We are a Media Accessibility research network aimed at early-career researchers (PhDs and post-docs).

The idea behind this network is to bring together researchers in the fields of audio description, SDH, sign language interpreting and digital accessibility. We aim to give young researchers the chance to present their research, connect with peers and learn from experts in the field.

Our seminars and guest lectures are hosted online, so you can join from wherever you are.

Organising committee

Alicja Zajdel

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Alicja Zajdel is a PhD candidate at the University of Antwerp, where she is conducting her research on the professional identity of audio describers and its potential effects on the process of scripting audio description. Prior to her PhD, she obtained an MPhil in Literary Translation from Trinity College Dublin and contributed to a research project about multilingual crisis communication during the COVID pandemic at Dublin City University. Alicja is the Secretary to the Editorial Board at Journal of Audiovisual Translation.

Irene Hermosa-Ramírez

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Irene Hermosa-Ramírez, PhD in Translation and Intercultural Studies (Autonomous University of Barcelona), is a postdoctoral researcher working for the UNIVAC project (Sensory Accessibility at the Spanish University: Current Needs and Prospective Solutions) at Pompeu Fabra University. Irene specialises in Media Accessibility, having participated in the RAD project (Researching Audio Description: Translation, Delivery and New Scenarios) and the Erasmus+ project ATHENA (Bringing Accessibility and Design for All into Higher Education Curricula) at the Transmedia Catalonia research group. Irene is the secretary of the Catalan Association for the Promotion of Accessibility.

Michał Górnik

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Michał Górnik is a PhD candidate at the University of Warsaw in Poland. He graduated from the Faculty of Applied Linguistics at the same university with a specialisation in interpreting between Polish, English and French. Michał is a researcher, academic teacher, translator, and interpreter, as well as a subtitler, respeaker, and tutor of English, French, and Polish as foreign languages. His research interests focus on audiovisual translation, interlingual respeaking, accessibility, and modern technologies in language services.

Senne Van Hoecke

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Senne Van Hoecke is a postdoctoral researcher at the Open University in Heerlen, the Netherlands, where he studies classroom management and educational expertise development. He completed his PhD on subtitles in higher education at the University of Antwerp and Macquarie University. His main focus in terms of accessibility lies on accessible education and subtitles.

Andreea Deleanu

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Andreea Deleanu is a PhD candidate at the University of Surrey (UK) specialising in Media Accessibility. Her project focuses on the creation of a new access mode for cognitively diverse audiences to fully access audiovisual storyworlds. This new mode has been called 'Accessible Cues' and aims at overcoming cognitive barriers by reducing cognitive effort for audiences with reduced cognitive abilities through the use of visual and audio cues in Easy-to-Understand language. Andreea holds an MA in Conference Interpreting from the University of Trieste (Italy) and has specialised as a healthcare interpreter and audiovisual translator. She has recently been a Visiting Scholar at MQ University (Australia) and was part of the Erasmus+ project EASIT. You can learn more about EASIT here: https://transmediacatalonia.uab.cat/easit/