Media Accessibility within and beyond Audiovisual Translation

The chapter discusses the new position reached by media accessibility as a consequence of several shifts. After placing access as a necessary requirement for the enjoyment of human rights for all, the chapter summarises: (a) the shift from particularist accounts of accessibility to a universalist account; (b) the shift from maker-centred to user-centred approaches; and (c) the shift from reactive to proactive approaches. Greco and Jankowska then present a first classification of some modalities and services according to the universalist definition of media accessibility. Following this, the chapter highlights various pedagogical and theoretical implications. The chapter concludes by addressing the need for media accessibility to move beyond audiovisual translation and translation studies, and embrace its status as an area within the interdisciplinary field of accessibility studies.