Making sport more accessible: from broadcast to live experience

As broadcasters and sports organisations invest more in live audio description and enhanced commentary, there is growing recognition that accessibility must be built into sport from the outset, not added later as an afterthought.

RNIB has been working across the sector to support this shift, collaborating with broadcasters, production teams and rights holders to improve how sport is experienced by blind and partially sighted audiences. Through user feedback, industry engagement and practical testing, RNIB has helped shape best practice principles for accessible sports broadcasting.

These include clear and descriptive commentary, stronger context-setting, and ensuring audiences can follow not only the action itself, but also the atmosphere, emotion and pace of live events. The goal is simple: blind and partially sighted viewers should be able to experience sport as fully as everyone else.

Longitudinal user research has been central to this work. For Channel 4 during the Winter Paralympics, RNIB worked with blind and partially sighted participants over multiple days to gather detailed feedback on the accessibility of highlights programming and enhanced voiceover. The study helped identify where audiences could follow events well, where key moments were being missed, and how enhanced voiceovers could better support both understanding and enjoyment.

Over the last couple of years, live audio description across sports broadcasting has continued to grow. ITV’s live audio description coverage of the Rugby Six Nations and Channel 4’s live audio description coverage of the African Cup of Nations have both helped demonstrate how accessible commentary can enhance the experience for blind and partially sighted audiences. User feedback has remained at the heart of developing these services, helping broadcasters improve them year on year. This has widened access to sport and made commentary more inclusive through stronger and more detailed live description.

This evidence is helping inform wider broadcaster conversations and practical improvements across live sport coverage.

Wimbledon trial shows the impact of accessible commentary
The impact of accessible sport was also clearly demonstrated during Wimbledon’s trial of Action Audio, which allowed blind and partially sighted fans to follow matches in real time through enhanced commentary and additional court-side detail.

Co-creation over the last couple of years has also been key to shaping how the Action Audio service operates, helping create the best possible experience for blind and partially sighted users. Ongoing collaboration and feedback from audiences have helped refine the commentary, pacing and level of detail to better meet the needs of listeners following live matches.

For one significantly blind tennis fan taking part in the trial, the difference was immediate. For the first time, they were able to properly follow player movement, understand how points were developing, and feel connected to the atmosphere inside the grounds.

They described the experience as transformative, explaining that the additional commentary helped bring the match to life and made them feel like they were sharing the same live moment as everyone else around them — rather than trying to piece it together afterwards.

That sense of shared participation is exactly why accessible sport matters. It is not simply about information; it is about inclusion.

Accessibility does not begin and end with what happens on screen. For many blind and partially sighted people, attending live sporting events presents its own challenges — from transport and stadium navigation to accessing meaningful commentary during matches.

Alongside improvements in broadcast accessibility, organisations across the sector are working to make live events themselves more inclusive.

One example is Game Day Vision, a Community Interest Company supporting blind and partially sighted people to attend live sporting and cultural events. By pairing attendees with trained volunteer companions, they help people navigate venues, travel safely, and enjoy the full experience with greater confidence and independence.

Their work reflects a simple but important principle: accessible sport requires support across the entire journey — from broadcast production and commentary to venue access and community connection.

There is growing momentum across the industry to make sport more inclusive, but consistency remains key. Broadcasters, venues, governing bodies and community organisations all have a role to play.

RNIB will continue working with partners across the sector to ensure accessible sport is not treated as a specialist add-on, but as a standard part of how sport is experienced by everyone.

For more information, visit Game Day Vision.

Please send any comments, questions or suggestions about this work to [email protected]