At Red Bee, we’re proud to have played a key role in making the UEFA European Under-21 Championships more accessible than ever before. Working with Channel 4, we provided live subtitling and, for the first time, live audio description (AD) for the tournament’s semi-finals and final – ensuring that every thrilling moment could be experienced by all fans, regardless of visual or hearing ability.
This milestone reflects our ongoing commitment to enhancing accessibility in live broadcasting. Thanks to our dedicated AD team, the roar of the crowd, the intensity on the pitch, and the emotional crescendo of the extra-time winner were brought vividly to life for blind and partially sighted viewers.
The Voices Behind the Final
Central to this achievement were Simon Williams and Scott Hammond, the Audio Describers who delivered the live AD during the final. Their preparation, quick thinking, and deep knowledge of the game were key to creating an immersive experience. As Simon explained, the groundwork began well before kick-off:
“We researched the teams, in terms of formations and players, with the main aim of being able to recognise them on screen – what positions they were likely to crop up in, who takes the corners or penalties, that type of thing. And we spent time going over lots of pronunciations – especially online resources of players saying their own names!”
Of course, knowing the teams is just the beginning. For live AD to truly serve the audience, it must weave effortlessly into the existing commentary feed, which is hard when you don’t necessarily know when someone is going to start, or stop, talking. As Simon noted, one of the biggest challenges was striking the right balance in the moment:
“An AD-friendly commentary style with no other voices would be one thing, but here we’re trying to add access to what the main feed commentators and pundits are already doing. We’re trying to judge when a quick factual update – a time-check or a pitch location – is more relevant to our audience than an interesting anecdote from an ex-pro, and we’re doing that all on the fly and with no way of anticipating either the action, or the commentators.”
The more types of content we can audio describe, the more choice and access we offer to our audience.
Audio Describer, Red Bee
The Art of Live AD in Real Time
Scott, who also provided live AD throughout the event, described the intensity and complexity of delivering AD in a live sports setting:
“We follow a carefully constructed step-by-step guide that is designed to ensure that nothing is left to chance the moment we do go live.
When the match starts, we are doing several things all at once – watching it, listening to the commentators, referring to other monitors with the teams on, and keeping a close eye on information presented in the form of on-screen text such as statistics, substitutions, and time checks for our audience. Ideally, we will enhance our audience’s experience by building on the main commentary. That’s why we typically speak in short, confident bursts and our delivery will mirror, to an extent, the mood or tension on the pitch, with the aim being to embed the live AD as much as possible into the broadcast and have our audience experience a great match.”
For Scott, it was a satisfying and creative contribution to accessibility in sport. As he reflected:
“The job is so varied and creative, and it’s a service that is vitally important to our audience. It doesn’t really matter the level of the sport that I am covering, I will be producing content for fans so my aim is always to do my very best. The more types of content we can audio describe, the more choice and access we offer to our audience. To be a small part of pioneering Live AD is a huge privilege.”
This was more than just a technical achievement – it was a meaningful step forward in ensuring inclusion and accessibility in the world of live sport. We are thrilled to have contributed to a broadcast that allowed every fan to feel the excitement, passion, and drama of the game, and we look forward to continuing our work to ensure that live experiences are shared and enjoyed by everyone.
About Red Bee Media
Red Bee Media is the leading global media services partner for innovation and growth. We enable some of the world’s most recognised media brands, broadcasters and content owners to instantly connect with audiences anywhere at any time. Every day, millions of people across the globe discover, enjoy and engage with content prepared, managed, broadcast and streamed by Red Bee Media. Headquartered in London, with more than 1000 media experts in Europe and Asia Pacific, Red Bee Media provides innovative solutions across the entire content delivery chain, including Playout, Streaming, Distribution, MCR, Media Management, Access, Content and Post-Production services.
For press enquiries, please contact:
Leanne Tomlin
Head of Events & campaigns, Red Bee
leanne.tomlin@redbeemedia.com
