From Hörspiel to Audio Fiction: Sound Design Perspectives for Blind and Visually Impaired People

Abstract

Since the emergence of radio, the hörspiel (audio drama) has demonstrated the possibility of incorporating the narratological inheritance to the technical specificities of sound language. The growing demand for accessible content expanded the audio narrative production through new technologies. Audiobooks and screen reader applications also have improved this process. However, they focus primarily on the semantic and verbal aspects of the text. This article endorses that sound design is a way to broaden the narrative potentialities for Blind and Visually Impaired People (BIVP) and at the same time to attract people with all levels of vision to the universe of innovative audio fiction.