Audio Description Policies in the UK and Hong Kong: A Database-Driven Analysis

Audio description (AD) is a crucial accessibility service for people who are visually impaired. In recent years, growing attention has been paid to research on AD, however, few studies have been conducted on AD-related policies. The UK is one of the earliest countries to implement policies, laws and regulations to ensure people who are visually impaired equal access to media. The UK’s media industry is required to provide AD services to television programmes and online video platforms, and the selection of audio-described movies and shows in the cinemas and other venues has expanded. Studying AD policies in the UK can therefore elucidate their special features and patterns, which may provide valuable insights for policy making in a global context. As Hong Kong used to be a British colony, the UK’s influence on Hong Kong can be seen in many areas. However, AD in Hong Kong is only at the early stage, and it is not clear how AD services are regulated. This study will investigate policies related to AD in the UK and Hong Kong using a database-driven approach, which is based on a corpus consisting of policies and related laws and regulations in UK and Hong Kong built for this research. The findings of this study are expected to provide an overview of British and Hong Kong AD policies, which will offer a useful guide for government administrators, lawmakers, researchers and AD practitioners.