Media for All is a research conference series focused on media localisation and accessibility. Since 2005, the conference has been a focal point for academics to present cutting-edge research and build pathways for knowledge exchange with the many stakeholders in the media industries. Outcomes from previous conferences have informed numerous developments in translation and language technologies, media accessibility and inclusive social development around the globe, impacting how media cross linguistic, cultural and societal borders. For the first time, the Media for All conference in 2025 will travel to Southeast Asia and will be held in Hong Kong.

 

The 11th Media for All conference aims to explore the collective wisdom that helps break the linguistic and cultural barriers in platform society. Digital ecosystems are propelling new forms of media convergence which transcend national and cultural boundaries in terms of production, distribution, exhibition, and localisation, bringing an increasingly diverse range of genres, languages, storytelling styles and representations to an expanding global audience. Notably, the recent influx of less dominant cultures and languages (e.g., Chinese, Icelandic, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian and Turkish, to name but a few) on global streaming platforms exemplifies the shift from national and transnational models of media production to a translational one. Platforms are expanding rapidly to not only sell their own domestic productions but also invest in local ones, collaborating with local producers and creative talents and distributing their works globally.

 

Audiovisual translation (AVT) plays an indispensable role in this new mediascape, where new niches, styles and trends from different local contexts are brought to the global mainstream, with the help of transforming cloud-based technologies and AI-enhanced workflows. In parallel to industry-driven transitions, users also seek to create and distribute original and translated content in their own desired ways. User-driven productivities in commercial platforms, such as TikTok and YouTube, and in ground-level, less-regulated media practices, such as fan translation and fan remix (Jenkins, 2013), will continue to co-exist in the burgeoning ‘creator culture’ (Cunningham et al. 2021), posing challenges in areas such as copyright and data protection, user management, and value cocreation.

 

The proliferation of digital platforms has brought about new ethical and logistical questions to both practice and research in media localisation, prompting an examination of the barriers that the translational model has broken, reinforced, or created in the era of global platforms. How can media localisation efficiently respond to the accelerated use of AI and the ecological and ethical complexities associated with big data? How can research, practice and industries continue to collaborate in building diverse and inclusive platform societies in the age of human-AI convergence? What are the challenges and opportunities in media localisation and accessibility in terms of workflows, qualifications, diversification of practices, systemisation of quality control, and pedagogical innovation? How will human agency continue to evolve in practices such as subtitling, dubbing, audio description and game localisation? How can we break barriers and rescale global media ecosystems in the age of digital platforms?

 

Media for All 11 aims to advance dialogue and knowledge exchange in these fields and welcomes proposals for individual papers, thematic panels, and roundtable discussions that address, but are not restricted to, the following areas:

 

1. Collaboration and Participation in Platform Economies

• Users, creators and translators of transmedia productions across platforms, languages and cultures (e.g., films, TV series, games, digital comics).

• The convergence of professional and non-professional AVT practices on streaming platforms.

• The emergence of participatory translation forms such as fansubs, fandubs, remix, and damu (also known as “danmaku subtitling”).

• Users, fans, and alternative globalisation models.

 

2. AVT and Distribution

• Collaboration and competition between global streaming platforms and local networks.

• The role of English as a pivot language in media localisation and accessibility.

• Translation of and between less dominant languages.

• The translation and reception of non-English content on global streaming platforms.

• Dubbing, voice-over and subtitling in digital platforms.

• Multiformatting and alternative media.

 

3. Media Literacy and Media Accessibility (MA)

• Access services in digital platforms.

• Asian/Chinese perspectives of accessibility.

• MA pedagogies.

• Screen media for the inclusive construction of public spaces.

• Accessible platformisation: diversity and user-engagement.

• Immersive media and accessibility.

 

4. Technologies and Media Localisation

• Audience research.

• Automation and Generative AI for creators and translators.

• Global and regional AI ethics and industrial protocols.

• Platform and data policies for AVT and MA.

• Legislation and standards.

 

References

Cunningham, S., Craig D., & Baym, N. K. (eds.). (2021). Creator Culture: An Introduction to Global Social Media Entertainment. New York Press.

Jenkins, H. (2013). Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture (Updated 20th anniversary ed.). Routledge.