Experience of visually-impaired children in the enjoyment of cartoons

Buzzi M., Di Bella D., Gazzarrini C., Leporini B.

Cartoons  Audio-descriptions  Blind children  Accessibility 

Accessing video media by people with visual impairments is still a challenge. Audio descriptions are used as a tool to describe images that cannot be perceived by those who cannot see and cannot be understood from dialogues. The creation of audio descriptions involves (1) modifying the videos in terms of additional audio tracks with the use of tools that require specific skills, and (2) the need to alter the original video, unless the same is directly inserted by the producers. In addition, the structure and language used for audio descriptions are often adult-oriented and less designed for children with visual impairments. In this paper, we propose a solution to provide audio descriptions without editing the original videos. A pilot test with 4 children with visual impairment allowed us to evaluate the audio descriptions prepared for a series of episodes of a cartoon popular among children, and the use of the proposed system.

Source: GOODTECHS 2023 - 9th EAI International Conference on Smart Objects and Technologies for Social Good, Leiria, Portugal, 18-20/10/2023

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