 2018-1-ES01-KA203-05275.
The European Commission support for the production of this publication
does not constitute an endorsement of the contents,
which reflect the views only of the authors,
and the Commission cannot be held responsible
for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Partners of the EASIT project:
Universtitat Autònoma de Barcelona,
Università degli Studi di Trieste,
Universidade de Vigo,
Stiftung Universität Hildesheim,
SDI München,
Dyslexiförbundet,
Radiotelevisija Slovenija,
Zavod Risa.
EASIT: Easy Access for Social Inclusion Training