Respeaking certification Bringing together training, research and practice

Authors

  • Pablo Romero-Fresco GALMA (Galician Observatory for Media Accessibility), Universidade de Vigo, Spain University of Roehampton, UK
  • Sabela Melchor-Couto GALMA (Galician Observatory for Media Accessibility), Universidade de Vigo, Spain
  • Hayley Dawson University of Roehampton, London GALMA (Galician Observatory for Media Accessibility), Universidade de Vigo, Spain
  • Zoe Moores University of Roehampton, London GALMA (Galician Observatory for Media Accessibility), Universidade de Vigo, Spain
  • Inma Pedregosa University of Roehampton, London GALMA (Galician Observatory for Media Accessibility), Universidade de Vigo, Spain

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52034/lanstts.v18i0.514

Keywords:

respeaking, certification, assessment, NER model

Abstract

Research and training in respeaking are still lagging behind professional practice. One of the consequences of this lack of training opportunities is the UK government’s refusal, in 2016, to use the Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA) to provide for respoken subtitles, arguing that respeaking was not a qualified profession. In order to tackle this issue, the Galician Observatory for Media Accessibility set up LiRICS, the Live Respeaking International Certification Standard, which aims to set and maintain high international standards in the respeaking profession. In 2019, after assessing the online certification process proposed by LiRICS, the Department of Education in the UK concluded that it meets their requirements and that LiRICS-certified respeakers are eligible for Disabled Students’ Allowances funding. This article outlines, first, the current provision of respeaking training around the world and the assessments of live subtitling quality carried out to date, both of which inform the LiRICS online certification process presented here. The focus is then placed on the actual certification process, including a description of the tests, the platform used and the quality assurance process. This is followed by an analysis of the respeakers’ performance, which has been shown to be in line with current professional standards.


Author Biographies

Pablo Romero-Fresco, GALMA (Galician Observatory for Media Accessibility), Universidade de Vigo, Spain University of Roehampton, UK

Pablo Romero Fresco is Ramón y Cajal researcher at Universidade de Vigo (Spain) and Honorary Professor of Translation and Filmmaking at the University of Roehampton (London, UK). He is the author of the books Subtitling through Speech Recognition: Respeaking (Routledge), Accessible Filmmaking: Integrating translation and accessibility into the filmmaking process (Routledge, forthcoming) and the editor of The Reception of Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Europe (Peter Lang). He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Audiovisual Translation (JAT) and is currently working with several governments, universities, companies and user associations around the world to introduce and improve access to live events for people with hearing loss. He has collaborated with Ofcom to carry out the first analysis of the quality of live subtitles on TV in the UK and is working with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on a similar project in Canada. His Accessible Filmmaking Guide is being used by many international public broadcasters, universities and producers to introduce a more inclusive and integrated approach to translation and accessibility in the filmmaking industry. He is the leader of the international research centre GALMA (Galician Observatory for Media Access), for which he is currently coordinating several international projects on media accessibility and accessible filmmaking, including “Media Accessibility Platform” and “ILSA: Interlingual Live Subtitling for Access”, funded by the EU Commission. Pablo is also a filmmaker. His first documentary, Joining the Dots (2012), was screened during the 69th Venice Film Festival and was used by Netflix as well as film schools around Europe to raise awareness about audiodescription.

Sabela Melchor-Couto, GALMA (Galician Observatory for Media Accessibility), Universidade de Vigo, Spain

Dr Sabela Melchor-Couto is a member of GALMA. She has extensive experience in the British Higher Education sector, having worked as a Senior Lecturer at University of Roehampton (London) and as a Lecturer at Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh) from 2005 until 2018. Sabela has participated in a number of projects on respeaking, including the NER Certification for Canada as well as the Respeaking Online Training courses provided to Macquarie University (Australia), University of Helsinki (Finland) and University of Vigo (Spain). Sabela’s research activity focuses on technology for language learning and she has participated in two EU-funded projects: TeCoLa (2015-2019) and TILA (2012-2015).

Hayley Dawson, University of Roehampton, London GALMA (Galician Observatory for Media Accessibility), Universidade de Vigo, Spain

Hayley Dawson is a PhD student in Translation Studies at the University of Roehampton (London, UK), investigating interlingual live subtitles as a means of access for deaf, hard-of-hearing and foreign audiences. She holds a BA in Modern Languages (Spanish & French) from the University of Roehampton and an MA in Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain).

Previous studies and experience have led her to be a TECHNE-funded PhD student, working on a project that combines her passion for the Spanish language and interest in Audiovisual Translation and Media Accessibility. The main areas of research in this project are the feasibility, quality and training of interlingual respeaking and forms part of the EU funded project titled Interlingual Live Subtitling for Access (ILSA). The project involves training interlingual respeakers to determine the best-suited professional profile and to identify the task-specific skills required for interlingual respeaking. A training programme will form the main output of the project to shape the training of interlingual respeakers in the UK and abroad.

Zoe Moores, University of Roehampton, London GALMA (Galician Observatory for Media Accessibility), Universidade de Vigo, Spain

Zoe is a PhD student at the University of Roehampton (London, UK) where she is researching how live subtitles created through respeaking can be used to increase access at events for the deaf and hard of hearing audience and for other audience groups who also benefit from this provision, for example speakers of English as an additional language.

Her background is in language and linguistics, and she holds a BA in Classics and Modern Languages (French and Latin) from the University of Oxford and an MA in Linguistics from the University of Manchester. Having worked as a teacher for many years in the UK and Japan, she was delighted to find that Media Accessibility provided an opportunity to develop her passion for language in a very practical way alongside her interest in effective communication, equality and advocacy. She completed an MA in Audiovisual Translation at the University of Roehampton and then worked as an accessibility subtitler at Red Bee Media, Ericsson before beginning her PhD.

Zoe continues to subtitle and respeak on a freelance basis and teaches on the BA in Modern Languages (French) and MA in Media Accessibility at Roehampton; she is involved in a number of accessibility-related projects and has designed a training programme for Respeaking at Live Events. She is also on the editorial board of JoSTrans (The Journal of Specialised Translation)

Inma Pedregosa, University of Roehampton, London GALMA (Galician Observatory for Media Accessibility), Universidade de Vigo, Spain

Inma Pedregosa is a member of GALMA. She is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Roehampton London, which she joined in 2010. Inma has taught respeaking in the Accessibility module at the university’s MA in Audiovisual Translation and took part in a study for the British regulator OFCOM on the quality of live subtitles on television, using the NER model. Inma is currently researching the possibilities of respeaking for language learning purposes.

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Published

10-01-2020

How to Cite

Romero-Fresco, P., Melchor-Couto, S., Dawson, H., Moores, Z., & Pedregosa, I. (2020). Respeaking certification Bringing together training, research and practice. Linguistica Antverpiensia, New Series – Themes in Translation Studies, 18. https://doi.org/10.52034/lanstts.v18i0.514

Issue

Vol. 18 (2019): Media accessibility training

Section

Articles

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