Introducing Inclusive Language in an Audio Description Training Program

The demand for audio description (AD) services and training has increased with media accessibility. Current AD courses mainly focus on training skills related to language, information processing, translation, vocal delivery, etc., and thus the importance of enhancing audio describers’ awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion has been overlooked. In the Hong Kong Paralympian feature movie, Zero to Hero, the Cantonese AD carries ableist implications, including language that deems disability as deviating from the “norm”. The fact that AD, an accessibility tool for people with visual impairment, contains ableist content in a Paralympian story that is intended to empower people with disabilities is highly ironic.

This research proposes to introduce the concept and practice of inclusive language in AD training. The Cantonese AD of Zero to Hero is used as training material to identify ableist language. It is also compared with the English AD in the British documentary film Rising Phoenix, to identify methods of modifying ableist language. For example, language with negative connotations and that portrays disabilities as defects is found in the Cantonese AD, and such language must be improved. The language of charity, stressing how people with disabilities rely on assistance from others, also appears in the Cantonese AD which depicts how a Paralympian is “helped” by his mother and coach. In contrast, the English AD uses the word “accompanying” rather than “helping”. Even when the Paralympians’ families or coaches offer assistance, the word “help” is never explicitly used. Ableist language is often rooted in unconscious assumptions, which will be discussed with the students in the training program, together with the strategies that can help to avoid using such language.

(This project is partially supported by the GRF project CityU #11609621 and the project #9229103.)