C4 Unveils Paralympic Graphics

Channel 4 today launched its coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games by unveiling a revolutionary new graphical classification system it hopes will aid the viewing experience of this summer's Paralympic Games.
‘Lexi Decoder' (LEXI) will attempt to explain classification in Paralympic sport, with the aim of enabling viewers to better understand what they are watching. LEXI is made up of colour coded graphics that illustrate disability types within sporting classes.
The existing classification system forms the structure for all Paralympic competition. It separates athletes with similar levels of impairments into groups or classes, so they can compete in fair and equal competitions against one another.
However, research carried out by YouGov on behalf of Channel 4 showed that a third of adults in the UK feel confused by the disability classifications in Paralympic sports. The poll also revealed people would be more interested in watching the Paralympics if they had a better understanding of why athletes with different disabilities compete against each other.
The LEXI concept was originally created by Paralympic gold medal winning athlete, Giles Long. Channel 4 has worked closely with him, as well as in consultation with the International Paralympic Committee, to develop a system that will be used across several sports during the Games this summer.
LEXI is made up of graphics which broadly illustrate disability types within sporting classes, with the type and level of impairment illustrated through the use of a colour palette - green denotes no impairment through to red denoting a severe impairment.
David Abraham, Chief Executive of Channel 4 said: "When Channel 4 won the rights to broadcast the London 2012 Paralympic Games we committed to opening the sport up to as wide an audience as possible and to making a difference to the perception of disability sport in the UK. I believe the innovation we are introducing to our coverage will do just that.
"Channel 4 is pioneering the Lexi Decoder system which will help audiences navigate through the Paralympic classification system and our ground-breaking presenting team, which combines new disabled talent with some of the most experienced voices in sports broadcasting, will be on air from first thing in the morning to last thing at night giving audiences the opportunity to catch more Paralympic sport than ever before. Add to this three live streams providing uninterrupted coverage and the launch of dedicated Paralympics apps for both mobile and tablet services, and the UK audience will be better served to enjoy the Paralympic games than ever before."
(GK)