School of English - AUTh

The main aim of this course is to provide students with a fundamental grounding in Subtitling for the D/eaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH) and Audio Description (AD) for the Blind and Partially sighted as media accessibility services. Upon completion of this course students will have developed all the essential audiovisual, linguistic and technical skills that would enable them to produce SDH subtitles for a variety of film/TV genres as well as audio descriptions for different contexts (e.g., films, museums etc.). This course will also familiarise students with the ways in which SDH and AD can be used as pedagogical tools for foreign language learning and enhancing digital literacies.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

The course is specifically designed to enable students to:

• analyse audiovisual/multimodal texts for accessibility purposes through the application of basic principles from semiotics (image and sound)
• become familiar with the concepts of media accessibility and inclusivity as well as the pertinent legal framework
• appreciate the needs and expectations of the complex and significantly mixed audience of SDH and AD  
• recognise the particularities, mechanics, and conventions of SDH and AD
• carry out SDH and AD projects in a software environment adhering to specific styleguides and tackling some of the key challenges faced by industry experts (e.g. decision making when it comes to dealing with technical constraints, linguistic issues etc.)
• use SDH and AD as pedagogical tools for foreign language learning and enhancing digital literacies.

Assessment: SDH/AD project and reflective commentary (40%), Final Exam (60%)