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MEDIA ACCESSIBILITY FREELANCE | SDH & CAPTIONING SPECIALIST

INTERLINGUAL & INTRALINGUAL SUBTITLING FOR THE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING (SDH)

In recent years, there has been significant progress in making media fully accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences. Subtitling remains the most widely used and effective tool, giving people with any level of hearing loss equal access to cinema, theater, television, education, conferences, social media, and more.

SDH subtitles play a vital role in broadening knowledge, fostering opinions, and driving social and professional inclusion. They also support literacy, reading comprehension, and oral language acquisition. If you want to break down communication barriers and advocate for accessible content, I am here to help you achieve that mission.

EXPERIENCE

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistic Mediation from Macerata University (Italy), my final dissertation was about Afro-American English and its representation through the media. I then specialised in audiovisual translation and media accessibility through a Master’s Degree in Seville (Spain).
I then did several internships at subtitling agencies of various European countries, amongst these I completed my last traineeship at the audiovisual unit of the European Parliament in Luxembourg.
Later, I spent a year collaborating with a dubbing studio in Rome, providing dubbing assistance, post-production script transcription, and dialogue translation.

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NEED MORE INFO?

email@sarapaoletti.it

HOW IT WORKS

Unlike standard subtitles—which focus primarily on translating and adapting spoken words—SDH subtitles incorporate key, non-verbal audio cues that are essential for understanding the plot but unperceivable to deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers. This includes how something is said (hesitations, tone, pitch, and emotional nuances), who is speaking (speaker identification, color coding), and environmental sounds (sound effects, background noise, music cues).
Beyond these specialized accessibility elements, the subtitling workflow follows these core stages:

1. Transcription: once I receive your video, I transcribe the post-production script (if one isn’t provided).

2. Subtitle Creation (Spotting / Timing): using dedicated software, I set the precise timecodes for when each subtitle appears and disappears, ensuring seamless alignment with visual cuts and audio events.

3. Translation & Adaptation: I translate and condense dialogues and audio cues to suit comfortable reading speeds and character limits, using creative strategies to preserve the full intent and emotional impact of the scene.

4. Quality Assurance & Proofreading: I perform a comprehensive check to ensure accuracy, proper timing, and strict adherence to accessibility standards.

NEED A PROFESSIONAL LANGUAGE SPECIALIST FOR YOUR NEXT PROJECT? SEND ME A MESSAGE DETAILING YOUR NEEDS. TOGETHER, WE’LL FIND THE PERFECT SOLUTION FOR YOUR CONTENT AND PLAN EVERY STAGE OF OUR COLLABORATION.

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