The Department of Translation, Terminology and Interpreting Studies, in collaboration with Heritage Malta, once again contributed to making local art and culture accessible to the blind and partially sighted. Giorgio Preca’s ‘Maltese Folk Characters’, 1954 oil on canvas exhibited at MUŻA was chosen for one of the department’s course programme projects.
The audiovisual translation students scripted an audio description for adults in English and in Maltese, and created a version for children. These will be voice recorded and made available to the public. Audio description is a mode of accessibility that translates the visual into the verbal, therefore using words to create an inclusive experience on a sensory level.
This project was supervised and reviewed by Dr Giselle Spiteri Miggiani who teaches and coordinates Audiovisual Translation, one of the specialisation streams within the postgraduate degree in Translation and Terminology. Media and culture access fall under this new area of studies, and the students learn how to apply the main accessibility modes: audio description and subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing, referred to locally as inclusive subtitles since they also provide linguistic transfer into Maltese or English. The Department of Translation is currently the only entity engaging in research, development and training in linguistic and sensory access applied to the arts and media.
Awareness towards inclusivity is slowly increasing on the island, though there is certainly room for more action. An EU directive now obliges media content broadcast on European TV networks to be inclusive, and this is now feasible, locally, thanks to the trained resources provided by the Department of Translation. Hopefully, this will lead to more inclusive television, film and culture entertainment, in line with European legislation.
The Department would like to thank Heritage Malta and MUŻA for their collaboration, especially Ms Vanessa Ciantar, Ms Sabrina Calleja Jackson, and Mr. Kenneth Cassar, and of course the students for their excellent work and effort.
