Guidelines for recording Talking books and Talking books with text
Appendix 1
24/10/2014
Contents
1 Introduction 4
2 General information about recording talking books 4
2.1 Recording talking books 4
2.2 Knowledge requirements 5
2.3 Partial delivery 6
3 Special instructions 6
3.1 Introductory features 6
3.1.1 Title (Introductory announcement) 6
3.1.2 Information on §17 of the Copyright Act 7
3.1.3 Information on the talking book 7
3.1.4 Publisher information 7
3.1.5 Back cover text 8
3.2 Children’s books 8
3.2.1 Introductory announcement, §17 of the Copyright Act and Information on the talking book 8
3.2.3 Publisher information 8
3.3 Reading headings 8
3.4 Page break and reading page numbers 9
3.4.1 Reading page numbers 9
3.4.2 Page numbers in books with different languages 9
3.5 Spelling 9
3.6 Abbreviations 9
3.6.1 Abbreviations in notes and bibliographies 9
3.7 Foreign languages and archaic Swedish 10
3.8 Quotation marks, brackets 10
3.9 Omitted text 10
3.10 Bold text, fine text, block text and italics 11
3.11 Footnotes in continuous text 11
3.12 Register, bibliography 11
3.13 Images in the talking book 11
3.14 Tables 11
3.15 Symbols, formulas, program codes etc. 12
3.16 Closing announcement 12
4 Talking book with text 12
4.1 Recording of talking books with text 12
4.2 Synchronisation 12
4.2.1 Page numbers 13
4.2.2 Chapters without headings 13
4.3 Introductory announcement and Information on the talking book 13
4.4 Image descriptions 13
4.5 The narrator’s addition for reading talking books with text 13
4.6 Specialist literature for seeing 15
4.7 Talking books for reading practice 15
4.8 Special recording 16
1 Introduction
The guidelines apply for recording under the authority of the Swedish Agency for Accessible Media, MTM.
There may be deviations in exceptional cases and then in the first instance the accompanying instructions for the book in question always apply. In the event of uncertainty, please contact the purchaser.
Talking books are produced in accordance with §17 of the Copyright Act for people who, due to a reading impairment, cannot read printed books or inaccessible electronic text. This includes persons with, for example:
● a visual impairment
● reading and writing problems
● a physical impairment
● a mental impairment
● cognitive functional disabilities
MTM also produces course literature for university students with a reading disability.
These guidelines apply for recording of talking books in DAISY format. MTM currently produces two variants of talking books:
● A talking book is a talking book which only contains audio recording and headings.
● A talking book with text contains text, audio and often images.
2 General information about recording talking books
2.1 Recording talking books
Talking books replace printed books. They should follow the printed book as closely as possible. The content of the book may not be changed and additions may not be made. Only obvious printing errors may be corrected. In the event of uncertainty, please contact the purchaser.
Both students and professionals as well as recreational readers use talking books. It is common for the same title to be borrowed by people with different types of reading impairments.
Books in foreign languages should normally be read by native language narrators of the language in question.
It is necessary for the narrator to have a good understanding of the text. The narrator must also be attentive to the reading, otherwise the reader will lose the trail.
Good recording entails that the reader can concentrate on the text’s content, rather than on how the narrator conveys the text. This requires that both the narrator’s voice and articulation are clear. Too strong dialectal characteristics or a too pronounced accent steals attention and obstructs understanding of the text.
Recording should take place with correct phrasing. Accentuations and breaks should depict the text in a natural way. The reading pace should be adapted to the book’s style and content. Breaks are also important between paragraphs, for example, in lyrics. The break should be long enough for the reader to understand that a new paragraph, for example, a new poem, story or chapter will follow. This is particularly important in texts which do not have headings, where misunderstandings can otherwise easily occur.
In general narrators should be restrained with dramatisation. Many readers perceive exaggerated dramatisation as disruptive and as an obstacle for their own interpretation of the text. At the same time it is important to convey involvement and nuances in the text. The narrator’s personal liking or disliking concerning the content may not impact the recording.
Narrators should ensure that the recording has a good audio quality. For each recording session, narrators should ensure that the settings for recording are correct in accordance with the producers’ instructions. The recording may not contain external sounds such as turning of pages, coughing, background noise, etc.
For recording children's books, narrators should strive to read with more emotion than the norm for adults and use freer language for narrator comments. However, narrators should avoid reading in an ingratiating way or in a patronising manner to children.
2.2 Knowledge requirements
Narrators should have good general knowledge and be able to pronounce words in the most common foreign languages (English, Spanish, German, French). Other language skills are also valuable. A good feel for language and confidence for using the Swedish language are naturally important. For recording books in other languages than Swedish, the narrator must have native language proficiency of the language or equivalent.
Narrators must be able to convey nuances and structures in a text by using phrasing, accentuation and pace. The narrator should be approved by the purchaser through a test recording. The assessment criteria includes voice, reading, text contact and pronunciation.
Recording of talking books is divided into the following categories:
● Fiction for adults
● Specialist literature for adults
● Fiction and specialist literature for children
● Lyrics
● Drama
● Talking books for reading practice
For books which are produced as course literature for students at college and university, there are also requirements for narrators having subject expertise; being able to pronounce technical terms correctly, interpret and convey tables and make diagram comments in accordance with guidelines. Course literature for university and college is divided into the following categories:
● General student literature
● The humanities
● IT
● Medicine
● Physics
● Chemistry
● Mathematics
● Economics
● Biology
● Law, etc.
2.3 Partial delivery
Part deliveries of recorded course literature are often sent. Sometimes students want parts of a book to be recorded before others. Images, tables and footnotes are not included in partial deliveries. These features are recorded once the continuous text is ready. Partial deliveries are not proofread.
Partial deliveries should always contain a special introductory announcement in which the first phrase should state:
This is partial delivery [n] which includes pages [nn-nn], [title, author]
3 Special instructions
3.1 Introductory features
3.1.1 Title (Introductory announcement)
The talking book starts with an introductory announcement. The introductory announcement contains information on the title and author, as well as information on who produced the talking book.
Between the title and author, the narrator should add av for Swedish books and by for English, etc. The following formulation should always be used after title and author information:
For Swedish titles: Denna talbok är framställd av Myndigheten för tillgängliga medier (MTM) år [år för slutleverans till MTM]
Inläsare är[inläsare] vid [producent]
For English titles:
This talking book is produced by Myndigheten för tillgängliga medier (MTM), i.e. the Swedish Agency for Accessible Media in [Year of delivery to MTM]
Read by [Narrator] at [Producer]
3.1.2 Information on §17 of the Copyright Act
Information on §17 of the Copyright Act follows after the introductory announcement. The following text should be recorded by the book’s narrator:
This talking book is produced for persons with a disability in accordance with §17 of the Copyright Act. Unlawful distribution or transfer is punishable.
The following text is used for children’s books:
This book is produced for users of adapted media in accordance with §17 of the Copyright Act. Unlawful distribution or transfer is punishable.
3.1.3 Information on the talking book
Information on the talking book describes which searchable headings are included in the talking book, and whether anything has been deleted (for example, image descriptions) or added (for example, new headings for image descriptions).
Detailed information on navigation in, for example, a concluding feature should be given locally. This applies to, for example, pictorial suites, footnotes at the end of chapters and registers. Introductory information on the talking book then lacks this information. The editor decides when and where such local information should be provided and the narrator formulates this in accordance with the editor’s instructions. The information is provided immediately after the heading has been read. Read, for example:
List of notes. The list of notes has a new chapter at level 2 and every fifth note in the chapter at level 3.
Local information on navigation may also appear in individual sections in the continuous text when these deviate from the book in general. Say, for example:
This chapter contains fact boxes, examples and exercises at level 3.
3.1.4 Publisher information
In this feature the narrator should start at the top of the title page or earlier if there is important information before the title page. All information should be read (even the title and author) on the title page and its verso. If publisher information is at the end of the printed book, the editor should move the publisher information to the specified location after Information on the talking book. The narrator should then make a short comment that the publisher information has been moved.
Instructions for the feature Publisher information:
● All text should be read (logotypes and graphics which are difficult to read do not need to be read)
● The copyright sign (©) is read as copyright.
● ISBN can now comprise of 10 or 13 digits. If in the printed book you differentiate between these two number series, it is important not to read the number series as though the notation 10 or 13 is included in the number:
Example:
ISBN-10 91-32-33395-1 is read ISBN Ten [short break] 91-32-33395-1
ISBN-13 978-91-32-33395-8 is read ISBN Thirteen [short break] 978-91-32-33395-8
3.1.5 Back cover text
The back cover text and any blurbs or cover texts are read together in the feature Back cover text. The feature is advertised with: Back cover text.
3.2 Children’s books
3.2.1 Introductory announcement, §17 of the Copyright Act and Information on the talking book
Introductory announcement, information on §17 of the Copyright Act and Information on the talking book and Back cover text for children’s books are read in the same manner as above, see the sections 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3 and 3.1.5.
3.2.3 Publisher information
In children’s books the feature Publisher information is placed last in the talking book. Then the closing announcement follows: for Swedish – Här är talboken slut, or for English – This is the end of the talking book.
3.3 Reading headings
Numbered headings should be read in a consistent manner; Chapter one, Chapter two etc. or the first chapter, second chapter, etc. When the chapter heading is missing in the printed book, a heading is created in the talking book with the chapter’s three first words. These words should not be recorded as they are repeated in the continuous text, instead it is important that silence of a few seconds is recorded related to the heading.
3.4 Page break and reading page numbers
3.4.1 Reading page numbers
All talking books have navigable pages. For a new page of the book, the narrator should create a page break at the full stop of the previous or next page.
Page numbers are read in specialist literature for adults and in course literature. Page numbers are stated in such literature even for the pages which lack pagination. When a page is blank or consists of completely unnecessary material, this should be stated. If a page only consists of an image which is published in the talking book, the narrator says: Image page. If a page is blank, the narrator says: Blank page.
Page numbers are not read in fiction, children’s books or in specialist literature of a fiction nature, for example, biographies and travel books.
For reading page numbers with Roman pagination, the narrator says: Roman figure, page 1. For other special pages, the page is read as it is stated in the printed text. For example, the narrator says: Page B 1.
3.4.2 Page numbers in books with different languages
In books with summaries in another language than the language of the main part of the book, page numbers are read in the book’s main language. Accordingly: In a Swedish book with an English summary, all page numbers in the book are read in Swedish.
3.5 Spelling
Words should be spelt out when this is necessary for clarity and understanding, for example, for reading out internet addresses and names for which the pronunciation deviates from the spelling, for example, Leicester. Note that spelling out words can be perceived as disturbing by the user and should only be performed when the editor requests this. Words are spelt out letter by letter by syllable, that is, words are divided in the following manner:
s-y-l l-a b-l-e
Any genitive ‘s’ should not be included in the spelling.
3.6 Abbreviations
Abbreviations should only be read out if this improves understanding of the text. If an abbreviation is generally accepted or occurs frequently, this should only be read out the first time it occurs.
State upper-case and lower-case letters in abbreviations.
3.6.1 Abbreviations in notes and bibliographies
In general in lists of notes you want to have the opportunity to search for individual notes and access information by each note. However, repeated references for the same work are often written as a.a (anfört arbete) in Swedish or ibid(em) in English. For such cases the title and author are repeated for each new note, while the abbreviation per se is not read at all. For the rest, abbreviations in notes, references or bibliographies should not be read out.
3.7 Foreign languages and archaic Swedish
Words and names in foreign languages should be pronounced correctly. Names of countries, cities and famous people should be pronounced in accordance with English usage where such exists (for example, Barcelona, London, van Gogh). If it is impossible to produce the correct pronunciation of a foreign word, you will need to spell it out.
Archaic verb forms should be read as they are written, read for example, vi gingo in Swedish. However, old spelling forms should not be marked, read for example, bliva instead of blifva in Swedish.
3.8 Quotation marks, brackets
While recording you should avoid marking or mentioning quotation marks and brackets, for example, for lines and years.