Gert Vercauteren tenure track asst. professor

Research Gert Vercauteren

Research team

Expertise

My research is situated in the field of media accessibility and focuses more in particular on audio description (AD) of film and television. In my research I look at the question of how narratological principles can be used to decide what narrative constituents from the original film or television programme should be prioritized in the AD. I approach this question both from the point of view of the audio describer (how do you decide what (s)he should describe?) as from the point of view of the target audience (what narrative elements does the audience need to be able to understand the film or programme?). Initially I looked at the visual components of the film or television programme, but recently my research moved towards the aural/oral component in AD, taking its cue from two questions: - what role does sound play in AD? In this part of my research I look at the narrative importance of sound in the original film or television programme and I study what happens with/to these sounds in the AD: what types of sounds are described and how? What effect does this have on the narrative told by the original? What happens to those sounds that are not described? - what effect does an AD (as a purely aural story composed of the dialogues, sound effects and music from the original combined with the AD that is added post-factum) have on the cognitive load imposed on the target audience and how can this load be optimized by adapting specific features in the AD?

Accessibility in Focus: Towards a Consolidation of Accessibility Studies Across Disciplines. 01/12/2023 - 30/11/2025

Abstract

In recent decades, access and accessibility have emerged as pivotal forces reshaping a wide spectrum of human endeavours, from innovative practices through social discourse to regulatory frameworks. This transformation has propelled accessibility into the forefront of diverse research fields, catalysing a wealth of novel methodologies and conceptual frameworks that have revolutionised the foundations of these disciplines. These developments have coalesced into what Greco (2018 and 2022) identifies as Accessibility Studies—an interdisciplinary field of research dedicated to investigating accessibility processes and phenomena. Despite its promising growth, Accessibility Studies remains fragmented, with accessibility often addressed disparately within distinct academic and professional domains, including Translation Studies, Architecture, Disability Studies, Design, Information Technologies, Law, Philosophy, and others (Greco 2022). This fragmentation has resulted in a disconnected and detached landscape within the field. The objective of the present project is to lay the foundation for an EU-level consolidation of the burgeoning field of Accessibility Studies in Europe by critically mapping the current state of the art in accessibility processes and phenomena. Our project seeks to bridge the gaps and enhance cohesion by fostering a deeper understanding of accessibility within and across these diverse domains. To accomplish this, we will create an international interdisciplinary team that will collaboratively investigate accessibility from various angles in order to get a better view of its complex identity and to uncover disparities that have to be overcome to achieve a more unified and integrated perspective. This research endeavour will explore the design, implementation, and evaluation of accessibility-based and accessibility-oriented methodologies, ultimately advancing our comprehension of access and accessibility in contemporary society.

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  • Research Project

Electroencephalography system for cognitive experiments in social sciences and humanities. 01/06/2022 - 31/05/2024

Abstract

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a technique of recording electrical activity of the brain. By using electrodes placed on the scalp the researchers are able to track the activity of cortical neurons. Despite the fact that EEG It is the most widely used way of studying cognitive processes in the current century, the University of Antwerp still does not have an EEG laboratory. EEG is used so widely because of the numerous advantages that it can offer researchers. It has a high temporal resolution, which means that it captures cognitive processes in real time, as they occur. This is a great feat, since cognitive processes are fast. They occur within tens to hundreds of milliseconds and other neuroimaging techniques (such as fMRI or PET) are only able to record the processes that last longer than a second. Furthermore, EEG is inexpensive, lightweight, and portable. It allows for ecologically valid experimental designs at an affordable rate. The price of a whole EEG system can be less than 30,000 EURO, while fMRI scanners cost millions. However, the biggest advantage of using an EEG system is the ability to study the unconscious drivers of human behavior. Our researchers at the The Social Lab, Media and ICT in Organizations and Society (MIOS), Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies (TricS), the Centre for Philosophical Psychology, and the Centre for Ethics are interested in investigating implicit attitudes, language comprehension, response inhibition and many other processes that are inaccessible to survey research. In this application we summarize several research projects which would greatly benefit from utilizing an EEG system at the University of Antwerp. We cite recent, world-renowned research which was made possible only thanks to EEG data collection and point out specific ways in which our scientists could use an EEG to achieve similar world-class results.

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  • Research Project

Towards an inclusive Covid-19 crisis communication policy in Belgium: the development and validation of strategies for multilingual and media accessible crisis communication 01/02/2021 - 31/03/2022

Abstract

The interdisciplinary project subsidized by Sciensano aims to develop an effective strategy for more inclusive (digital) crisis communication, which takes account of the socio-linguistic diversity of Belgium and actively battles information inequality. The focus lies on how government communication about Covid-19 information during the pandemic can be improved through bespoke (re)translations and accessible media and language tailored to linguistic minorities' needs and specific needs groups. These needs include the information's linguistic/multimodal form, the communicative channels and dissemination measures.

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  • Research Project

CoReAD - Cognitive Research in AD - Towards a model determining cognitive load in audio described audio(-visual) products. 01/07/2019 - 31/12/2020

Abstract

Inclusion and accessibility are higher on Europe's political and social agenda than ever before, and this has led broadcasters, film houses but also theatres and museums to start developing services to give people with disabilities access to their products and events. For blind and partially sighted people, audio description (AD) has been created, a service that describes visual and unclear sound elements for the visually impaired, so that they too know what is happening on screen or on stage. Within the academic discipline of translation studies, this evolution has given rise to the emergence of a new field of research, namely media accessibility. As far as audio description is concerned, research was initially focused on the question what should I to describe, and how should I describe (and present) it. One issue that has received much less attention so far is the effect that these audio descriptions have on the target audience, especially in terms of the cognitive load they induce. CoRe AD wants to lay a solid foundation for cognitive research within media accessibility/audio description. Its primary aim is to investigate which (auditory) features in an audio described film or television programme contribute to the cognitive load imposed on the target audience. In a second phase, the project aims to create a model that researchers and audio describers can use to analyze what cognitive load specific audio descriptions induce and that hands them a tool to reduce/optimize that cognitive load. Finally, the usefulness of the model will be tested in a small-scale pilot study.

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  • Research Project