UEFA Accessibility Guidelines (2024): stadium provisions for hard of hearing and deaf spectators

Summary

UEFA guidance on stadium hearing assistance, including crowd noise, loops, FM, infrared and receiver management.

Key findings

• Page 111 identifies crowd background noise and long distances from the audio source to the audience in bowls, explicitly giving the announcer's microphone as its example of the source; it also lists ticket offices, information counters and concessions as places where assistive listening can help.
• Pages 111-112 favour permanent loops in stadium bowls and at customer service points, while identifying FM as another commonly used bowl system. The guidance warns against amplifying surrounding noise.
• Pages 111-113 warn that direct sunlight limits infrared in stadium bowls; FM can cover large areas but obstructions can create dead spots.
• Pages 113-114 require venues choosing receiver-based systems to supply receivers, test and clean them, check batteries, and organise distribution and collection. Page 114 assigns distribution and collection to the owner, operator or event organiser unless otherwise decided. Collection points need signs, advance information for fans and stewards who know their locations.

Limits

Guidance, not a national building rule or comparative field study. No coverage measurements, listener sample or cost data. Its broad statements about telecoil prevalence, FM licensing and loop users needing no receivers should not be generalised to every device, jurisdiction or listener. Relevant pages 110-114 read in the original UEFA PDF hosted by the Croatian Football Federation because the UEFA download was blocked. Publication date confirmed by UEFA's launch article.

Read the original

editorial.uefa.com/resources/0291-1bc63c80c17d-3b06fdde0dbe-1000/uefa_accessibility_guidelines.pdf

Link checked 13 October 2026. We link to the original and do not host copies.

Cited in

• What works in stadiums and arenas, and what do the rules ask of them?Partly answered

Cite this source

The accessed date is when this library last checked the link; use the date you read it. To point readers to this summary instead, link to https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/uefa-2024-accessibility-guidelines/

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