2024 Paralympics Aim For Access Gold in Paris

By Marie Campbell, Audio Description Excellence Lead

Live Audio Description (AD) for broadcast burst onto the UK accessibility stage in 2023, when, for the first time, live programmes were made accessible to blind and partially sighted audiences at the point of transmission via an opt-in/opt-out service. It meant all the excitement of live content – like sport, charity telethons or celebrity dance competitions – could be enjoyed by these audiences at exactly the same time as everyone else.

With the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris just days away, accessibility and sport will be showcased every day from 28th August to 8th September. It is fitting, therefore, that these Games, broadcast across Channel 4, More4 and 4seven, will offer more accessibility than ever before.

At Red Bee, we’re incredibly excited and proud to be a part of this accessibility moment and landmark event. Not only will we be providing live subtitling and live signing throughout the Paralympic Games, but for the first time ever, we’ll be providing live AD 18:30-21:30 nightly on live sports programming, as well as an hour-long Highlights show at 22:30. That’s four hours of live primetime audio description on Channel 4 every single night of the Games, and is a testament to Channel 4’s drive and commitment to making their content as accessible as possible.

To get to this point, a great deal of collaboration between Red Bee and Channel 4 has taken place. Live AD is still relatively new, both technically and editorially. We’ve learned a lot over the past year about what works and what doesn’t. Live describing is different from pre-recorded AD, where we know when people are going to speak and have the luxury of pausing and rewinding. Describing sport live while trying to gauge when the commentators are going to start and stop commentating so we can describe in the gaps with minimal overlap takes skill, focus – and nerve!

The Paralympic Games have also provided an excellent moment in time to double-check that our guidelines on describing disability are just as they should be. Language evolves, and once-standard terminology can become dated. Describers must be aware of this, and tuned in to how various disabled communities describe themselves. Our AD team has also worked in partnership with Channel 4, attending their in-house language sessions and editorial briefings, to make sure our on-air approach aligns with theirs every step of the way.

We’ve also described several pre-recorded promos for the Games, like Considering What?, a film that aims to reset the dial on the portrayal of disability in sport (you can toggle on the AD version in settings).

This year’s Paras will shine a spotlight on excellence in disabled sport, and our AD team are poised in the starting blocks, ready for the starter’s pistol and the race towards accessibility gold!