The Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) is one of the most extensively used instruments in the situational assessment of the emotional state in experimental or clinical contexts of emotional induction. However, there is no instrument of this kind adapted for blind or visually impaired people. In this paper, we present the results of the preliminary validation of a tactile adaptation of the SAM, the Tactile Self-Assessment Manikin (T-SAM). For this purpose, 5 people with visual disabilities participated in a focus group in which the usability of this adaptation was evaluated, as well as its usefulness in representing the valence and arousal subscales of the original instrument. The analysis of the content of this focus group suggests a pertinent content validity, while the participants correctly understood both the purpose of the instrument, and the tactile representations of valence and activation constructs created by the research team. However, the difficulty of blind people from birth to understand the graphic representation of an emotional facial expression was detected, which represents a limitation to control in future steps in the validation of T-SAM.
This article reports the outcome of an experiment in which 42 Spanish blind and partially sighted participants were exposed to two diverging audio subtitling strategies: audio subtitles with a voice-over effect and audio subtitles with a dubbing effect. Data on the users' emotional responses were collected through a tactile and simplified version of the SAM questionnaire and psychophysiological recordings of electrodermal activity and heart rate. The results obtained from both methods do not show statistically significant differences between the two effects. However, results from the questionnaire proved that emotions were induced in the participants calling for more research on the topic and with the application of such methods.
26 September 2018 in International Journal of Multilingualism
Multilingualism in films has increased in recent productions as a reflection of today’s globalised word. Different translation transfer modes such as dubbing or subtitling are combined to maintain the film’s multilingual essence when translated into other languages. Within media accessibility, audio subtitles, an aurally-rendered version of written subtitles, is used to make access possible for audiences with vision or reading difficulties. By taking Sternberg’s representation of polylingualism (1981. Polylingualism as reality and translation as mimesis. Poetics Today, 2(4), 221–239), this article offers a categorisation of the strategies that may be used to reveal multilingualism in audiovisual content through audio subtitles similar to the way Szarkowska, Zbikowska, & Krejtz (2013. Subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing in multilingual films. International Journal of Multilingualism, 10(3), 292–312. Retrieved from https://xpv.uab.cat/doi/full/10.1080/,DanaInfo=.awxyCxftknxxwu0sOs54+14790718.2013.766195?scroll=top&needAccess=true) did with subtitles for the deaf and the hard of hearing. By taking a descriptive approach, two main strategies or effects for the delivery of audio subtitles – dubbing and voice-over – are highlighted and explained. By combining these two effects with the information provided by the audio description, the levels of the categorisation are defined from more to less multilingualism-revealing: vehicular matching, selective reproduction, verbal transposition, explicit attribution and homogenising convention.
25 January 2020 in The Journal of Specialised Translation
This article proposes electrodermal activity (EDA) as a new objective measure for experimental studies in media accessibility. It first presents a theoretical framework in which the concept of emotion and its categorisation are presented. It then explains how EDA can be used to measure emotional reaction: the article reports on experimental design, participant selection, stimuli preparation, data collection devices, experimental procedure and data analysis. It also discusses briefly how EDA can be combined with other measures. Overall, the article provides a general methodological framework for the implementation of electrodermal activity as a measure of emotions in media accessibility research.
1 August 2020 in Trabalhos em Linguística Aplicada
Brazil has the highest murder rate of transgender people in the world. The paper will focus on a debate of how audio description of some audiovisual products should be used to call the attention to the discrimination and violence suffered by homosexual couples. We have chosen a Brazilian music video called Flutua produced and performed by Johnny Hooker with special participation of the Brazilian singer Liniker, a black trans woman. The clip presents an outstanding visual narrative involving contemporary themes such as gays with disability, gender-fluid and homophobia. During the video a gay deaf couple spends a day having fun with friends in an urban scenario composed by known streets and places of Sao Paulo capital. At the end of the day a member of the group suffered a very violent attack. The audio description of the most relevant scenes, the identities and outfit of the singers, and their movements will be presented having in mind the music as protagonist of Flutua.