How easy are audio descriptions? Exploring the viability of hybrid access services across English, Spanish and Catalan
Easy-to-understand (E2U) language has typicallybeen used for written content, but there has been a recent interest in applying this concept to audiovisual content and access services on streamingplatforms. In this regard, the EASIT project addressed whether the hybridisation of E2Ulanguage with audi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Western Sydney University
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Translation and Interpreting : the International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research |
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| Online Access: | https://www.trans-int.org/index.php/transint/article/view/2103 |
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| author | Blanca Arias-Badia Anna Matamala |
| author_facet | Blanca Arias-Badia Anna Matamala |
| author_sort | Blanca Arias-Badia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Easy-to-understand (E2U) language has typicallybeen used for written content, but there has been a recent interest in applying this concept to audiovisual content and access services on streamingplatforms. In this regard, the EASIT project addressed whether the hybridisation of E2Ulanguage with audio description (AD) could produce a new access service.This new form of easy ADmay be key soon for streaming platforms to create an environment where individuals with diverse profiles can engage with media in ways that are accessible and enjoyable.While professionals from ADand E2Ulanguage hold diverging views on the topic, one central aspect remainsto be investigated: how easy are current audio descriptions? This paper presents a contrastive analysis of a corpus of film ADin English, Catalan and Spanish, to assess theextent to which AD scriptsshare the principles of E2Ulanguage as described in international standards. Materials validated as easy in the same languages are used forcomparison. This descriptive study sheds light on current practices with a cross-linguistic perspective and allows us to identify commonalities and divergences between E2U languageand AD. The paper reports on features connected to sentence complexity, namely sentence length, part-of-speech distribution, verbs per sentence, and frequency of verbal periphrases. It also offers a lexical analysis considering corpus aboutness, lexical density, vocabulary richness, and information load, as well as relevant readability indexes. Additionally, it contributes to the development of the so-called concept of easy audios, as proposed by theongoingWELproject. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ea12063b82244c1f8aac0eaea5b0442a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1836-9324 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Western Sydney University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Translation and Interpreting : the International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-ea12063b82244c1f8aac0eaea5b0442a2025-08-20T03:43:40ZengWestern Sydney UniversityTranslation and Interpreting : the International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research1836-93242025-07-0117219021310.12807/ti.117202.2025.a11How easy are audio descriptions? Exploring the viability of hybrid access services across English, Spanish and CatalanBlanca Arias-Badia0Anna Matamala1Universitat Pompeu FabraUniversitat Autònoma de BarcelonaEasy-to-understand (E2U) language has typicallybeen used for written content, but there has been a recent interest in applying this concept to audiovisual content and access services on streamingplatforms. In this regard, the EASIT project addressed whether the hybridisation of E2Ulanguage with audio description (AD) could produce a new access service.This new form of easy ADmay be key soon for streaming platforms to create an environment where individuals with diverse profiles can engage with media in ways that are accessible and enjoyable.While professionals from ADand E2Ulanguage hold diverging views on the topic, one central aspect remainsto be investigated: how easy are current audio descriptions? This paper presents a contrastive analysis of a corpus of film ADin English, Catalan and Spanish, to assess theextent to which AD scriptsshare the principles of E2Ulanguage as described in international standards. Materials validated as easy in the same languages are used forcomparison. This descriptive study sheds light on current practices with a cross-linguistic perspective and allows us to identify commonalities and divergences between E2U languageand AD. The paper reports on features connected to sentence complexity, namely sentence length, part-of-speech distribution, verbs per sentence, and frequency of verbal periphrases. It also offers a lexical analysis considering corpus aboutness, lexical density, vocabulary richness, and information load, as well as relevant readability indexes. Additionally, it contributes to the development of the so-called concept of easy audios, as proposed by theongoingWELproject.https://www.trans-int.org/index.php/transint/article/view/2103audio descriptioneasy-to-understand languagecorpus analysisreadabilityaccessibility |
| spellingShingle | Blanca Arias-Badia Anna Matamala How easy are audio descriptions? Exploring the viability of hybrid access services across English, Spanish and Catalan Translation and Interpreting : the International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research audio description easy-to-understand language corpus analysis readability accessibility |
| title | How easy are audio descriptions? Exploring the viability of hybrid access services across English, Spanish and Catalan |
| title_full | How easy are audio descriptions? Exploring the viability of hybrid access services across English, Spanish and Catalan |
| title_fullStr | How easy are audio descriptions? Exploring the viability of hybrid access services across English, Spanish and Catalan |
| title_full_unstemmed | How easy are audio descriptions? Exploring the viability of hybrid access services across English, Spanish and Catalan |
| title_short | How easy are audio descriptions? Exploring the viability of hybrid access services across English, Spanish and Catalan |
| title_sort | how easy are audio descriptions exploring the viability of hybrid access services across english spanish and catalan |
| topic | audio description easy-to-understand language corpus analysis readability accessibility |
| url | https://www.trans-int.org/index.php/transint/article/view/2103 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT blancaariasbadia howeasyareaudiodescriptionsexploringtheviabilityofhybridaccessservicesacrossenglishspanishandcatalan AT annamatamala howeasyareaudiodescriptionsexploringtheviabilityofhybridaccessservicesacrossenglishspanishandcatalan |