British sport is more accessible than ever this summer thanks to a new partnership introduced by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).
The official home of the British Tennis Association signaturethe video translation tool will help all spectator information points at the longest running international event, held at the Queen’s Club in West London.
The addition of video translation to the Cinch Championships, part of the men’s professional ATP World Tour, held in Queens means hearing-impaired visitors can now get a clear view of the matches, scores and safety updates with all information translated into British Sign Language (BSL).
“It’s been a fantastic summer for British tennis and we’re delighted to be working with Cygnapus at Queen’s to serve such a wide audience for the first time,” said Dave Hardman, EDI Strategy Manager at the LTA.
“Accessibility and inclusivity are of paramount importance to the LTA and we have long looked at ways to improve and introduce BSL. Signapse’s technology makes it incredibly easy to do so, and having AI signers at all information points means that everyone can enjoy the full tournament experience.”
Leia Clancy, head of growth at Signapse, said: “This is a fantastic move by the LTA. The Government’s Accessible Stadia Project aims to better understand the barriers disabled spectators face when attending spectator sporting events and challenges clubs and venues to go further in making their grounds inclusive and accessible, which is what the LTA has done by working with us.”
“In the UK, 18 million people are deaf or profoundly hard of hearing, 87,000 deaf people speak BSL as their first language and there are over 150,000 BSL users. By deploying our video translation tool to this tennis event, the LTA has ensured a more inclusive experience for deaf spectators. This is a shining example of the LTA’s vision to reach a wider audience and we hope this will inspire others to ensure sport is accessible to all.”
