Petition now closed.

Thank you for signing the petition requesting RTÉ to provide 2026 FIFA World Cup Audio Description to aid blind/vision impaired people better experience the big games.

As you can see from below RTE has indicated it “does not currently have the resources to deliver Audio Descriptive Commentary for matches in this World Cup”.

3,000 people signed the petition. They cannot, and will not, be ignored. While very disappointing to us, the awareness this campaign has raised will catapult Audio Description to new levels. This allows us to further liaise and advocate with RTÉ.

The petition – see https://outofsight.ie/rte-no-world-cup-audio-description/ – will now close.

Please see below the correspondence between the campaign leaders – David Redmond, Bobbie Hickey and Joe Geraghty – and RTÉ.

On 17 June to RTÉ.

You’re aware many blind and vision impaired viewers are disappointed with no FIFA World Cup audio description. For many the idea of sitting with family and friends enjoying RTE prime time coverage of stars like Messi, Mbappe and Ronaldo is not an option. Headphones and international internet AD are the poor order of the day.

Last week my colleagues David Redmond (content producer, podcaster), Bobbie Hickey (Events, PR Manager and disability advocate) and myself (former Paralympian, author and podcaster) led a petition calling on RTÉ to rethink its audio description strategy.

• Close to 3,000 people have signed the petition
• 68.3 thousand people have viewed my own – Out of Sight with Joe G – TikTok video on the matter, of whom
• 11,7 thousand have liked the video.

When  RTÉ do AD you do it well. The reaction and success of this petition indicate AD is in big demand, and extra resources may be required. 

In terms of this World Cup, you are not the only broadcaster weak or remiss on AD. You now have the opportunity to be a world leader in this space. Perhaps, start with some later prime time big games? 

David, Bobbie and I would welcome a meeting with you to discuss and progress. 

On 24 June from RTÉ

I hope you are well and enjoying the lovely weather.

Many thanks for your email, and for taking the time to write to us.

We are currently reviewing and will come back to you shortly with RTÉ’s position.

On 25 June from RTÉ

RTÉ is committed to providing content accessible to our whole audience to the best of our abilities and where possible. As you will be aware, significant resources are devoted to this and the commitment and effort demonstrated by those working in this area in the organisation is second to none.

We also value and take seriously all feedback and engagement from our audience members, as is the case regarding your correspondence. 

We are also responsive to such feedback, and part of being responsive is – at times – setting out clearly the limitations we face in delivering content with additional accessibility measures, such as in this case.

RTÉ is extremely proud of what we have been able to deliver in Audio Description to date, which is reflected in the feedback we have received, and your comment in that regard is appreciated.

In 2025, RTÉ exceeded its regulatory target on Audio Description, achieving more than 1,350 hours of AD content between 07:00 and 01:00, with even more available overnight and On-Demand. As part of RTÉ’s ongoing commitment to accessibility, the Late Late Toy Show had live AD for the first time, in addition to live ISL and live subtitles. 

Significant resources and efforts have of course been required, including the appropriate training needed for particular types of content. This would particularly be the case in deploying Audio Descriptive Commentary across this World Cup and the volume of content it involves.

It is not the case that additional resources may be required; to be clear, it would be a significant undertaking. The technical and operational challenges alone, in providing Audio Descriptive Commentary on content which is not owned or supplied by RTÉ, are highly complex. The additional staffing and expertise required would be significant, as would the necessary training. All of this, of course, comes with associated costs.

RTÉ must make decisions on resource-allocation on a constant basis, many of which are difficult decisions. RTÉ does not currently have the resources to deliver Audio Descriptive Commentary for matches in this World Cup. RTÉ notes the availability of ADC via the FIFA Audio Description App, though your feedback on this service is of course acknowledged.

For the reasons set out above, a decision to provide ADC for one match or a small number of matches unfortunately would not result in a proportionate reduction in the resources required such that it would become achievable. With respect, RTÉ rejects the characterisation of this as being ‘weak or remiss’. 

RTÉ remains committed to providing content that is accessible to our whole audience, and appreciates feedback and engagement in this regard.

29 June to RTÉ

Firstly, thank you for the response you provided to us, and for providing similar to Newstalk when they reached out. We are genuinely appreciative of your transparency, as that makes dialogue on this much easier.

While I think you’ll be able to understand we’re a bit disappointed, we understand the position.

From our side, we’ve said what needed saying, we’ve said it perhaps a bit louder than some may have liked. We hope however that our petition and media coverage shows the broad support for more AD in more ways. The question now is how we make that happen while being mindful of the constraints you reference.

This has never been about taking a dig at RTÉ. You’ve got a world-class team that we respect greatly, and we hope that was never lost in translation. When we see leaps forward in access, you can trust we’ll be the first to give credit, as we did re the Toy Show, The Traitors, and the ISL FAST channel.

We have a shared aim that I believe we all care about, and we’ll do what we can to move that forward, as we’re sure you will too.

We’re closing off the petition and so on for now, and we’ll let you guys keep up the good fight internally.

If logistics and costs are significant barriers in the area of access to sports specifically, then it’s worth giving serious consideration to Bobbie’s point regarding integrated description from the access meeting. Partnerships and AD sponsorship are also worth looking at, and RTÉ could absolutely lead the way in doing that responsibly.

RTÉ is never going to be the BBC or Netflix, but if we think about access in different ways, we can absolutely rival those bigger broadcasters.

We’re passionate about the work you do and are happy to help if we can, so please don’t be strangers.