AUDIO DESCRIPTION AND DUBBING: AN ASSET

September 14, 2021
Maria Joaquina Marques

With regard to accessibility, audio description and dubbing have gained increasing prominence, even though dubbing is a lot older and predominant in several countries. At a time when digital content and content for and from streaming are increasingly consumed, audio description and dubbing represent a way to reach clients who tend to be more marginalized in their access to products and services.

Audio description offers a new world for those who have a visual impairment. The verbal description of visual elements, charts or maps of a work of art, a film or a class, lecture or conference makes this content more accessible and informs those who otherwise would not be able to obtain this information. Even those who do not have any visual problems, but are doing something that does not allow them to look at the screen, will benefit from the audio description. Being able to go to an art gallery and be immersed in the works, watching a film and understanding the dynamics between the characters, listening to a presentation and understanding what might be on a slide are advantages that the audio description offers and that should be taken into account when launching a product or a service. It is known that many people hold information through sound which, in addition, is a tool in language development.

When it comes to dubbing, all oral content is replaced by voices that speak the target language. It is a process that, for example, in films is done after filming. And how can we integrate dubbing into the development of a company? Through the translation of oral messages or promotional videos. This service requires a specialized translator, since a perfect synchronism between the lip movement and the new voice is mandatory. Moreover, it is a service that must be carried out in a studio to ensure the quality of the translation and sound.

These two aspects of audiovisual translation will, above all, win over and include many people who, for a number of reasons, prefer to hear the content in both the source and the target languages.