BIRMINGHAM COUNTY FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE A DOUBLE PARTNERSHIP WITH SIGN SOLUTIONS AND RECITE ME.

We are really conscious that when we promote, govern and develop the game, there are many communities who do and want to engage with Birmingham County FA but have found it difficult to do so in the past.

Therefore, in a bid to widen our reach and increase participation and be far more inclusive and supportive, we are the first County FA to launch two fabulous services which will improve accessibility and help our customers better interact with their local County FA.

Kevin Shoemake, Chief Executive of Birmingham County Football Association, expressed his delight at securing the partnerships and said, “we are really proud to be working with Sign Solutions and ReciteMe on integrating and launching these fabulous, new online tools which are free to use and will benefit many people within local communities”.

By making and searching our online content a far easier and better experience all round, we believe that we can connect with all communities on a regular basis as they can now contact us and engage with us a lot easier than previously.

When partnering with Sign Solutions, we recognise that we have many deaf participants who play, coach, officiate and volunteer and we need to be able to communicate with them as they do and want to communicate with us at a time and format that suits their needs. A local player and coach at Birmingham Deaf FC recommended some innovative software, Interpreters Live, which provides on-demand access to a British Sign Language and DBS checked interpreter at the point of contact 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – via our web site and also on a mobile device.

Sophie Kang, Sign Solutions, stated “Sign Solutions are thrilled to be partnering with Birmingham FA to provide our on-demand video interpreting service, InterpretersLive!. Providing access to British Sign Language interpreters for Deaf participants will mean that they can access all the services Birmingham FA has to offer in their first or preferred language. Offering this service is contributing to breaking down the barriers in communication for the Deaf community within the football world and we are delighted to be working with all at Birmingham FA!”

Kevin elaborated on that by saying “launching this innovative tool allows us and the deaf community to better interact and for us to provide a better and easier customer experience.”

We are also conscious that we live in a digital world where most people interact online. The world wide web is a fantastic tool but it creates its own challenges when customers are trying to read and understand our online content due to disabilities, learning difficulties, visual impairments or if people speak English as a second language. This is the reason we have partnered with Recite Me.

On the partnership, Ross Linnett, CEO of Recite Me said “We are proud to be partnering with Birmingham County Football Association to support their diverse range of website visitors online. It's vital that everyone in local communities are able to join together through football and stay up to date with everything online. Birmingham FA is putting diversity and accessibility at the forefront, bringing more people into the sport and promoting social inclusion.”

Launching this fantastic tool will make it so much easier and more comfortable for many participants who require information or support via our web site for them to be able to better access and find the content they desire in a format that suits their individual needs.  The unique software, which is integrated into the web site, enhances the user experience by allowing them to adjust elements of the web page including text, graphics, colour, language, and navigation.

You can find the Interpreters Live video service here, and in the top toolbar of all pages on our website.

You can find the ReciteMe toolbar, by clicking on the person icon that floats in the bottom right-hand corner of all pages on our website.

If you have any questions about the two services, please contact our Media & Content Officer, Emily Peacock on Emily.Peacock@BirminghamFA.com