Acessibilidade audiovisual para pessoas surdas: um estudo sobre o gênero live de esports

Abstract

This study discusses the definition of the Esports Live Stream genre and addresses aspects of accessibility features in live broadcasts of digital games, with a focus on the game League of Legends (LoL). It explores the enunciative and discursive specificities that characterize this audiovisual genre. Based on Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of speech genres and on technical accessibility standards, the analysis shows that linguistic accessibility for deaf individuals goes beyond technical issues such as capturing the interpreter's image or the use of subtitles. The study highlights the need to consider the interactive, dynamic, and multimodal particularities inherent to game livestreams, so that features like Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) windows, subtitling, and other tools can be adapted to integrate effectively with the broadcast content. To support this discussion, a live broadcast from the competitive LoL scene was analyzed, considering the accessibility features available during the live transmission and their impact on inclusion and viewer experience. The results indicate that accessibility resources were only present in three segments—advertisements, the pre-game, and the post-game—leaving out core aspects of the genre, such as sports commentary.