Fans claim BBC 'broke its own rules' in broadcast of 'Premier League Highlights' show after Gary Lineker's suspension

Fans believe that the BBC has broken its own accessibility rules after not providing an audio description for its ‘Premier League Highlights’ show in the absence of Match of the Day.

The BBC made the decision to change its Saturday edition of Match of the Day after Gary Lineker was suspended from the broadcaster over an impartiality row.

Match of the Day regulars Ian Wright and Alan Shearer pulled out of punditry duties in a show of solidarity with the suspended Lineker.

The BBC chose to replace Match of the Day with a 20-minute show featuring highlights from the Premier League, which didn’t include a studio segment or commentary.

However, eagle-eyed fans were quick to claim that the BBC had broken its own rules due to the lack of accessibility features for blind viewers for the Premier League Highlights show.

“That was our thoughts at home,” one fan said.

Someone else commented: “This actually did come to mind last night.”

A third asked: “Is this really what it was like last night?”

“This has been an absolute shambles,” another Twitter user wrote.

While a fifth said: “It just keeps getting better, folks, oh, BBC.”

According to BBC’s official website, the UK state broadcaster provided “audio description for blind and partially sighted viewers” in 2000.

The BBC said: “Audio description makes television services more accessible to blind and visually impaired people by explaining what is happening on screen using the gaps in dialogue.

“This helps viewers with visual impairments to follow what is going on. Audio description of changes of location, actions, facial expressions, gestures and so on give the context and set the scene.”

The BBC has claimed that audio descriptions are available on “20 per cent of our programmes,” from BBC One and BBC Two to BBC Four and CBBC.

A BBC spokesperson told SPORTbible: “We apologise to those who couldn’t enjoy the programme as they normally would.

“We have only been able to bring limited sport programming this weekend and we are working hard to resolve the situation.”

READ MORE:

• BBC could make U-turn on Gary Lineker suspension as presenter set for return to Match of the Day
• Ian Wright threatens to quit BBC if Gary Lineker is sacked over social media comments
• Jurgen Klopp defends Gary Lineker over BBC row, says he cannot understand decision to stand him down

Featured Image Credit: Twitter/BBC

Topics: Gary Lineker, Football

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

@AdnanRiaz9