Middlesex Cricket’s pioneering website
MIDDLESEX Cricket is today delighted to announce that the club has taken more measures to improve accessibility across its communication channels for members and fans alike.
Following last year’s introduction of several new disabled categories of membership, which also saw the club introduce the addition of complimentary Personal Assistants’ Passes for all disabled members, the club is now delighted to unveil its latest steps towards improving accessibility.
Firstly, leading the way in cricket, Middlesex today became the only first-class county cricket club to have installed Recite Me onto its official website – an award-winning piece of software which lets users customise the website to their own individual needs, allowing them to better engage with the club’s online channels regardless of their disability or age.
The Recite Me toolbar, accessible at the click of a button, offers users a comprehensive suite of tools to make their journey through the club’s website a far more enjoyable and fulfilling experience.
Recite Me offers a range of accessibility modifications, including text-to-speech functionality, font enlargement, different fonts, an interactive dictionary, a range of alternative colour schemes, audio playback, translation tools featuring over 100 languages from around the world and many other dedicated accessibility functions.
An estimated 285 million people globally experience some form of visual impairment and almost 15 per cent of the world’s population are diagnosed with dyslexia. In the UK alone, there are 1.5 million people with a learning disability and 4.2 million people use English as a second language – all facts that underpin the important role that Recite Me will play on Middlesex’s website.
Gary Hamilton, a Middlesex member who is passionate about inclusion and who assisted the club when consulting on the initial introduction of its disability membership categories last year, has been appointed as the club’s disability consultant.
Gary’s role will see him continuing to work closely with the club, reviewing and improving all aspects of the club’s accessibility and inclusion offering, whilst also ensuring that the wider cricketing community is aware of Middlesex Cricket’s work in this area.
Rob Lynch, Middlesex Cricket’s chief operating officer, commented: “We are delighted that Gary has accepted our offer of a consultancy role with the club, which will guarantee that we maintain a strong focus on improving accessibility and inclusion.
“Since offering disabled categories of membership, it’s clear to see that there is an increasing need to offer greater accessibility to our fanbase, and that’s why we’ve committed to be the first county cricket side to integrate Recite Me’s software into our web platform.
“It’s an incredible piece of software which will transform how many of our followers interact with the club. Our thanks go to everyone at Recite Me for their support and expertise in this field. It will greatly help our supporters to connect with the club in a way that best suits their individual needs.”
How to use Recite Me
Website viewers wishing to access the Recite Me toolbar will see a yellow ‘Accessibility Tools’ button now appearing on all pages of the club’s website, on both desktop and mobile versions. Simply click this button and the toolbar will automatically launch and be available for use.