Türk Telekom transforms technology into goodness and benefit with its corporate social responsibility projects; The General Directorate of State Theaters, in cooperation with the Istanbul State Theatre, launched the "Accessible Theatre" project in order to increase the participation of visually and hearing impaired individuals in cultural and artistic events. Within the scope of the Accessible Theater project, Türk Telekom; by implementing surtitles and live description applications in the State Theater plays at the Atatürk Cultural Center, of which he is the main supporter; It aims to offer an experience that overcomes visual, auditory and physical barriers. In addition, with a special stage tour to be held before the play, it is aimed for visually impaired art lovers to experience a holistic theater experience by allowing them to recognize the play's decor, costumes and objects used in the play by touch.
Continuing its corporate social responsibility activities with the understanding of "Value to Turkey", Türk Telekom aims to contribute to the equal participation of disabled art lovers in cultural events, with the principle of reaching every segment of the society.
A barrier-breaking theater experience with live description, surtitles and a private stage tour
Visually impaired art lovers can experience the theater without missing details, thanks to the live description application, where non-audio visual elements such as place, time, characters and silent events are explained instantly between dialogues. Additionally, in addition to live descriptions, the decor on the stage is described to visually impaired art lovers with a special stage tour organized before the play; Visually impaired visitors are given the opportunity to recognize suitable objects, costumes and decor by touching them.
For hearing impaired art lovers, using the surtitle system; By giving the dialogues in the form of supertitles, the game is made accessible to the hearing impaired.
“We support barrier-free cultural and artistic events with the principles of accessibility and inclusivity.”
Türk Telekom Corporate Communications Director Arif Sancaktaroğlu said, “As Turkey's leading information and communication technologies company, we work to transform the opportunities provided by technology into goodness and benefit. We aim to ensure that everyone with different needs has the opportunity to discover the beauty of art and cultural riches through our corporate social responsibility activities that we carry out under the umbrella of 'Value for Turkey'. With this motivation, we develop new technologies for accessible living and implement applications and projects that make the lives of disabled individuals easier. For example, at the Atatürk Cultural Center, where we transfer our knowledge in the field of technology to the field of culture and art, and of which we are the main supporter with our accessible communication approach for everyone, we launched our Loud Steps application, which allows visually and hearing impaired users to find their way easily in indoor and outdoor areas. Now, in cooperation with the General Directorate of State Theatres, we are implementing live description and surtitle applications for visually and hearing-impaired art lovers in theater plays. We are happy that AKM, the heart of culture and art, of which we are the main supporter, has turned into a center that overcomes obstacles with our special services. "As Türk Telekom, we will continue our work with our vision of being an institution that strengthens social ties, supports accessibility in culture and arts, and offers technology for the good and benefit of people," he said.
Istanbul State Theater Director Mehmet Fatih Dokgöz said, “Theatre has always existed to tell people its story. The moment we, the actors, step on the stage, a relationship deeper than the text of the play begins between us and the audience filling the hall. We host them in different lives with the text of the play, the characters we create, our gestures, facial expressions and decor; The audience tells us about life from their own perspective with their exclamations, breaths, laughter and applause... This has been the case since the day humanity existed. In our theater journey that we set out for this purpose, the "Accessible Theatre" project, in which we, as Istanbul State Theatre, work in cooperation with Türk Telekom and AKM, excites us very much because of its structure that will provide the opportunity to reach and touch more audiences. With the use of techniques such as audio description, surtitles and stage tour, our plays will be easier to follow and their meaning will be deepened for our visually and hearing impaired audiences. As their knowledge of our non-verbal gestures, facial expressions and subtle details in our decorations increases, their enjoyment of our games will also be enriched. "This will take us one step further on our journey to bring our story to everyone," he said.
The first barrier-free play at AKM was 'Rumuz Goncagül'
Within the scope of the Accessible Theater project, it is aimed to make the State Theater plays at AKM accessible to visually and hearing impaired individuals at regular intervals. The project started with the theater play "Rumuz Goncagül", staged at the AKM Theater Hall on January 6, produced by the Istanbul State Theatre, written by Oktay Arayıcı, one of the important writers of the Turkish Theatre, and directed by Zafer Algöz. Visually and hearing impaired art lovers who were invited to the play enjoyed the theater by having a barrier-free experience.
