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The Influence of Narrative Specificity and Voice Quality when Listening to Audio Descriptions: a Comparison of the Sighted and the Blind

Lyberg Åhlander, Viveka LU orcid ; Holsanova, Jana LU orcid and Johansson, Roger LU orcid (2024) In Journal of Audiovisual Translation 7(2). p.1-25
Abstract
Audio description (AD) serves as a vital means to make visual media accessible to non-sighted and visually impaired audiences. This study systematically investigates the impact of narrative specificity and voice quality on imageability and comprehension in both sighted and non-sighted populations. Twenty non-sighted participants, including congenitally blind individuals and those who lost their sight early in life, were compared with a group of 20 sighted participants, matched for verbal working memory capabilities. Participants listened to 50 short event descriptions, describing spatiotemporal relations with varying levels of narrative specificity, presented in both typical and dysphonic voices. After each event description, participants... (More)
Audio description (AD) serves as a vital means to make visual media accessible to non-sighted and visually impaired audiences. This study systematically investigates the impact of narrative specificity and voice quality on imageability and comprehension in both sighted and non-sighted populations. Twenty non-sighted participants, including congenitally blind individuals and those who lost their sight early in life, were compared with a group of 20 sighted participants, matched for verbal working memory capabilities. Participants listened to 50 short event descriptions, describing spatiotemporal relations with varying levels of narrative specificity, presented in both typical and dysphonic voices. After each event description, participants rated their ability to imagine the content, overall comprehension, listening effort, and listening enjoyment. Results indicate that high narrative specificity enhanced imageability in non-sighted individuals, especially for scenarios involving changes in motion, and to some extent, for visuospatial relations, irrespective of sightedness. Additionally, dysphonic voices increased listening effort and reduced enjoyment for non-sighted participants only. These findings underscore the importance of considering voice quality and narrative specificity in AD for non-sighted users and have implications for both professional audio describers and the development of automated AD systems. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Audiovisual Translation
volume
7
issue
2
pages
25 pages
external identifiers
  • scopus:85213384395
ISSN
2617-9148
DOI
10.47476/jat.v7i2.2024.314
project
How the blind audience receive and experience audio descriptions of visual events
Syntolkning och tillgänglig information/Audio description and accessible information
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b9b57efb-dbca-4607-a8cb-3b263020d5d6
date added to LUP
2024-08-23 16:02:55
date last changed
2025-05-12 05:06:17
@article{b9b57efb-dbca-4607-a8cb-3b263020d5d6,
  abstract     = {{Audio description (AD) serves as a vital means to make visual media accessible to non-sighted and visually impaired audiences. This study systematically investigates the impact of narrative specificity and voice quality on imageability and comprehension in both sighted and non-sighted populations. Twenty non-sighted participants, including congenitally blind individuals and those who lost their sight early in life, were compared with a group of 20 sighted participants, matched for verbal working memory capabilities. Participants listened to 50 short event descriptions, describing spatiotemporal relations with varying levels of narrative specificity, presented in both typical and dysphonic voices. After each event description, participants rated their ability to imagine the content, overall comprehension, listening effort, and listening enjoyment. Results indicate that high narrative specificity enhanced imageability in non-sighted individuals, especially for scenarios involving changes in motion, and to some extent, for visuospatial relations, irrespective of sightedness. Additionally, dysphonic voices increased listening effort and reduced enjoyment for non-sighted participants only. These findings underscore the importance of considering voice quality and narrative specificity in AD for non-sighted users and have implications for both professional audio describers and the development of automated AD systems.}},
  author       = {{Lyberg Åhlander, Viveka and Holsanova, Jana and Johansson, Roger}},
  issn         = {{2617-9148}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{1--25}},
  series       = {{Journal of Audiovisual Translation}},
  title        = {{The Influence of Narrative Specificity and Voice Quality when Listening to Audio Descriptions: a Comparison of the Sighted and the Blind}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/204983431/Lyberg_final_locked.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.47476/jat.v7i2.2024.314}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}