Los iconos como estrategia para la representación de la información sonora en la subtitulación para sordos. Un estudio experimental sobre la percepción de la audiencia

In this experimental study we tested the acceptability and enjoyment of an alternative presentation of subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH), using icons to represent paralinguistic information and sound effects. The consequent character reduction may allow more time for other aspects of viewing, like reading dialogue or the image. A total of 114 people with hearing impairment participated in the study. They were divided into a control group, where the respondents watched a video with traditional SDH, and an experimental group, where they watched .our proposed alternative SDH. The results show that the use of icons did not increase the level of acceptability and enjoyment in comparison with traditional SDH, and that SDH with icons are more accessible for users of oral languages, who declared that icons contributed to a better understanding of the acoustic information. Even though verbal descriptions are broadly preferred, there is not a general rejection of the proposed SDH with icons. Additionally, data reveals that conveying acoustic information is highly valued by people with hearing impairment, even if it can be inferred from the image.