CfP Vol. 7, no. 2 (2026): Audiovisual Translation at the Crossroads: Bridging Media Accessibility, AI, and EFL Education
Edited by Angela Sileo (San Raffaele Open University of Rome, Italy)
Audiovisual Translation (AVT) is a dynamic research field that evolves with technological advancements and responds to changing social needs, finding novel applications for an increasingly diverse global audience (Baños and Díaz-Cintas 2023; Chaume 2026, among others). This Special Issue takes this expansive path of AVT as its framework and focuses on three intersections that currently define the discipline’s research agenda:
- AVT and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the technological dimension;
- AVT and Media Accessibility (MA), the social dimension; and
- AVT in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) education, the didactic dimension.
The momentous progress of AI is substantially reshaping the field, with significant implications for the distribution of tasks between humans and machines, for quality standards, and for the notion of creativity in translation, sparking intense debate about automation and its threat to human professionals (Spiteri Miggiani 2025; Di Francesco and Sileo 2025). At the same time, AI presents unprecedented opportunities for inclusion and MA, as AI-driven AVT can guarantee instant access not only to sensory-impaired users (e.g., deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, and partially sighted) but also to neurodivergent audiences and individuals facing cognitive or linguistic barriers that extend far beyond a mere lack of foreign language proficiency. The relationship between automatically generated access services and the actual needs of their target audiences remains an open empirical question, in which issues of quality, ethics, and professional expertise are directly implicated.
In parallel with these technological and professional shifts, AVT has experienced a major pedagogical turn. Didactic Audiovisual Translation (DAT) has emerged as a robust sub-branch, establishing AVT as an active, empowering tool for foreign language teaching and learning (Talaván 2006; Lertola 2019; Talaván et al. 2023). A series of European projects has driven this trajectory: in 2006, LeViS laid the groundwork for subtitling pedagogy, while subsequent initiatives culminated in TRADILEX, which integrated subtitling, dubbing, audio description, voice‑over and free commentary to promote integrated language competence (Talaván et al. 2023). This rich legacy continues to bear fruit through current initiatives – among them, CREATEDAT, which designs and applies creative DAT lesson plans to teach English as a foreign language; ECODAT, which extends the boundaries of the discipline to raise ecological and environmental awareness; and DIDAT, a deaf-inclusive development of DAT for EFL teaching (Sileo 2025).
Alongside these methodological advancements, the first exploratory studies on the integration of AI-supported DAT are emerging, investigating how AI tools can be used to scaffold active learning through tasks like the critical post-editing of AI-generated subtitles (Ogea-Pozo 2025; Nicora 2026) and as an evaluator to assess student-produced audio descriptions for the blind, providing feedback on their accuracy and descriptive quality (Beseghi 2026). Ultimately, AI is leveraged as a powerful pedagogical assistant capable of offering immediate, personalized feedback to students, thereby enhancing learner autonomy and tailoring the learning experience to individual needs (Sileo 2025).
This Special Issue convenes scholarship at the intersections of these three lines of development to advance empirical research, propose standards and tools, and foster inclusive, evidence-based practices for the next generation of AVT.
The topics of interest may include but are not restricted to those listed below:
- The role of GenAI and automation in reshaping professional workflows in the AVT industry and in training future AVT professionals and language learners
- Media accessibility beyond sensory disabilities in the age of AI
- Ethics, creativity, and quality standards in AI-driven media accessibility: human-in-the-loop (HITL) paradigms in professional and educational contexts
- Empirical studies on DAT, creative DAT and accessible DAT
- DAT as a tool for developing multimodal, multilingual, and multicultural competences
- The cognitive and motivational impact of active, accessible AVT tasks on learners with special educational needs (SEN) in EFL classrooms
- AI-assisted DAT (post-editing of AI-empowered subtitles, AI-assisted audio description, AI-driven assessment, etc.)
- The role of AI chatbots, virtual assistants, and generative tools as personalized EFL learning partners and feedback systems in DAT environments
We welcome original research articles addressing the themes outlined above. All articles must be written in English and should not exceed 7,000 words. We also welcome reviews of publications and project reports related to the main topic of this issue.
Deadline for submission: 23 November 2026
Authors interested in submitting a scholarly article, scientific study, or project report are kindly requested to contact the Editor of the thematic issue (angela.sileo@uniroma5.it), with the Journal's Editor-in-Chief in copy (eperez@ukf.sk), who will enable their registration on the journal's submission platform.
Please follow the journal stylesheet at:
https://www.bridge.ff.ukf.sk/index.php/bridge/about/submissions
----
References:
Baños, Rocio and Díaz-Cintas, Jorge. 2023. “Exploring new forms of audiovisual translation in the age of digital media: Cybersubtitling and cyberdubbing.” The Translator. 30(1): 129-144.
Beseghi, Micòl. 2026. From Words to Images: Using AI-Generated Visuals in Didactic Audio Description. Presented at the International Conference “AI & AVT: Challenges and New Horizons”, University of Palermo (Italy), 23-24 April 2026.
Chaume, Frederic. 2026. Dubbing. Concepts and Practices. 2nd edition. London: Routledge.
Di Francesco, Valentina, Sileo, Angela. 2025. “Simil Sync/Linear Sync: Past, Present, and Future.” Journal of Audiovisual Translation. 8(2): 1-22.
Lertola, Jennifer. 2019. Audiovisual Translation in the Foreign Language Classroom: Applications in the Teaching of English and Other Foreign Languages. Research-publishing.net.
Nicora, Francesca. 2026. “Traduzione automatica e alfabetizzazione all’intelligenza artificiale: uno studio pilota didattico sul post-editing di sottotitoli con adolescenti.” Quaderns d’Italiá. Accepted/in press.
Ogea-Pozo, María. 2025. “Developing audiovisual translation skills and career awareness in the age of AI: a didactic proposal.” Parallèles. 37(2).
Sileo, Angela. 2025. Accessible EFL Learning: Introducing DIDAT (Deaf-Inclusive DAT). Betwixt. Naples: Loffredo.
Spiteri Miggiani, Giselle. 2025. “Rethinking creativity in dubbing. Potential impact of AI dubbing technologies on creative practices, roles and viewer perceptions.” Translation Spaces. 15(1): 10-28.
Talaván, Noa. 2006. “Using subtitles to enhance foreign language learning.” Porta Linguarum. 6: 41-52.
Talaván, Noa, Lertola, Jennifer, Fernández-Costales, Alberto. 2023. Didactic Audiovisual Translation and Foreign Language Education. London and New York: Routledge.
