At our win over Wolves on Saturday, we celebrated International Day Of Persons With Disabilities, with the launch of 'See Sport Differently', the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) and British Blind Sport's new guidance on making the match day experience accessible for spectators with sight loss.
Arsenal is the lead club to contribute to this research, having been identified by the Pan-Disability Sport Charity Level-Playing Field as an example of Best Practice in the way in which we already support our blind and partially-sighted supporters. You can read more information, here.
Our contribution to this body of work builds into our long-term strategy around equality, diversity, and inclusion, and progresses on from the full integration of BSL into our matchdays earlier this year, with the aim of making Arsenal a welcoming place for everyone.
To mark the occasion, we invited the RNIB's Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Gareth Davies, and supporter Ritchie Parker, to speak pitch side during our Breakdown Live and Matchday shows, on the importance of this guidance and Arsenal's contribution, as blind spectators.
Gareth, Ritchie, and a number of our blind and partially sighted supporters were then invited down post-match to meet David Raya and our captain, Martin Odegaard.
Speaking on 'See Sport Differently', Gareth said, "The Royal National Institute of Blind People (the RNIB) and British Blind Sport have been working together on a programme funded by Sport England called ‘See Sport Differently.’ A key part of the programme is to work with football teams to create Accessible Stadium Best Practice Guidance that clubs across the UK can use to ensure their blind and partially sighted fans can experience the best possible matchday experience’.
The club have been exceptionally helpful and supportive during the research phase of the guidance providing RNIB with excellent examples and case studies of how the Emirates Stadium and its matchday staff are leading the way in creating an accessible stadium for all fans including those who are blind and partially sighted.
The Accessible Stadium Best Practice Guidance will be shared with clubs throughout the Premier League, EFL and across the UK. Importantly the guidance can be applied to any stadium such as Rugby, Cricket, and Athletics, so fans of any stadium-based sport living with sight loss will not miss out.
This transformational relationship between the RNIB and Arsenal had led to tangible change for blind and partially sighted fans and is a relationship that we hope will continue to flourish."
On Saturday, we also officially welcomed Disability Access Manager Aaron Heskins to the Arsenal family.
Aaron added, “At Arsenal, we’ve witnessed the positive outcomes of creating a more accessible experience for both home and away supporters, and it's great to be recognised as leaders in this space.
This document is a huge step forward in guiding all sports clubs across the UK towards a more inclusive experience for blind and partially sighted supporters.
Access and inclusion is a year-round focus for us, and through initiatives such as this, we endeavour to ensure that everyone can feel an equal sense of pride and belonging to Arsenal.
We look forward to continuing our work with the RNIB, and pushing forward to enhance the experience for all supporters attending our matches.”
We work closely across the club and with external groups to ensure access and inclusion is embedded in everything we do.
Earlier this year, in conjunction with Level Playing Field's #UniteForAccess campaign, we launched our fully integrated BSL matchdays. Since March, at all home games, our pitchside show has had full BSL integration, and all club content within the stadium has an embedded BSL interpreter.
Our work also includes using independent access auditors and collaborating with the Arsenal Disabled Supporters' Association (ADSA) to enable constructive dialogue, as well as engaging with and surveying our disabled supporters to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and barriers they face.
We have a Disabled Supporters Lounge open for our disabled supporters (and their PAs) before every home game at Emirates Stadium. It is located just inside the Museum Entrance in the Northern Triangle Building on podium level. Our specialist Disability Liaison Team are also present to support visitors at all men's home and away games, as well as women's home games.
Accessibility support also includes our Sensory Room, audio descriptive commentary, a Changing Places toilet (a high dependency toilet with winch and changing bed) and our matchday programme audio service.
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