Promise of audio technology for visually impaired sports fans has not become reality yet!

Many fans might feel relieved now that the Football Association has accepted that Wembley stadium will not be ready for May's FA Cup final; at least they know in which city they'll need a hotel. But the news is less good for blind and visually impaired sports fans, for access facilities at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium - the Cup's temporary home - fall well short of what had been promised at the new Wembley.

The key to blind fans' enjoyment of live sports is audio description, a technology using portable receiver packs to pick up a live commentary transmitted by infrared or radio. The lightweight packs let visually impaired fans follow the game through an earpiece while still soaking up the atmosphere.

Wembley's developers have promised disabled supporters' associations that the new stadium will feature a state-of-the-art, high-frequency radio system transmitting live commentary to all parts of the ground, in what would be the world's biggest system of its kind.

But an investigation for the Guardian by specialist publication E-Access Bulletin (www.headstar.com/eab) has found that the system's contractor, Sennheiser, has not yet begun deployment. That casts doubt on the stadium's ability to offer a working system even once it opens.
Wembley's original plan was to use infrared to relay the commentary around the ground. That was scuppered when technicians realised that sunlight would interfere with the signal whenever the retractable roof was open. Another plan, a large-scale wireless network, might interfere with equipment such as car alarms or microwave ovens in the area. Finally, using a broadcast-band frequency could be too costly: the communications regulator Ofcom has told the FA it would have to purchase a broadcasting licence for every event.

But the Millennium Stadium is hardly any better. In 2003, Wayne Busbridge, of the Visually Impaired Supporters Association, sued the stadium on the basis that it had broken a promise to provide audio description facilities for that year's Cup final. He received £700 compensation in an out-of-court settlement - which he accepted on the basis that the stadium installed modern equipment. Yet three years later, Cardiff still only provides radio coverage of the match with receivers tuned to BBC Radio Five Live. "It's a lot better than it was," Busbridge says. "But it still leaves a lot to be desired."

Wembley does have time to get it right before it opens. A spokesperson for Wembley National Stadium Limited said the ground still intends to have a functioning audio description service on from the moment the first ball is kicked.

Visually impaired fans will be hoping this promise is kept. But like the millions of fans who have already heard so many unfulfilled promises about the stadium, their expectations will not be high.
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