Visual and narrative priorities of the blind and non-blind: eye tracking and audio description

摘要

This paper reports on a complex experiment carried out in 2010 in Italy with sighted individuals and the blind, the primary aim of which was to investigate the applicability of eye tracking research to audio description (AD). Starting from the identification of the visual priorities of sighted individuals for two, 100-second, virtually dialogue-free clips from the same film (Tris di donne & abiti nuziali), the project continued with the drafting of descriptions for these clips, based on the data obtained through the eye tracking tests. These eye-tracker-derived audio descriptions were presented to a group of blind individuals alongside the traditionally drafted ADs and followed by oral questionnaires. The results of this experiment have confirmed the great relevance of eye tracking research for audio description. They have also provided valuable information to be poured into the enhancement of the practice of audio description in Italy and elsewhere.