This is an ADLAB PRO video.
ADLAB PRO is a project funded by the European Union.
This video is made available to you on a Creative Commons licence.
Hello. I’m Louise Fryer, from Utopian Voices.
In this ADLAB PRO video
I’ll talk about evaluation in the AD of live events.
This is Unit 7 in Module 3.
The aim of any evaluation is to check you’re meeting your goals.
You need to be sure what AD is trying to achieve.
Opinions differ. For some people the aim is
to make everything that is available to the sighted audience
available to the people with sight loss.
For others it is to enable users to follow the story,
for others to give users an equivalent experience
to that of the sighted audience.
There are two types of evaluation. What we are discussing here
is “formative” with the intention of improving the final result.
This is different from a “summative” evaluation
that assesses that final result.
For training purposes, evaluation helps the AD student
know how well they’re doing. It applies to the professional too,
as we are always learning.
Some AD companies such as VocalEyes "VE" have embedded evaluation
throughout the AD process. VE also carries out
an annual assessment of each describer.
The scholar Schjoldager used the following criteria
to evaluate the performance of interpreting students:
Comprehensibility, delivery, language,
coherence and plausibility, and loyalty.
It seems logical that AD users need to be able to understand
what is going on in the performance
but research shows that comprehensibility
and enjoyment or engagement are not related.
The importance depends on the purpose of the piece.
For example, understanding a joke is not the same as laughing at it.
Comprehensibility has been coupled with delivery.
Not only does lack of vocal clarity or mumbling
affect comprehensibility, but also aspects such as segmentation,
gaps between words and phrases, and prosody,
including intonation, pitch and pace, all help to shape meaning.
There are many “deviations” from good delivery including:
inarticulate speech, pauses, hesitation, false starts,
irritating noises, repetition, excessive self-correction,
unconvincing voice quality and monotonous intonation.
In addition to word choice, it is important to assess word order.
“She extinguishes the candles, followed by her husband”
is less ambiguously as
“Followed by her husband, she extinguishes the candles”.
That way only the candles are extinguished.
Accuracy is not as easy to define as you might think.
Inaccuracy in AD includes misnaming something or someone,
using an inappropriate verb so walk instead of run.
Misreporting, saying something or someone is there
when it’s or they’re not.
Omission or censorship, not saying something’s there when it is.
Users care about accuracy,
density, wanting neither too little nor too much,
delivery should be engaged and engaging
and technical aspects such as sound quality.
An evaluation sheet is available on the ADLAB PRO website
for you to use. It can evaluate
not only your peers’ performance but also your own.
When receiving feedback: Assume good intent.
Remember, they aren’t criticising you.
Their aim is to improve the AD for the benefit of AD users.
When giving feedback be specific, honest and kind.
We are all human. We all make mistakes.
That was a video about the evaluation of live events,
with me Louise Fryer.
The preparation of this presentation
was supported by ADLAB PRO. Audio Description:
A Laboratory for the Development of a New Professional Profile
financed by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Programme,
Key Action 2, Strategic Partnerships.
Project number:
2016-1-IT02-KA203-024311.
The information and views set out in this presentation
are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the official opinion of the European Union.
Neither the European Union institutions and bodies
nor any person acting on their behalf
may be held responsible for the use
which may be made of the information contained therein.
This was an ADLAB PRO video.
ADLAB PRO partners are: University of Trieste,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona,
University of Antwerp, Adam Mickiewicz University,
RTV Slovenia, Utopian Voices,
Soundfocus and Royal National Institute of Blind People.
ADLAB PRO was funded by the European Union.
This video was made available to you on a Creative Commons licence.