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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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-I’m Gert Vercauteren from the
University of Antwerp in Belgium.

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In this ADLAB PRO video

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I will tell you more
about the target audience of AD.

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This is Unit 6,
"Target Audience",

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in Module 1,
"General Introduction".

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Many existing definitions
describe audio description

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as a service aimed
at people with sight loss.

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This is bit
of an oversimplification.

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As you will learn in this Unit,
‘people with sight loss’

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constitute
a very heterogeneous group.

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Moreover, in addition
to this primary target audience,

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there is a very large and diverse
secondary audience.

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Now, let us first zoom in
on the primary target audience.

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According to recent figures
of the World Health Organisation,

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253 million people worldwide
are visually impaired.

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36 million of these people
are blind

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and 217 million have moderate

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to severe vision impairment.

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Moreover, it is estimated that
these numbers could triple

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due to population growth
and ageing.

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Within the group of blind people,
some were born blind,

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while most became blind
at various stages later in life.

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This is important
for audio describers,

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because it means
that most people

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do have visual mental
representations

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of concrete concepts,
and only a small minority does not.

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In other words,
most audience members

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do know what colours look like,
to give just one example.

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The group of partially sighted
people,

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can also further
be subdivided

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according to the type
and the degree of sight loss.

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Some conditions,
such as cataract,

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lead to clouded
or blurry vision,

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others, such as damage
to the optic nerve,

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lead to tunnel vision

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and thus the loss
of peripheral sight,

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and still others,
such as defects in the retina,

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provoke the loss
of central vision.

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Conclusion:

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The primary target audience member
does not exist.

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Moreover, there is a very large
and diverse

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secondary target audience.

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Indeed, audio description
has the potential

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to reach far more people

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than just those who suffer
from any kind of sight loss.

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A first secondary audience
that can be identified,

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are older people.

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Not only do these people tend
to lose part of their eye sight,

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often their mental capacities
weaken too,

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and they may find it
increasingly difficult

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to follow TV programmes,
theatre performances, etc.

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As such, audio description
can offer them

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an additional explanation

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and help them understand
the programme or play.

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Second, younger people can benefit
from audio description too.

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Recent research showed
that adding audio description

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to educational materials,

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helped guiding
school children’s attention

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to important elements
in audio visual content.

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Another recent study,
with mixed results,

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showed that people with mental
impairments such as autism,

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could benefit
from audio description too,

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particularly from explanations
of emotions

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and from more explicit
contextualisation.

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Finally, according
to the ITC guidelines,

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“potentially
the largest audience

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to benefit
from audio description,

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are sighted people
who do not wish

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to direct their visual attention
to the television screen.”

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As an extensive survey showed,

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4 out of 10 people sometimes
‘watch’ television

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when performing other tasks
inside the house.

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So what kind of audio description
do we want or need then?

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It is clear that there
can be no such thing as

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a ‘one size fits all’
audio description,

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and that ‘a golden mean’
will never be golden for everyone.

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Unless specific instructions
tell you to do otherwise,

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it seems safe however
to cater for the needs

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of the primary target audience

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and make sure that people
with sight loss

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can understand and enjoy
the audio visual product.

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So that was it for Unit 6.

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I hope you now have a better image
of the different audiences

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that can benefit
from audio description.

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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:

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University of Trieste,

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Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona,

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University of Antwerp,

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Adam Mickiewicz University,

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RTV Slovenia,

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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.