Assessing quality in human and machine-generated subtitles and captions

The depth, breadth, and complexity of audiovisual translation (AVT) are growing at a rapid rate. AVT is becoming increasingly merged with language technologies, including computer-assisted translation tools, machine translation, automated subtitling and captioning software, and automatic speech recognition systems. An essential component in this exciting and challenging technological development of current and future applications of AVT is the definition and assessment of quality in a way that is transparent, reliable, consistent, meaningful to all stake-holders, and readily applicable to the growing diversity of AVT. This chapter first provides a critical overview of current and future issues in the assessment of quality in human and machine-generated subtitling and captioning. It builds upon a range of contemporary industry sources and moves into cutting-edge research on the processing and reception of AVT products across a variety of media and languages. We then move to discuss the impact of new media and technologies on best practice, policy, and research. Lastly, we identify numerous challenges and potential solutions for all stakeholders in order to encourage dialogue between disciplines with the aim of articulating and answering questions of quality in AVT in an evolving technological landscape.