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.

This third volume in the Media for All series offers a diverse selection of articles which bear testimony to the vigour and versatility of research and developments in audiovisual translation and media accessibility. The collection reflects the critical impact of new technologies on AVT, media accessibility and consumer behaviour and shows the significant increase in collaborative and interdisciplinary research targeting changing consumer perceptions as well as quality issues. Complementing newcomers such as crowdsourcing and potentially universal emoticons, classical themes of AVT studies such as linguistic analyses and corpus-based research are featured. Prevalent throughout the volume is the impact of technology on both methodologies and content. The book will be of interest to researchers from a wide range of disciplines as well as audiovisual translators, lecturers, trainers and students, producers and developers working in the field of language and media accessibility.

This book, a first in its kind, offers a survey of the present state of affairs in media accessibility research and practice. It focuses on professional practices which are relative newcomers within the field of audiovisual translation and media studies, namely, audio description for the blind and visually impaired, sign language, and subtitling for the deaf and the hard-of-hearing for television, DVD, cinema, internet and live performances. Thanks to the work of lobbying groups and the introduction of legislation in some countries, media accessibility is an area that has recently gained marked visibility in our society. It has begun to appear in university curricula across Europe, and is the topic of numerous specialised conferences. The target readership of this book is first and foremost the growing number of academics involved in audiovisual translation at universities - researchers, teachers and students - but it is also of interest to the ever-expanding pool of practitioners and translators, who may wish to improve their crafts. The collection also addresses media scholars, members of deaf and blind associations, TV channels, and cinema or theatre managements who have embarked on the task of making their programmes and venues accessible to the visually and hearing impaired.

This book presents the first study of voice-over from a wide approach, including not only academic issues but also a description of the practice of voice-over around the globe. The authors define the concept of voice-over in Film Studies and Translation Studies and clarify the relationship between voice-over and other audiovisual transfer modes. They also describe the translation process in voice-over both for production and postproduction, for fiction and non-fiction. The book also features course models on voice-over which can be used as a source of inspiration by trainers willing to include this transfer mode in their courses. A global survey on voice-over in which both practitioners and academics express their opinions and a commented bibliography on voice-over complete this study. Each chapter includes exercises which both lecturers and students can find useful.