Translating multisemiotic texts. The case of audio introductions for the performing arts

In the field of Media Accessibility, audio introductions (AIs) are usually approached as an addition to audio description (AD) services for the blind and visually impaired. The present paper, however, approaches AIs as a research topic and translation service in its own right. AIs are a unique type of media accessibility service that contributes to the translation of multisemiotic works, and which has not received much attention within academia. As more different and complex performances are being produced and described, practitioners and researchers are constantly facing new challenges. Against this background, the present paper first discusses the possible functions of AIs, based on a qualitative analysis of a multilingual corpus of AIs. Subsequently, the presence and relative weight of these functions is analysed on the basis of the AIs to two Dutch contemporary theatre performances. They demonstrate how varying AI strategies are deployed by describers to fulfil different functions in different contexts, reflecting the demands of the performance at hand.