𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦: 10 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘴🕒
They say football is the world’s game, but is it?
The more you think about it, the more you question it.
It’s definitely some of the world’s game. And while there is no doubting that football is for everyone, it’s not always made for everyone, or with everyone in mind.
So, what does that actually mean? Well, if the media and experience surrounding football is not accessible for audiences that are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, partially sighted, living with sight loss and more, it’s not truly everyone’s game.
So, in this blog, we’re going to look at how accessible the media actually is at the Premier League clubs scattered across the country.
I feel it’s an important topic because it’s cliché, yes, but football really is more than just a game for many people. It’s community, friendships, a sense of belonging. And for those with accessibility needs, that is just as important.
So, here are some of the key ways to make the world’s game, actually for the world.
- Subtitles on screen
- In-person British Sign Language
- Audio descriptive commentary
- Audio matchday programme
- Accessible information
- GiveVision headsets
- Sensory rooms
Jump into the blog below to find out more.
Subtitles on screens
This is something I noticed at Manchester City men’s games over last season on the big screen.
When special guests may be interviewed for the pre-game or half-time entertainment in the ground, for example, white subtitles on a dark blue background showed up on the bottom of the video screen.
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This applies to other action, as well as pre-game and at half-time. While the punctuation isn’t always perfect, generally they are very accurate.
Even as a fully hearing supporter, it can be hard to hear the interviews or analysis even in the ground given the size of the Etihad Stadium.
So, the subtitles are most welcome for me to understand everything.
And of course, and most importantly, it enables deaf and hard of hearing supporters to understand what’s being said and have the same experience as everyone else.
What I love about this story is that a fan with a hearing impairment, Trish, brought this to City’s attention and the club worked with Trish and the Disabled Supporters Association to bring subtitles to the game.
“I felt included in the whole match day experience rather than excluded before subtitles were introduced. Without this service, I had to rely on people around me explaining what was happening. It transforms the match day from an event where I felt excluded into one I could fully immerse myself, just like any other supporter.”
– Trish, Manchester City supporter
However, my research from publicly available information outlined that only City and Arsenal are using big screen captioning right now during matchday production. We’d love to see this spread more in the league for quite a simple addition.
British Sign Language
Arsenal set the standard here by offering a British Sign Language (BSL) service in 2023. All of the Gunners’ home games (including broadcasts pre-match and at half-time) features full BSL integration.
Also, all of the content inside the stadium has a BSL interpreter signing it.
The North London club also had fans involved in the process. Season ticket holder Christopher Clelland worked closely with the Disability Liaison Team and Arsenal Disability Supporters Association (ASDA).
“I am profoundly deaf and British Sign Language is my first language. This is a huge step for Arsenal and Deaf fans, who can now enjoy the same access to information as other fans and be included in any pre-match discussions, interviews and special events, by having these interpreted into BSL live on screen.”
– Christopher Clelland
Chelsea are also part of the best practice brigade.
The club provides on-screen BSL interpreters for all home games, men’s and women’s, domestic and European, in the 2025/26 season.
BSL interpreters will be at clubs’ fan forums, as well as continuing to sign at BSL-led stadium tours.
Everton are also BSL-supportive, as at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, broadcasts featuring their in-house presenters inside the stadium will have full BSL integration.
Audio descriptive commentary
Audio descriptive commentary (ADC) is a type of commentary that offers a little more detail compared to what a normal commentator may.
For example, it may sound like:
“McGinn collects the ball halfway inside the Brentford half on the right. He takes two touches forward, still under no pressure. Watkins is ahead of him, drifting between the centre-backs. McGinn curls a low pass towards the penalty spot… Watkins reaches it first, turns onto his left foot, shoots from ten yards… saved low at the near post by the keeper, who pushes it out for a corner. Aston Villa are attacking from right to left this half.”
It gives the context that the eyes would see as well as the crucial details.
From my research in the Premier League, for the season 2025/26, the information available shows that all but one Premier League club offers audio description commentary for fans.
At Sunderland, commentary can be enjoyed via headsets, but it is not ADC.
When scrolling on LinkedIn during the production of this piece, I noticed that Manchester City are trialling the launch of an ADC app where you can plug your earphones in and click play. It’ll be interesting to see whether that takes off.
Audio matchday programme
Some clubs, such as Arsenal, Wolves and Southampton, offer blind and partially sighted fans an audio version of the matchday programmes.
These can be found on various podcast hosting platforms and it’s another way to give all fans the same experience.
There are more than 320,000 registered blind and partially sighted people in the UK, so there is a definite need for this kind of auditory offering (as well as other types of alternative formats).
Before researching this blog, I wasn’t aware that this was a thing. But I’m very glad to see it is in use.
Accessible information
Making information accessible includes providing:
- Braille
- Easy Read
- Large print
- And other alternative formats
Few clubs in the Premier League currently do this, so we would like to see more, especially since it is such a simple way to make content more accessible.
Currently, Nottingham Forest offers accessibility information in large print and Braille on request. Newcastle United provides the font on the food concession stands in large, but “braille is not yet available”.
But it’s Wolves that are showing the rest of the clubs how it’s done.
How, you say? Well, it’s better to think about what measures the club hasn’t taken?
According to the RNIB, Wolves has put together an ‘accessible pack’ for stewards to give out to fans.
This includes a fully charged audio description (AD) receiver and instructions on how to use the AD equipment — braille is available, and a QR code gives audio instructions.
At the kiosks in the ground, there are braille, large print and Easy Read menus available.
Additionally, in the club shop, braille is available there for a price list of merchandise.
“This is superb work from the accessibility team at Wolves,” said Head of VoiceBox Sophie Muller.
“Yes, it’s good if you’re providing some accessibility services at your ground. As we say, accessibility is a sliding scale and something is better than nothing.
“However, if you truly want your fans, your people, to feel at home and to have an experience that makes them want to come back and strengthen their relationship with the club, consider accessible documents.
“Fans may want to find out where they need to go for themselves, what’s on the menu for themselves and make purchases for themselves without support. That’s why the likes of Easy Read and Braille are simple and underused ways to make all supporters feel welcome.”
Give Vision Headsets
Now, this is technology done brilliantly.
Crystal Palace are the first club to bring this to the table, back in September 2024.
Basically, the GiveVision headsets use a private 5G network to stream the live match footage in real-time directly to fans.
There is then a stereoscopic feed which enhances the illusion of depth to the working part of the fan’s retina. This then increases remaining vision, and they can enjoy the game in its glory.
“This ground-breaking step not only highlights the club’s commitment to inclusivity but also showcases the transformative potential of assistive technology in sports. Thanks to the 5G network provided by Shared Access, Palace fans with low vision can now enjoy the game in real-time, from any seat in the stadium, alongside their friends and family.”
– Joanna Liddington, Head of Operations at GiveVision
Sensory room
While sensory rooms aren’t media accessibility, it’s a rather overlooked part of accessibility, in my opinion. Hence, why we think it’s important to mention.
Across the UK, football clubs seem to be pretty good at providing these spaces. Several clubs offer a room for fans who may be neurodiverse or more sensitive to sensory processing. It also applies to fans who become overwhelmed by noise, crowds, bright lights or fast-changing environments.
The data can be hard to come across for some people who may need the sensory room, but given that around 700,000 people in the UK have a diagnosis of autism, and around 5% of children have ADHD, and 3% – 4% of adults, a sensory room certainly has a place in football grounds.
Note: Of course, not everyone with autism or ADHD will require or prefer the use of a sensory room at a football game, but it’s a great option to have if required.
The supporters can watch the game in a more controlled and quieter environment while still being part of the action. Sensory equipment also tends to be available.
Some of the clubs that have sensory rooms include:
- Aston Villa
- Arsenal
- Brentford
- Chelsea
- Coventry City
- Celtic
- Everton
- Ipswich Town
- Manchester City
- Middlesborough
- Norwich City
- Rangers
- Sheffield United
- Southampton
- Sunderland
- Tottenham Hotspur
- Watford
- West Brom
- West Ham
This is accessibility as a priority, not an afterthought.
Overall, there are plenty of clubs that incorporate sensory rooms. We appreciate that if there is no space in an old ground, then it’s not plain sailing. But if there is an unused box, or if your club is making a new stadium, a sensory room is a superb way to make your space more accessible.
Analysis: Get disabled fans involved in the decision-making
As we would recommend in non-footballing situations, having disabled representation in your organisation team is so important.
How would you know how a group feels about something if they aren’t there to tell you?
I loved how the likes of ASDA, Chelsea Deaf Supporters Group and Manchester City Disabled Supporters Association have all been consulted and worked with to help the clubs improve.
In fact, I got in contact with Howard Cohen, Chair of the Manchester City Disabled Supporters Association (DSA) and Disabled Fans Representative for City Matters (fan advisory board). He had just been at a Premier League meeting for club disability representatives, where precisely these issues were discussed.
“It’s safe to say that every club is at a slightly different level and none of us are yet perfect,” said Howard.
“At the Etihad and the Joie (stadiums), we do now have subtitles on all live and recorded media on the stadium big screens, which has been very well received. The feedback from DSA members was that we don’t need both subtitles and BSL, so we have stopped lobbying to get BSL, for now, although it would be nice to have both obviously.
“As a DSA, we try to keep on top of any issues, if and when they occur, and the audio description commentator often attends our members’ meetings, to give him a chance to catch up with some of the fans who use his service.
“At the Premier League meeting, we also discussed the introduction of Give Vision headsets at Crystal Palace, which are also being trialled elsewhere.
“The trial at Palace has gone really well and [has] been welcomed by all who use it. We discussed the feasibility of trialling that at other clubs and the cost implications which are putting off some clubs.”
I asked Howard where he wants clubs to be, in regard to media accessibility, over the next five to 10 years.
“The key is for all clubs to understand the importance of budgeting for the technology they need, to make their stadiums accessible for all, regardless of the disability,” replied Howard.
“We all know that the money is there, at least in the Premier League, and it’s just about making sure that enough is allocated, so that every club is 100% accessible, rather than just aspiring to be.
“That means basic things like investing in powerful Wi-Fi stadium-wide, investing in subtitles and BSL for all audio and video output, investing in audio description and GiveVision and any other new technology which can bring the experience of disabled fans up to the same level as everyone else at the game.
“The building blocks are all there and the cost is tiny, to clubs that are spending hundreds of millions on transfers and wages. All it takes is the will to do it.”
And while there is lots of good going on at clubs and we don’t expect everyone to be perfect all the time, there are lots of people in these stadiums who would love the will from clubs to be even stronger.
And that is only going to strengthen their affiliation with the club and their investment in your club, which is a win-win.
Conclusion
There are some brilliant steps being taken by certain clubs and it’s interesting to note the variation in that. For example, Arsenal leads the way with BSL and Wolves are making their documents the most accessible. The potential for more steps across the league is there, though.
If you’re in an accessibility role at a club, please consider some of the steps mentioned to truly make football a game for everyone.
We don’t expect you to take every step right away, but a step in the right direction is better than nothing.
Key takeaways
Here is a recap of some of the best ways to make football in the Premier League accessible for everyone:
- Subtitles on screen
- In-person British Sign Language
- Audio descriptive commentary
- Audio matchday programme
- Accessible information
- GiveVision headsets
- Sensory rooms
Contact us today and explore an accessibility consultation.