Audio description and cognitive diversity : a bespoke approach to facilitating access to the emotional content in multimodal narrative texts for autistic audiences
Audio description (AD) offers untapped potential for delivering content to new audiences, particularly in the realm of cognitive accessibility. To date, bespoke AD orientations, moving beyond the standard blind and visually impaired modality (BVI-AD), have not been researched. This study explores the application of bespoke AD for emotion recognition purposes, from the perspective of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) experiencing comorbid alexithymia (emotion recognition difficulties). It aims to establish the suitability of audio description as a vehicle for delivering emotion-based cues to assist with access to affective markers in film narrative. A study of AD for sight-impaired individuals undertaken by the British Broadcasting Corporation found evidence suggesting AD helped ASD individuals to engage with affective narrative (Fellowes, 2012). Studies of affect with autistic spectrum individuals commonly employ multimodal materials for the purposes of measuring emotion identification (Golan, Baron-Cohen & Golan, 2008), but have not yet incorporated supplementary AD, either as an entertainment or pedagogical resource. Addressing the gap, this project pairs AD remodelling techniques with an
Starr, Kim L.
Audio description and cognitive diversity : a bespoke approach to facilitating access to the emotional content in multimodal narrative texts for autistic audiences. Audio description (AD) offers untapped potential for delivering content to new audiences, particularly in the realm of cognitive accessibility. To date, bespoke AD orientations, moving beyond the standard blind and visually impaired modality (BVI-AD), have not been researched. This study explores the application of bespoke AD for emotion recognition purposes, from the perspective of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) experiencing comorbid alexithymia (emotion recognition difficulties). It aims to establish the suitability of audio description as a vehicle for delivering emotion-based cues to assist with access to affective markers in film narrative. A study of AD for sight-impaired individuals undertaken by the British Broadcasting Corporation found evidence suggesting AD helped ASD individuals to engage with affective narrative (Fellowes, 2012). Studies of affect with autistic spectrum individuals commonly employ multimodal materials for the purposes of measuring emotion identification (Golan, Baron-Cohen & Golan, 2008), but have not yet incorporated supplementary AD, either as an entertainment or pedagogical resource. Addressing the gap, this project pairs AD remodelling techniques with an
audio description cognitive diversity facilitate access emotional content multimodal narrative_text audience audio description offer untapped potential deliver content new audience particularly realm cognitive accessibility date orientation move_beyond standard blind visually impaired modality research study_explore application emotion recognition purpose perspective individual spectrum disorder experience emotion recognition difficulty aim_establish suitability audio description vehicle deliver emotion based cue assist access affective marker film narrative study sight impaired individual undertaken british corporation find evidence_suggest help individual_engage affective narrative studies affect spectrum individual commonly employ multimodal material purpose measure emotion identification baron yet incorporate supplementary either entertainment pedagogical resource addressing gap project pair technique