Recreating the audio description script for people with intellectual disabilities
Audio description. AD script. Intellectual disability
Audio description (AD) is a form of intersemiotic translation in which visual signs are translated into verbal acoustic signs. Among the different types of AD, we can mention films, where AD is inserted in moments of silence between dialogues; static works, as in the case of photographs, sculptures. Although AD is a tool totally aimed at the visually impaired, a public considered at the time of producing the AD script and for whom the tool was developed, there is recent research that focuses on other viewers also mentioned in the literature as possible beneficiaries: people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Based on the work of Carneiro (2015), the present research, supported by the theories of Scope and Relevance, aimed at proposing an audio description model for this specific audience, since the AD helps these subjects’ better understanding of film narrative . After reviewing audio description studies, audio description as a mode of translation, intellectual disability and the theory of relevance in translation, an audio description script was developed to fill the gaps offered by the script used by Carneiro and previously made for visually impaired people. The films used in the research were the same as those used in the previously mentioned study, Águas de Romanza and Vida Maria. Once the proposed scripts were ready, a reception survey was conducted, after submission to the Research Ethics Committee, to diagnose possible gaps in understanding and the effectiveness of the proposed scripts. Based on the results, it was concluded that the scripts filled most of the gaps found in Carneiro (2015), the only exception being the description of the climax in the script for the film Águas de Romanza.