Translation Accessibility
Since its founding, Interpunct has specialised in audiovisual accessibility in the fields of television and film as well as theatre and museums.
Interpunct is the only audiovisual translation company that offers comprehensive accessibility services in Valencian.
We work for various television channels, festivals, film directors and museums, offering a wide range of services to make art accessible to people with hearing and visual disabilities.
Sign Language
This service consists of two Spanish sign language interpreters who are present at the event venue and take turns signing everything that is communicated during the event. In addition to Spanish sign language interpreting (LSE), this service also includes sign language interpreting in the production of DVDs of the event or when producing short web videos.
Subtitling for the Hearing Impaired
As well as informing a hearing-impaired audience what is being said, subtitling for the deaf or hard of hearing also covers everything that they cannot perceive on their own. This includes the way it is said, such as tone of voice or language, who is saying it, and what is being heard, for example, ambient noises, songs and music.
When creating a subtitling service for the deaf or hard of hearing, we follow the recommendations of Spanish standard UNE 153010:2012, Subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing: Subtitling via teletext, developed by the Spanish Association of Normalisation and Certification (AENOR). This standard’s aim is to establish minimum quality requirements and a reasonable degree of homogeneity when subtitling for deaf and hearing-impaired people. It covers subtitle format, subtitle exposure speed, information on sound effects and music, as well as much more.
This is created live and included in a projection showing the speakers or actors close up, inserting subtitles and Spanish sign language interpreting (LSE).
Stenotyping
Stenotyping is a method of fast typing that allows spoken language to be transcribed and converted into subtitles at the same time as the speaker is speaking. To do this, a stenotype machine (a syllabic keyboard) is connected to a projector, and a stenotypist (present at the event or connected by audio delay) types the live speech to create the subtitles.
Stenotyping is currently the most efficient method for producing live subtitles, both for the speed of subtitle creation and the quality of the result.
Live Subtitling
This service is similar to stenotyping but uses an ordinary keyboard, so the subtitling process is slower but the price is much cheaper.
Re-titling
Re-titling allows you to create live subtitles and project them directly onto the screen. The subtitler or re-speaker listens to the original voice and dictates the content to software, repeating or rephrasing what he or she hears, including punctuation. What the re-speaker says appears on the screen in the form of subtitles with a minimum time delay.
This technique is currently used mainly to create live captions for the deaf, but is now starting to be used for delayed captioning as well. It is based on a computerised voice detection and decoding system and has a greater margin of error than stenotyping, but in certain cases it is more recommendable. Spanish national television channel TVE has already been using it for some years when subtitling its news and sports programmes.
Audio Description for the Blind
Audio description is a relatively new practice for the benefit of blind or visually impaired people. It consists of taking advantage of the pauses and silences in the soundtrack of any audiovisual product (TV programme, film, play, etc.) to add comments that help the visually impaired better understand the text by describing the action or place where the scene takes place, characters’ characteristics, costumes, body language and facial expressions. We guarantee the quality of this service by following the recommendations of Spanish standard UNE 153020:2005, Audio-description for the visually impaired: Requirements for audio-description and preparation of audio-guides.
It consists of a live or recorded voice-over service for theatres, cinemas and events. The script is prepared in advance and either the pre-scripted voice-over is performed live or the pre-recorded voice-over is played during the performance.
Magnetic Loop
A magnetic or induction loop is a sound system that transforms the audio signal we can all hear into a magnetic field that can be picked up by hearing aids provided with a “T” setting.
Such hearing aids have a coil that transforms that magnetic field back into sound inside the user’s ear, isolated from reverberations and ambient noise. The result is that the user receives clean, clear, perfectly intelligible sound at an appropriate volume.
International standard IEC 60118-4 regulates and establishes the technical specifications that a magnetic induction system must meet in terms of field strength and frequency response.
All adapted locations should be signposted with the blue ear icon and the letter “T” so that users are aware of its existence and can choose the “T” setting on their hearing aid. The audio signal will be received through the loop.
Easy Read
The term “easy read” refers to content that has been summarised and written in simple, clear language, so that it can be understood by people with cognitive or intellectual disabilities.
The use of simple, clear language should not be confused with using childish or overly colloquial language. The essential feature is that the information is not confusing and that it is well structured.
This type of easy-read text is not only aimed at people with disabilities, but also at people with low literacy skills.
Accessible Signage
In everyday life, signage is omnipresent in our daily activities, whether at work, during leisure time, or simply walking down the street. The purpose of these signs is to guide and inform the person who perceives them, generally by sight. This information is not usually accessible to visually impaired people, since for signage to be truly effective it should take the particularities of both blind and somewhat visually impaired people into account.
The information on accessible signage should be concise, basic and simple. Whenever possible, it should include both visual and tactile formats (Braille and raised macro-characters) and be located within the ergonomic sweep area.
Communication Accessibility Training
The implementation of accessibility measures has been clearly legislated since Spain’s 1982 LISMI Act was passed. Since then much progress has been made in this regard, mainly in the urban and architectural area. The accessibility legislated on refers more to accessibility related to transport, so that accessibility related to communication has been relegated to a secondary priority and not fully implemented in either the public or private sector. So training courses should be offered to public and private workers who are responsible for communication or dealing with the public.
Technical Consulting on Physical Accessibility
Article 9 of the Spanish Constitution requires public authorities to guarantee the maximum welfare of life to all citizens, facilitating their participation in political, economic, cultural and social life. Likewise, the Spanish Constitution’s Article 49 – taking into account the existence in our society of a considerable number of citizens who have some kind of physical, mental or sensory disability – advocates for a policy of foresight to integrate such people.
Undertaking Comprehensive Projects in Communication
For projects in large public or private spaces such as shopping centres, stations, airports and so on which wish to offer total or partial accessibility to users in signage, video projections, spots, apps, etc.
Where this is a new project, this service covers the universal design, a study process on the audiovisual content, current communication processes and a proposal for phased improvement to comply with Valencian Law 1/1998 dated 5 May 1998 governing accessibility and the removal of architectural, urban and communication barriers within the Valencian Community, developed by Valencian Decree 39/2004, dated 5 March 2004.
More Services
We are a benchmark in Valencia
Audiovisual Accessibility
Subtitled for deaf people and audio description for blind people.
Guaranteed legal validity
Legal and sworn translation
Official translations from German, English and other languages through collaborating sworn translators.