VfL Wolfsburg hosted meeting on audio-descriptive commentary

VfL Wolfsburg hosted meeting on audio-descriptive commentary

VfL Wolfsburg hosted an important workshop to further improve the service for visually impaired football fans. The regional meeting of club leaders took place in the Volkswagen Arena.

Besides the four reporters of VfL Wolfsburg, representatives of Hamburger SV, FC St. Pauli, VfL Osnabrück and Holstein Kiel attended to the workshop. The focus of the meeting was to share experiences and best practices on audio-descriptive commentary – a service in football stadiums that allows people who are blind or visually impaired to experience the atmosphere in the stadium and hear all about the game.

Nowadays, almost all of the top German football clubs have audio description during their matches, but the conditions and thus the challenges are different everywhere. Therefore, the exchange of knowledge and experiences amongst reporters is so important. The reporters especially shared experiences on technical and organisational problems but also discussed development opportunities.

Using the expertise for other sports

For the first time, the project “T_OHR” was introduced. The short name stands in German for the Center for Visually Impaired and Blind Reportage in Society and Sport. The big challenge for them is currently the dissemination of the audio-descriptive commentary to other sports and cultural offers. The goal is to provide people with visual impairment with more and diverse opportunities for cultural participation. Kristian Mann, who is a visually impaired football fan himself, regularly attends games in Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, encouraged the reporters in his guest lecture to think “outside the box” and described the needs of a visually impaired stadium visitor. After a short practical exercise, VfL Wolfsburg reporters showed their work place in the Volkswagen Arena to their colleagues during the final tour of the stadium. Every match, 16 visually impaired people can benefit from the audio-descriptive commentary in Wolfsburg. The project is one of many VfL Wolfsburg initiatives to improve the inclusion of people with disabilities.