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This is an ADLAB PRO video.

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ADLAB PRO is a project funded
by the European Union.

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This video is made available
to you

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on a Creative Commons licence.

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-Hello. I’m Aline Remael,
from the University of Antwerp,

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and in this
ADLAB PRO video

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I will survey some of the main
research trends in AD.

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This is Unit 3,
"Research",

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in Module 1,
"Additional services".

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AD has developed fully
into an academic discipline

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since the turn
of the 21st century.

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This means it has developed
its own conceptual framework,

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it has its own publications
and conferences,

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and has been integrated
into university programmes.

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AD can also be seen
as a sub-discipline

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of Audiovisual Translation
and/or Media Accessibility.

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Both disciplines study translations
for audiovisual texts

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and have become virtually
indistinguishable.

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Both disciplines encompass
intralingual, interlingual

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and intersemiotic translation.

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Very specific to research
into AD is also its link

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and interaction with practice,
the industry,

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stakeholders,
legislative developments

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and technological innovation.

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This interaction has resulted
in a constant diversification

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of research
topics and methods.

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Early research questions aiming
at understanding

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how AD functions,
going back to the 1990s,

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continue to be investigated
alongside new ones,

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now often more empirically.

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Initially, research by practitioners
and academics alike

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was mostly
analytical-descriptive.

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It asked questions related to AD
as a text type

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and focused on screen AD,

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aiming to identify its nature
and challenges.

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Early research also focused
on the development of guidelines.

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It wanted to understand
the challenges

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involved in the transition
from a multimodal text

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that can impart
a lot of information at once,

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to a verbal narration
that is linear.

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In other words,
research focused

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on determining
what content to select for AD.

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It dealt with what to include
in the AD and how much.

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It dealt with when to include
the information

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and how to include
the information.

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And it considered how objective
an audio describer should be

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and whether equivalence is
possible in audio described films.

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As AD was developing at different
speeds in different regions,

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this resulted in studies
focusing on the establishment

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of national
or regional traditions.

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Initial views
about the nature of AD

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tended to be rather intuitive
since they were practice-based,

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relying on the responses
of small focus groups only,

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or on case studies
using limited data.

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Technology has enabled
researchers to compile

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larger, digitized multimodal
corpora for textual analysis

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and, more generally,
this has led to a strong increase

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in experimental
and empirical research.

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Reception research
has benefitted greatly

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from technological developments
such as eyetracking

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and electroencephalography,
which can measure

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the physical and emotional
reactions of AD users.

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As we pointed out before,

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this means that questions
about audience preferences

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and the functioning of AD can now
be answered more accurately.

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Interdisciplinarity
and collaboration with experts

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from such diverse disciplines
as engineering

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or experimental
and cognitive psychology

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has become central
to AD research.

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The same goes for project research.

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European projects
such as HBB4ALL

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aim to create large-scale
implementable solutions

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to the benefit of the industry
as well as AD users.

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Some research aims
to optimize production methods

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and minimize costs,
looking into the use of

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machine translation
and artificial voices for AD,

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while research
into quality issues

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aims to guarantee the quality
of the AD thus produced.

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To conclude,

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the concept of inclusive
or universal design in AD

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is gaining ground.
It aims to create products

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that can be used by all
from their inception.

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Several new research initiatives
also investigate how AD

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can be integrated into the
creative process of filmmaking

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and theatre directing,
for instance.

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This may eventually lead
to the merger of AD research

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with the larger discipline
of accessibility studies.

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Well, this has been
a bird’s eye view of research in AD.

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I hope it has kindled
your curiosity.

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-The preparation
of this presentation

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was supported by ADLAB PRO.
Audio Description:

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A Laboratory for the Development
of a New Professional Profile

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financed by the European Union
under the Erasmus+ Programme,

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Key Action 2,
Strategic Partnerships.

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Project number:

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2016-1-IT02

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KA203-024311.

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The information and views
set out in this presentation

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are those of the authors
and do not necessarily reflect

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the official opinion
of the European Union.

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Neither the European Union
institutions and bodies

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nor any persona acting
on their behalf

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may be held responsible
for the use

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which may be made of
the information contained therein.

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This was an ADLAB PRO video.

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ADLAB PRO partners are:
University of Trieste,

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Universitat Autònoma
de Barcelona,

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University of Antwerp,
Adam Mickiewicz University,

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RTV Slovenia,
Utopian Voices,

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Soundfocus and Royal National
Institute of Blind People.

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ADLAB PRO was funded
by the European Union.

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This video was made available
to you

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on a Creative Commons licence.