Video games have evolved to become a pervasive format which is beyond entertainment, enjoyed by a broad group of people rather than as a niche activity by hardcore gamers. However, to date, academic studies focusing on game localization and accessibility are few and far between, despite the fact that further research in localization and accessibility would be beneficial to all. The different contributions in this pioneering volume address the emerging fields of Game Accessibility and Game Localization from different angles, providing insightful information about these relatively unexplored academic areas with such close tights to the industry. The volume is divided in two sections: the first section includes four contributions on Game Accessibility, dealing with issues such as universally accessible games and guidelines for promoting accessibility. The second section of the book includes nine contributions focussing on different issues affecting game translation and localization, such as case studies, culturalization, fan translation, and terminology management for the game localization industry.

This book investigates different elements which have direct implications for translations but are not the actual text. These features are usually presented in a particular format - written, oral, digital, audio-visual or musical. They are furnished with, for example, illustrations, prologues, introductions, indexes or appendices, or are accompanied by an ensemble of information outside the text such as an interview with the author, a general or specialist press review, an advertisement or a previous translation. However, the boundaries of paratextuality are not limited to the aforementioned examples, since paratextuality has a direct implication for areas as diverse as censorship, a contracting economy, decisions taken by the various actors in the political or cultural context in which the text occurs. Therefore it is obvious that most of the key concepts in Translation Studies cannot be fully understood without reference to the part played by paratextual elements, examined here taking into account different language pairs from Turkish to Catalan. The content presented in this book is gathered from a conference on Paratextual Elements in Translation, held at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona in 2010.

Audio description is one of the many services available to guarantee accessibility to audiovisual media. It describes and narrates images and sounds and resulting audio is then mixed with the original soundtrack. Audio description is a complex process that touches production, distribution and reception. Researching Audio Description: New Approachesgathers academic information and data from the many existing research projects, practices, and training across the world. The book has a telescopic approach, from two introductory chapters where accessibility in general is contextualised as a human right, and the basic concepts of disability and impairment are explored. Research on specific features for audio description script drafting are focused in the second part of the book, with a view to revising existing funded projects and their outcomes. The book offers a wealth of information on both the practical and philosophical, from different approaches in perception and cognition, and different research methodologies. Project information contained in the contributions identifies trends in current research-funded studies which will be valuable as a pointer towards future proposals. The book shows the dynamic state of audio description practice, training and research, while contributing towards the growing critical mass needed in building the field of accessibility studies.