For blind and low-vision fans
The whole race, spoken.
A sighted fan reads the timing tower. RaceSonar reads it to you: who passed whom, who pitted and where they came out, what the flag is, how big the gap is. Live, and every race since 2023.
What the official apps leave out
Blind fans have said in public, for years, that the official products do not work with a screen reader. Here is what they report, and what this app does about each one.
The Formula 1 app past the login screen
An AppleVis reviewer described VoiceOver making “a clunk” as it “fails to find anything in the actual app’s interface which it can interact with.” The live timing is a picture of a table.
Here the running order is a table. Each row reads position, driver and gap, and you choose which columns are shown and in what order, so nothing you do not want is read.
Source: AppleVis, Formula 1 app entryF1 TV
A subscriber on the AppleVis forum: “Not only the app but also the website is highly inaccessible.” Playback controls need tap-and-hold guessing.
RaceSonar has no video and does not replace F1 TV. It sits beside it: a voice telling you what the pictures show, timed to the broadcast if you want it.
Source: AppleVis forumResults on social media
Across all 24 races of 2024, no team posted a results graphic with alt text. A blind fan on the night of a race gets a picture.
Every race here has a page with the result as text, a written summary of what happened, and the whole narration to replay. The race index.
Source: Accessible Social, January 2025Radio commentary
Radio is the way most blind fans follow, and it is fine for the story. It cannot tell you the gap between fourth and fifth, or that your driver just went purple in sector two, because it is talking about the leaders.
Follow one driver and their race comes through louder. Set the pace to “everything” and every gap crossing is said.
How it sounds
One sentence per event, in a commentator’s words. “Norris pits after 22 laps, stop number 2.” “Hamilton rejoins fourth, 19 laps fresher than Alonso ahead.” “Safety car deployed.” When several small moves happen in one lap they are folded into one line rather than five. When a red flag is out, the sector yellows that mean nothing under it are not read.
You choose how much: only the big moments, the story, or everything. Join at half distance and a spoken summary catches you up first. Every session since 2023 replays at the pace you set, and you can pause it.
With your screen reader
Pick who talks. The app has its own voice, and a set of natural voices when they are configured. Or leave it silent, and let VoiceOver, NVDA, JAWS or TalkBack read the caption log as it fills. The two are never on at the same time.
Every control is a button or a link with a name. Play is one key. The shortcuts follow the usual conventions and there is a list of them in Settings. Nothing needs dragging. Large text and high contrast are separate switches for anyone with some sight.
What it does not do yet
It is English only; French is next. Live narration runs a few seconds behind the track. Team radio clips play as audio, with the words shown under them as text a few seconds later. It is a beta made by one person, and the fastest way to make it better is to tell me what reads badly.
Questions
How can a blind person follow a Formula 1 race?
Open RaceSonar in a browser during a session and press Play. Every overtake, pit stop, flag, penalty and retirement is spoken as it happens, biggest moments first, and the running order is a real table your screen reader can walk. No account, nothing to install.
Does it work with VoiceOver, NVDA, JAWS or TalkBack?
Yes. Choose whether the app speaks or your screen reader reads the captions. Never both, so nothing is said twice. Every control is a real button or link and works from the keyboard.
Can I listen along with the TV commentary?
Yes. A broadcast-sync setting holds the narration back by a few seconds to match your TV feed, so the app announces an overtake when the commentators see it, not before.
Try it
Open the playerOr replay a past race