In many European countries people with visual and hearing disabilities are still excluded from cultural life as the level of accessibility is extremely low. When it comes to audiodescription and subtitling (practices which offer visually/hearing people an equal opportunity to enjoy arts under comparable circumstances), across Europe there are some good practices but generally the level of implementation of these services is very low. Audiodescription/subtitling has to become the norm, not the exception, as it is today. Unfortunately, the profession of Audiodescriber/Subtitler is still not widespread at EU level and in many countries it is not even recognized as a profession. Many professionals are working in isolation or on a voluntary basis and the possibilities to make their job sustainable over time are very limited. The rationale of the project is that in recent years many projects have been implemented to improve the artistic competences of audiodescribers/subtitlers, but no one has focused on a concrete need of these artists: increase their sense of entrepreneurship in order to foster the creation of new and professional providers of audiodescription/subtitling services which will be sustainable over time. The general objective of the project is thus to promote entrepreneurship and support people working on audiodescription and subtitling to start their own businesses and improve self-employment skills. The project will focus on 2 specific objectives: 1) Increase basic enterprise skills of artists/cultural operators working as audiodescribers/subtitlers, 2) Develop practical tools to support artists/cultural operators to start and manage their own business. The objectives will be reached through a set of well-defined activities which will be implemented in 24 months by 6 partners coming from 5 different EU countries: - 1 international training planned to improve key enterprise skills of people already working in the audiodescription/subtitling sector; - 1 international training to improve knowledge on how to set up and manage a business which will be successful and sustainable over time; - development of a practical handbook to concretely support people working in the audiodescription/subtitling sector in starting their own business; - development of an interactive platform to support audiodescribers/subtitlers to successfully manage their business in order to make future companies sustainable and profitable over time; - implementation of dissemination activities and 5 multiplier events (2 international and 3 local) to actively involve the participation of stakeholders. The activities will be implemented by a well-balanced partnership composed by 2 non-profit associations (Centro Diego Fabbri and Cultural Centre Wroclaw, 2 private companies: 1 providing the audiodescription and subtitling (Audiosigno) and 1 experienced in accessibility policies and dissemination (ARGO), 1 University (University of Wolverhampton) and 1 business incubator (SASA Inkubator) experienced in delivering tailored training for young entrepreneurs.
In many European countries people with visual and hearing disabilities are still excluded from cultural life as the level of accessibility is extremely low. When it comes to audiodescription and subtitling (practices which offer visually/hearing people an equal opportunity to enjoy arts under comparable circumstances), across Europe there are some good practices but generally the level of implementation of these services is very low. Audiodescription/subtitling must become the norm, not the exception (as it is now). Unfortunately, the profession of Audiodescriber/Subtitler is still not widespread at EU level, and in many countries is not even recognized as a profession. Many audiodescribers and subtitlers are working in isolation, or on a voluntary basis, and the possibilities to make their job sustainable over time are very limited. The rationale behind the CASTLE project was to fill an identified gap: in recent years many projects have been implemented to improve audiodescribers' and subtitlers' artistic competences, but these projects have not focused on the artists' concrete need: to increase their sense of entrepreneurship in order to foster the creation of new and professional providers of audiodescription/subtitling services which will be sustainable over time. The general objective of the project was thus to promote entrepreneurship and support people working on audiodescription and subtitling to start their own businesses and improve self-employment skills. This was achieved through 2 specific objectives: 1) Increase basic enterprise skills of artists/cultural operators working as audiodescribers/subtitlers, 2) Develop practical tools to support artists/cultural operators to start and manage their own business. These objectives were reached through a set of well-defined activities, implemented in 24 months, by 6 partners from 5 different EU countries: - 1 international workshop planned to improve key enterprise skills of people already working in the audiodescription/subtitling sector (24 participants); - 1 international workshop to improve knowledge on how to set up and manage a business which will be successful and sustainable over time (25 participants); - development of a practical handbook to concretely support people working in the audiodescription/subtitling sector in starting their own business. The handbook is available in English, Italian, Polish, Slovenian and Spanish, and is free to download at http://accessibleculture.eu/pratical_handbook-29.html; - development of an interactive platform to support audiodescribers/subtitlers to successfully manage their business in order to make future companies sustainable and profitable over time - http://accessibleculture.eu; - implementation of dissemination activities and 5 multiplier events to actively involve the participation of stakeholders (183 participants at the multiplier events, and an overall reach of around 900 people). Feedback from the international workshops demonstrated a real improvement in the participants' enterprise skills. For example, after the first workshop, there were increases in how participants in every category rated their skills at the *highest* level, compared to before the training: Entrepreneurial skills - 0% to 15.79% Knowledge on different business models - 0% to 5.26% Business management - 0% to 5.26% Knowledge on business opportunities - 0% to 21.05% Competences on how to start a business - 0% to 10.53% Ability to sell - 0% to 15.79% Creativity - 26.32% to 47.37% The ability to work in teams - 26.32% to 57.89% Increased curiosity about EU opportunities – 90% CASTLE's impact can be measured in 4 areas: SYSTEMIC • Identified best practice about audiodescription and subtitling in Europe. • Specific training materials available. • Professionalisation of audiodescription and subtitling. ORGANISATIONS • Increased European links • New project ideas • New training opportunities • New knowledge about sustainable business models LEARNERS (Audiodescribers and subtitlers / cultural providers) • Business start-up skills • Links with cultural institutions • More AD / subtitled performances • New business models for existing businesses • Users find it easier or less stressful to deal with business aspects • More audiodescribers / subtitlers available STAFF • Management and finance experience • Language practice • European and local networking • Experience in EU/Erasmus+ projects The CASTLE consortium included 2 non-profit associations (Centro Diego Fabbri and Cultural Centre Wroclaw), 2 private companies: 1 providing the audiodescription and subtitling (Audiosigno) and 1 experienced in accessibility policies and dissemination (ARGO), 1 University (University of Wolverhampton) and 1 business incubator (SASA Inkubator) experienced in delivering tailored training for young entrepreneurs.