A Taxonomy For Creative Subtitling for The Deaf And Hard Of Hearing

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the reception of creative subtitling for persons who are Deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) in Türkiye. This pioneering effort to introduce the creative venue of this audiovisual translation (AVT) mode in Türkiye, takes SDH practices one step further by incorporating dynamic text styles, visualization of sound effects, different positioning of text on screen, and addition of extra visual layers to increase the accessibility of the end-users with audiovisual products. In this regard, the research aims not only to produce and present creative examples but also to create a taxonomy for creative subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing that would be a reference for future research in the field. With this aim, the research investigates how participants selected from the deaf and hard of hearing community in Türkiye, encountering the creative venue for the first time, perceive and interact with this new AVT mode. Positioning creative SDH within the broader context of media accessibility, this study aims to understand its potential contributions to both Turkish and global discourse on accessible media by balancing creativity with functionality to meet the realities, needs and expectations of the end-users. The study also posits the notion of an ‘average end-user’ as an implied audience thus streamlining the limits of creativity to coincide with end-user-friendly and desired products. This study makes a classification of an initial identification that was made between what was referred to as a linguistic information track and a sound-related information track. Breaking down the informative load of the categories under different headings namely as subtitle formats and placement, overlapping speech, speech tempo, multilingualism, idiolect, origin of sound, and sound effects the study thus identifies and outlines a taxonomy that may be of future use to researchers and practitioners alike on aspects to improve accessibility for DHH through creative SDH.