CAFE has launched a survey to gain a better understanding of the typical matchday experiences of non-visibly disabled people, and address some of the issues faced in attending live football matches.

(This story is also available in Croatian, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Ukrainian. An easy-to-read article and survey has also been published).

Since 2009, CAFE has worked with stakeholders across the football and disability industries to promote wider inclusion for all disabled people.

With over one billion disabled people alive globally today, disabled people are the world’s largest minority group yet also one of the most underrepresented within society.

Public understanding of disability has often centred around visible disabilities and removing physical barriers within society that effectively ‘disable’ people. With the further development of accessible services such as sensory viewing rooms, there has been some promising changes working to make football matches accessible for all differently disabled fans.

In October 2019, CAFE established an expert working group representing many different non-visible disabilities. The group intends to create dedicated guidance for football stakeholders to refer to and learn from, and has developed this survey alongside CAFE. You can find out more about some of the members of the expert working group here.

The survey aims to discover which accessible matchday services and facilities would benefit non-visibly disabled people, identify any other matchday barriers faced by non-visibly disabled people, and consider appropriate and most beneficial ticketing and seating categories.

Non-visible disability is a broad umbrella term that may encompass many differently disabled people. This could include, but would not be limited to:

• intellectually or learning disabled people.
• neurodivergent people e.g. autism, sensory processing disability, ADHD, Tourette’s, dyslexia, dyspraxia.
• people with neurological conditions, e.g. dementia, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis.
• people with mental health issues e.g. depression, bipolar, schizophrenia.
• people with long-term health conditions.
• other non-visibly disabled people / people with long-term health conditions e.g. endometriosis, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, chronic pain, rheumatoid arthritis, breathing / heart condition.

It is also important to stress that a growing number of people have multiple disabilities, which could also include a non-visible disability. For example, a wheelchair user or person with limited mobility who has dementia would encounter different barriers relating to each of their access requirements.

CAFE Research Officer Isobel Robins, who is leading the research project, said, “CAFE is committed to a pan-disability approach to access and inclusion, and the non-visible disability project and expert working group will play an important part in our further works in this area”.

If you consider yourself to have a non-visible disability, or if you are a companion to a non-visibly disabled person, please take part in the survey here. A Word document version is also available here.

If you are not a native English speaker, please feel free to complete the survey in your preferred language.

The survey will be open until 1800 CET on 16 June 2020.

If you have any questions around the survey or the expert working group, please email CAFE at [email protected] or call +44 (0)208 065 5108.

 

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Who can complete the survey?

This survey is for anyone who has a non-visible disability / long-term health condition, including people with fluctuating or spectrum conditions, and those who also have a visible disability or disability with physical access requirements.

You can also complete this survey if you are person with some understanding of the barriers faced by non-visibly disabled people. For example, you accompany a disabled person to events, are their personal assistant or support worker, or are their partner, family member or close friend. However, please do consider whether you could support them to complete the survey instead.

You do not have to be a football fan or go to matches to complete this survey.

 

How do I complete the survey?

Please answer the survey thinking about any potential barriers you or the person you are answering about could face attending football matches.

The survey should take 20-30 minutes to complete.

Survey responses are saved through cookies. You can start the survey and return to it later using the same device and browser. If you disable / clear your cookies, or use a different device, your answers will not be saved. Answers are not saved automatically but are saved when you click ‘Next’ or ‘Done’. If someone in your household / using the same IP address has already completed the survey, please use a different web browser or device to answer. You could also complete the Word document version. If you encounter any issues completing the survey, please contact CAFE Research Officer Isobel Robins by emailing [email protected] or by calling +44 (0)7915 999 492.

All questions which begin with an asterisk require an answer.

An accompanying glossary can be found here or accessed by clicking the hyperlinked words within the survey.

Participation in this survey is entirely voluntary. Any personal information gathered will be kept strictly confidential.

Alternative formats and non-English speakers:

You can download the survey to translate via Word or adapt to your access requirements here.

Other alternative formats are available on request.

Surveys can be completed over the phone if required.

The survey is written in English but you can answer in your native language.

 

What will CAFE do with the survey responses?

The results of this survey will help CAFE create a body of research and guidance about non-visibly disabled people for footballing stakeholders to refer to and learn from.

CAFE is looking to publish the results from the Non-Visibly Disabled Fans Survey in autumn 2020.



Published 2/4/2020