Multi-sensory approaches to (audio) describing the visual arts

Making art accessible to blind patrons requires the ability to convey explicit and implicit visual messages through non-visual forms. Audio description is often seen as the best way to offer visual texts to blind people; however, one may query whether words alone are sufficient to convey the subtleties of art and to transport the emotional charge such works offer. It is a fact that the dialogue between words and touch may allow these particular “readers” to “see” art in its tangible forms, but perhaps more is needed if one is to give them the opportunity to live the art experience to the full. This article discusses different multi-sensory approaches to making art available to visually impaired people and proposes soundpainting as a form of artistic transcreation.Para que el arte sea accesible para las personas ciegas es necesario saber transmitir mensajes visuales, tanto explícitos como implícitos, a través de formas no visuales. La audiodescripción se considera, a menudo, como la mejor manera de ofrecer textos visuales a los ciegos; sin embargo, uno se puede preguntar si las palabras por sí solas son suficientes para transmitir las sutilezas de las artes visuales y transportar la carga emocional de estas obras. Es cierto que el diálogo que se establece entre las palabras y el acto de tocar puede permitir a estos “lectores” particulares “ver” obras artísticas en sus formas tangibles, pero quizás se necesite más si el objetivo último es brindarles la oportunidad de disfrutar la experiencia artística en todas sus dimensiones. En este artículo se analizan varias aproximaciones multisensoriales encaminadas a conseguir que las artes visuales sean accesibles a las personas con discapacidad visual y propone el soundpainting como una forma de transcreación artística.This research has been partially funded by the European Project AD LAB: Audio Description. Lifelong Access for the Blind with reference no. 517992-LLP-1-2011-1-IT-ERASMUS-ECUE

Project-based learning for the development of social transformative competence in socially engaged translators

The analysis of particular experiences in the light of academic thought is bound to help us understand the impact of educational approaches on real people living in real contexts, while shedding light at a macro-level on translator education at large. This article addresses the analysis of one particular case of project-based learning on AVT for Access, in the MA in Audiovisual Translation programme offered at Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU), to show how academically motivated Participatory Action Research projects may lead to the development of ‘social transformative competence’ in translation students. This competence is the ability to identify areas for action and to operate social change in the process of developing and providing translation and mediation services. Socially invested professionals will be people who proactively interact with society towards change, in the search for creative solutions for existing problems. In so doing, not only will they be positioning themselves as service providers, but they will also be promoting social justice and empowering the communities they engage with. Furthermore, they could be shaping environments for emerging mediation modes, outlining new professional profiles and creating new communities of practice.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A comunicação inclusiva na dinamização e preservação do património cultural

Reflexão teórica sobre acesso ao patrimônio cultural tangível e intangível na defesa de um novo paradigma de mediação cultural apoiado no modelo de comunicação inclusiva. Advoga-se que para a cultura fruir a toda e qualquer pessoa, haverá necessidade de eliminar todo tipo de barreiras, que vão desde a envolvente territorial e arquitetônica, às estratégias de preservação, interpretação e divulgação do acervo, às mídias e tecnologias utilizadas e, acima de tudo, à diversidade dos próprios conteúdos nas mais variadas situações comunicacionais. Da mesma forma, haverá que ter em mente o perfil e as necessidades específicas de cada potencial receptor, tomando por medida as suas capacidades e competências, numa abordagem positiva e não discriminadora. Ao centrar a experiência cultural num paradigma de diversidade humana e no design universal com potencial para a customização individualizada, toda e qualquer ação servirá múltiplos perfis, sem que se limite a qualquer um deles e muito menos que se centre na deficiênciaTheoretical reflection on access to tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the defense of a new paradigm of cultural mediation based on the model of inclusive communication. It is argued that, in order to give everyone the opportunity to enjoy culture, there will be a need to eliminate the barriers to be found in the environment; in the preservation, interpretation and dissemination strategies; in the media and technologies used; and, above all, in the contents to be used in the most varied communication situations. Likewise, the profile and specific needs of each potential recipient should be addressed, taking into account their skills and competences, in a positive and non-discriminatory approach. By making the cultural experience be based on a paradigm of human diversity and universal design with the potential for individualized customization, every action will serve multiple profiles, without limiting them to any of them, much less by focusing on disability.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio