The tyranny of the tool: surtitling live performances

Accessible scenic arts and Virtual Reality: A pilot study with aged people about user preferences when reading subtitles in immersive environments

“…Opera surtitling has been investigated from the wider perspective of opera accessibility, with articles by Desblache (2018Desblache ( , 2019, Eardley-Weaver (2010, 2013, 2014a, 2014b, Matamala & Orero (2007), Neves (2010), Oncins (2014Oncins ( , 2015, Redzioch-Korkuz (2015) or Secara (2018) addressing the problem alongside studies on audio description (AD), surtitling for the D/deaf and Hard-of-Hearing or sign language in opera. In the specific case of surtitling for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, surtitles at opera houses are mainly intended for circumventing linguistic barriers rather than providing accessibility for all (Matamala & Orero 2007, Oncins 2015. As stated by Matamala & Orero (2007: 274) "The deaf and hard-of-hearing community includes people who are partially able to hear, people who hear only certain frequencies and people who cannot hear anything at all but who can feel the vibrations of the orchestra, making opera an enjoyable experience for all of them".…”

“…Still, as it will be outlined in section 2, most studies remain descriptive, based on current practices and technological constraints and subsequently lagging behind the experimental research trends in the AVT field. While reception studies for pre-recorded AV products have been emerging in recent decades (Chaume 2018), audience reception studies in the specific field of AVT for the scenic arts are still scarce (Oncins 2015, Secara 2018).…”

Training Experts in Inclusive Practices for an Equity on Access to Culture in Europe

“…The time has come to establish the new professional profile of accessibility manager, and its training, for the specific environment of scenic arts and live events. Most opera houses in Europe offer subtitles or surtitles (Oncins, 2015), and other access services such as audio description (Matamala & Orero, 2014;Oncins et al, 2013;Weaver, 2011), sign language interpreting or touch tours are offered in some playhouses too (Eardly-Weaver, 2013). However, their provision is uneven (ADLAB, 2014) and finding out the access services on offer for a specific performance may prove challenging.…”

Constraints on Opera Surtitling: Hindrance or Help?

“…Virkkunen (2004), on the other hand, discusses the problem of the most appropriate source text of surtitling, mentioning the staging and libretto as the two possibilities. More recently, studies of surtitling have expanded to investigations of technological advances and potential systems in use (Oncins 2015;Oncins, Lopes et al 2013).…”