Creation and translation of audiovisual content in oral Easy-to-Understand Language: insights from interviews with professionals
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24197/2jbfgs25Keywords:
oral E2U language, audiovisual translation, accesibility, recommendations, interviewsAbstract
This article discusses findings from eleven semi-structured interviews with experts who use oral Easy-to-Understand (E2U) Language in audiovisual content. Our research, grounded in audiovisual translation and accessibility studies, maps current practices concerning linguistic and prosodic aspects, paratextual elements, and validation processes. The contents follow written E2U Language linguistic recommendations. Prosodic features, like slower speech, pauses, and clear pronunciation are crucial, and content duration varies, but generally does not exceed the maximum recommended by Inclusion Europe. Use of subtitles and validation practices also vary depending on the content. This article highlights potential areas for future research, including speech speed, pause length, emphasis, emotivity, and sentence structure.
Downloads
References
Accessible Information Working Group (2011). Make it Easy: A Guide to Preparing Easy to Read Information. Accessible Information Working Group. https://inclusionireland.ie/wpcontent/uploads/2020/ 10/makeiteasyguide2011.pdf
AENOR (2018). Norma española experimental UNE 153101 EX. Lectura fácil. Pautas y recomendaciones para la elaboración de documentos. Asociación Española de Normalización.
Arias-Badia, Blanca and Matamala, Anna (2020). Audio description meets Easy-to-Read and Plain Language: results from a questionnaire and a focus group in Catalonia. Zeitschrift Für Katalanistik, 33, 251-270. http://hdl.handle.net/10230/46138
Matamala, Anna (2022). Easy-to-Understand Language in audiovisual translation and accessibility: state of the art and future challenges. XLinguae, 15 (2), 130-144. https://doi.org/10.18355/XL.20 22.15.02.10
Matamala, Anna (2023). Easy audios for easy audiovisual content: An overview. In Carmen Pena-Díaz (Ed.), The Making of Accessible Audiovisual Translation (pp. 83-106). Peter Lang Verlag. https://doi.org/10.3726/ b19013
Ballestín González, Beatriz, and Fàbregues, Sergi (2018). La práctica de la investigación cualitativa en ciencias sociales y de la educación. Editorial UOC.
Bernabé-Caro, Rocío (2020a). Easy Audiovisual Content for All: Easy-to-Read as an Enabler of Easy, Multimode Access Services [Doctoral thesis]. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. https://www.tesisen red.net/handle/10803/670406#page=150
Bernabé-Caro, Rocío (2020b). New taxonomy of easy-to-understand access services. MonTI. Monografías de Traducción e Interpretación, 12 (12), 345-380. https://doi.org/10.6035/MONTI.2020.12.12
Bernabé-Caro, Rocío and Cavallo, Piero (2021). Easy-to-understand access services: Easy subtitles. In Margherita Antona and Constantine Stephanidis (Eds.), Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Access to Media, Learning and Assistive Environments (pp. 241-254). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78095-1_18/COVER
Bernabé-Caro, Rocío and Orero, Pilar (2019). Easy to read as multimode accessibility service. Hermēneus. Revista de Traducción e Interpretación, 21, 53-74. https://doi.org/10.24197/HER.21.2019.53-74
Bernabé-Caro, Rocío and Orero, Pilar (2020). Easier audio description. Exploring the potential of Easy-to-Read principles in simplifying AD. In Sabine Braun and Kim Starr (Eds.), Innovation in Audio Description Research (pp. 55-75). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324 /9781003052968-4
Bernabé-Caro, Rocío, Orero, Pilar, García, Óscar, and Oncins, Estel·la (2020). Validation of Easy-to-Read Subtitles. In Daniel Dejica, Carlo Eugeni, and Anca Dejica-Cartis (Eds.), Translation Studies and Information Technology-New Pathways for Researchers, Teachers and Professionals (pp. 162-175). Editura Politehnica.
Blau, Eileen (1990). The effect of syntax, speed, and pauses on listening comprehension. TESOL Quarterly, 24 (4), 746-753. https://doi.org/ 10.2307/3587129
Brookshire, Robert and Nicholas, Linda (1984). Consistency of effects of slow rate and pauses on aphasic listeners’ comprehension of spoken sentences. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 27 (3), 323-328. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.2703.323
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2009). Simply Put: A Guide for Creating Easy-to-Understand Materials. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/11938
Centre for Inclusive Design (2020). Easy English versus Plain English. A Guide to Creating Accessible Content. Centre for Inclusive Design. https://centreforinclusivedesign.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ Easy-English-vs-Plain-English_accessible.pdf
Cutts, Martins (2020). Oxford Guide to Plain English (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.
De-la-Mota, Carme and Rodero, Emma (2011). La entonación en la información radiofónica. Quaderns de Filologia, 45, 159-176.
Finnish Centre for Easy Language (2022). The Easy Finnish Indicator 2.0. Selkokeskus. https://selkokeskus.fi/in-english/easy-finnish/the-easy-finnish-indicator-2-0/
García Muñoz, Óscar (2012). Lectura fácil: métodos de redacción y evaluación. Real Patronato sobre Discapacidad. https://www.plena inclusion.org/sites/default/files/lectura-facil-metodos.pdf
Haramija, Dragica and Knapp, Tatjana (2019). Lahko je brati: Lahko branje za strokovnjake. Zavod Risa.
Health Service Executive, Health Promotion Unit and National Adult Literacy Agency (2010). Plain Language Style Guide for Documents. Health Service Executive. http://hdl.handle.net/10147/98048
Henderson, Cecelia and He, Yingchen (2022). Screen Reader Voices: Effects of pauses and voice changes on comprehension. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 66 (1), 1839-1843. https://doi.org/10.1177/1071181322661291
IFLA, (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) (2010). Guidelines for Easy-to-Read Materials. Revision by Misako Nomura, Gyda Nielsen, and Bror Tronbacke. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. https://www.ifla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/assets/hq/publications/professional-report/120.pdf
ILSMH-EA (International League of Societies for the Mentally Handicapped) (1998). Make it Simple. European Guidelines for the Production of Easy-to-Read Information for People with Learning Disability for Authors, Editors, Information Providers, Translators and Other Interested Persons. International League of Societies for the Mentally Handicapped.
Inclusion Europe (2009). Information for All: European Standards for Making Information Easy to Read and Understand. Inclusion Europe. https://inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2113-Infor mation-for-all-16.pdf
ISO (2023). ISO/IEC 23859:2023. Information Technology – User Interfaces – Requirements and recommendations on making written text easy to read and understand. International Organization for Standardization. https://www.iso.org/standard/77178.html
Kotani, Katsunori, Ueda, Shota, Yoshimi, Takehiko and Nanjo, Hiroaki (2014). A listenability measuring method for an adaptive computer-assisted language learning and teaching system. In Wirote Aroonmanakun, Prachya Boonkwan, and Thepchai Supnithi (Eds.), 28th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation, (pp. 387-394). Department of Linguistics, Chulalongkorn University. https://aclanthology.org/Y14-1045
Lindholm, Camilla and Vanhatalo, Ulla (2021). Introduction. In Camilla. Lindholm and Ulla Vanhatalo (Eds.), Handbook of Easy Languages in Europe (pp. 11-26). Frank and Timme. https://doi.org/10.26530 /20.500.12657/52628
Maaß, Christiane (2020). Easy Language-Plain Language-Easy Language Plus Balancing Comprehensibility and Acceptability. Frank and Timme. https://doi.org/10.26530/20.500.12657/42089
Maaß, Christiane and Hernández Garrido, Sergio (2020). Easy and plain language in audiovisual translation. In Silvia Hansen-Schirra and Christiane. Maaß (Eds.), Easy Language Research: Text and User Perspectives (pp. 131-161). Frank and Timme. https://doi.org/10.26 530/20.500.12657/42089
Machuca, María José and Matamala, Anna (2022). Neutral voices in audio descriptions. Babel. International Journal of Translation, 68 (5), 668-696. https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00287.mac
MENCAP. (2000). Am I Making Myself Clear? MENCAP
Nahón Guillén, Myriam (2020). Simultaneous simplification: A world first, to include persons with intellectual disabilities. Communicate! Journeys, 76. https://aiic.org/site/webzine/issue-76/simultaneous-simplification
NHS England (2018). Guide to Making Information Accessible for People with a Learning Disability. NHS England. https://www.eng land.nhs.uk/publication/guide-to-making-information-accessible-for -people-with-a-learning-disability/
North Yorkshire County Council (2014). A Guide to Producing Written Information in Easy Read. North Yorkshire County Council.
Oncins, Estel·la, Bernabé-Caro, Rocío, Montagud, Mario, and Arnáiz Uzquiza, Verónica (2020). Accessible scenic arts and Virtual Reality: A pilot study with aged people about user preferences when reading subtitles in immersive environments. MonTI. Monografías de Traducción e Interpretación, 12 (12), 214-241. https://doi.org/10.60 35/MONTI.2020.12.07
Pashek, Gail and Brookshire, Robert (1982). Effects of rate of speech and linguistic stress on auditory paragraph comprehension of aphasic individuals. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 25 (3), 377-383. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.2503.377
Plena Inclusión (2018). Guía para validar textos en lectura fácil. Plena Inclusión Madrid.
Prafiyanto, Hafiyan (2020). Study on Presentation and Evaluation of Speech Toward Development of a Japanese Oral Communication Training System. [Doctoral thesis]. Tohoku University, Japan. https://tohoku.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/130066
Prafiyanto, Hafiyan, Nose, Takashi, Chiba, Yuya and Ito, Akinori (2018). Analysis of preferred speaking rate and pause in spoken easy Japanese for non-native listeners. Acoustical Science and Technology, 39 (2), 92-100. https://doi.org/10.1250/AST.39.92
Reid, Ronald Gregory (2003). Effect of Digitally Shortening and Lengthening Pauses on Listening Comprehension [Doctoral thesis]. Florida State University. http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-1902
Rivero-Contreras, Miriam, Engelhardt, Paul and Saldaña, David (2021). An experimental eye-tracking study of text adaptation for readers with dyslexia: effects of visual support and word frequency. Annals of Dyslexia, 71 (1), 170-187. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11881-021-00217-1/METRICS
Rubin, Donald (2012). Listenability as a tool for advancing health literacy. Journal of Health Communication, 17 (SUPPL. 3), 176-190. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2012.712622
Schaeffer, Natalie, Blitman, Simeon and Fuse, Akiko (2022). The effect of prosody and its suprasegmentals on voice production. Journal of Clinical Research and Medicine, 5 (1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.31038 /JCRM.2022512
Schafer, Amy Jean (1997). Prosodic Parsing: The Role of Prosody in Sentence Comprehension [Doctoral thesis]. University of Massachusetts. https://www.proquest.com/openview/c848e3cf94c 915df5765f5a0aad32c5c/1?pq-rigsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Schatz, Tania, Haberstroh, Julia, Bindel, Kerstin, Oswald, Frank, Pantel, Johanness, Paulitsch, Michael, Konopik, Nadine, et al. (2017). Improving comprehension in written medical informed consent procedures. GeroPsych: The Journal of Gerontopsycholgy and Geriatric Psychiatry, 30 (3), 97-108. https://doi.org/10.1024/1662-9647/A000169
Schulz, Rebecca, Degenhardt, Julia and Czerner-Nicolas, Kirsten (2020). Easy language interpreting. In Silvia Hansen-Schirra and Christiane. Maaß (Eds.), Easy Language Research: Text and User Perspectives (pp. 163-178). Frank and Timme. https://doi.org/10.26530/ 20.500.12657/42089
Sutherland, Rebekah Joy and Isherwood, Tom (2016). The evidence for easy-read for people with intellectual disabilities: A systematic literature review. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 13 (4), 297-310. https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.12201
Taylor, Christopher and Perego, Elisa (2020). New approaches to accessibility and audio description in museum environments. In Sabine Braun and Kim Starr (Eds.), Innovation in Audio Description Research (pp. 33-54). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/97810 03052968-3
UK Department of Health (2009). Basic Guidelines for People who Commission Easy Read Information. Department of Health.
UK Department of Health (2010). Making Written Information Easier to Understand for People with Learning Disabilities. Department of Health. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a74adb4e5 274a56317a6411/dh_121927.pdf
UK Disability Unit (2021). Accessible Communication Formats. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-communication/accessible-communication-formats
W3C. (2018). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/
Yalon-Chamovitz, Shira and Avidan-Ziv, Ornit (2016). Simultaneous Simplification: Stretching the Boundaries of UDL. UDL-IRN Summit. http://www.udlcenter.org/sites/udlcenter.org/files/UDL_Ed
Yoon, Su-Youn, Cho, Yeonsuk and Napolitano, Diane (2016). Spoken text difficulty estimation using linguistic features. In Joel Tetreault, Jill Burstein, Claudia Leacock, and Helen Yannakoudakis (Eds.), 11th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications (pp. 267-276). Association for Computational Linguistics. https://dx.doi.org/10.18653/v1/W16-0531
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Marina Pujadas-Farreras, Anna Matamala

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The articles published at Hermēneus. Revista de Traducción e Interpretación will have a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
The journal allows the authors to retain publishing rights. Authors may reprint their articles in other media without having to request authorization, provided they indicate that the article was originally published in Hermēneus. Revista de Traducción e Interpretación.

