Feature: Audio description in sport - August 2005  

The Disability Discrimination Act which came into full force in the UK in October 2004 requires all venues to ensure that disabled people have equal access to their facilities, goods and services and all providers of services to the public are liable under the act, writes Douglas Telford of Access Audio. Sporting venues such as soccer, rugby and cricket grounds therefore have a legal duty and requirement to comply with the Act and ensure that their services are accessible to all disabled people.

For many leisure providers, understanding disability issues often begins and ends with the provision of ramps and toilets for wheelchair users and therefore the 2m plus people in the UK with serious sight problems are often overlooked. The majority of blind and partially sighted people in the UK lose their sight in later life with one in 12 people aged 65 and over having a serious sight problem. For people who have been following a particular sport for many years it is a huge blow to realise that they can no longer follow the game they love.
One of the main issues for blind or partially sighted sports fans is not one of physical access but with being able to follow a games’ action through radio broadcasts. Local and national radio broadcasts rarely include sole coverage of one game, they are often disrupted by traffic news and updates on other sports. The main solution to the problem is to provide a quality dedicated audio description of a match or activity.

Painting a picture with words

Audio description encourages inclusion and full enjoyment of sporting action for blind and partially sighted people. It has been described as ‘painting a picture with words’ and is an invaluable service which is as important to blind and partially sighted people as subtitles are for deaf and hard of hearing people. Britain has been the world leader in audio description in live theatre but now thanks to the efforts of Royal National Institute of the Blind and its ‘Soccer Sight’ project, supported by the Football Foundation and HBoS, the service is being extended to the world of sport, and in particular soccer. After an initial pilot scheme in Scotland, Soccer Sight is being introduced to selected Football League clubs in England Wales.
Previously, commentaries for blind and partially sighted sports fans have been very disparate. The equipment varied from club to club with varying degrees of satisfaction for the blind or partially sighted fans. Many of the larger clubs were still using theatre style infra red systems, often affected by adverse weather conditions or blocked signals or using loop systems that meant people had to sit together in special areas of the ground to receive the signal. If you were an away supporter you either had to sit with home fans or receive no commentary at all. Some of the smaller clubs had no facilities at all. The action was literally being described by friends shouting out a description above the noise of the crowd!
The RNIB have worked closely with Access Audio to develop the RAD and AURAL AIDE audio description systems. These systems allow clubs and other providers to fully comply with their legal requirements and offer clubs a much better option in terms of delivering a quality broadcast.

Radios for the hard of hearing

The technology which delivers the audio description is radio based and in the case of the RAD equipment uses frequencies which have recently been released by OFCOM specifically for this purpose, a broadcasting licence is required. An additional benefit is that the same technology can also be used to broadcast to hard of hearing people who may otherwise miss out on commentaries.
The systems are essentially miniature local area radio broadcasting stations with special receivers tuneable only to the specific broadcast at any particular venue.
The signals are strong enough to allow people to sit in any area of the ground and receive the broadcast. This means that people who come with children can sit in the family stands, others can sit with their friends in their favourite position or in an area close to the pitch, allowing them to make full use of their remaining sight.
RAD is a sophisticated large area system suitable for major venues and has been installed or is in process of being installed at Arsenal‘s ground at Highbury, Surrey Cricket Clubs ground at the Oval, Sussex County Cricket Club at Hove and the new Wembley Stadium in London. The RAD system can accept several commentators which is useful for summarising or simply varying the voice that people hear. This system also allows for pre-recorded information that could include many of the programme notes that are usually not accessible for blind or partially sighted fans.
AURAL AIDE is a licence exempt system operating on the new pan European UHF frequencies. Sixteen user selectable frequencies are available. The systems are contained in flight cases, one main advantage of the system is that it is portable and are suitable for smaller venues and can be used for both home and away venues. The system is easily managed and maintained with the transmitter no bigger than a Walkman type machine. The headsets and receivers are small enough to be easily carried but of a suitable size that someone with no sight can easily operate the controls.
Soccer Sight is in its first year of operation in England and Wales but already there has been a lot of demand for its services. RNIB can assist with training of commentators and general management of the service with emphasis on developing audiences and attending to the needs of the user.

Access Audio Ltd
Phone: 0131 663 0777 Fax: 0131 660 9777
www.accessaudio.co.uk info@accessaudio.co.uk

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