The future of inclusion: How Cape.io powered Virgin Media Television’s fully accessible ad break during the Men’s Six Nations

At Cape.io, we believe that world-class advertising shouldn't just be seen - it should be experienced by everyone. That’s why we are incredibly proud to highlight the key role we played in the execution of three fully accessible ad breaks on Virgin Media Television’s main broadcast channel of the 2026 Guinness Men’s Six Nations. 

While many projects are about the bottom line, this initiative was about something bigger: flying the flag for accessibility and ensuring that the roar of the stadium reaches every fan, regardless of how they consume content.

A strategic leap forward

Building on the foundations laid in 2025, the 2026 initiative was significantly more ambitious. Diageo, the lead sponsor of the Six Nations, envisioned a truly inclusive match experience for three of the Ireland games, that set a new standard for TV advertising accessibility. This meant:

• Live audio description (AD): Commentary for blind and visually impaired fans on Virgin Media One.

• Irish sign language (ISL): Dedicated coverage on Virgin Media Four for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

• The accessible ad break: For three key Ireland fixtures (vs. France, Italy, and Scotland), the ad break featured open captions (burned-in) and audio description on the primary broadcast channel, making accessibility visible to the entire viewing audience.

Coordination at scale

We already had a strong working relationship with Virgin Media Television, delivering thousands of ads annually. In this case, they asked us to step out of our typical ad delivery role and get involved in the creative coordination process to make this vision a reality.

Executing a "perfectly done" accessible ad break requires a level of coordination that happens behind the scenes and down to the wire with ad quality assurance critical at every step. Cape.io served as the central hub, managing the quality control, compliance, technical delivery and coordination between:

• Broadcaster: Virgin Media Television.

• Accessibility partner: VoiceBox, who executed the specialist audio description and open captioning.

• Agency lead: Omnicom Media.

• Participating brands: A collective of forward-thinking brands including Red Bull, Volvo, Carlsberg 0.0, Bord Gáis Energy, and Free Now.

“We managed an accessible ad break last year, but Cape.io’s support this year made the entire execution more seamless, even as more brands came on board.” - TJ Carroll, Digital Lead, Virgin Media Television

Why it matters: The "mandate" for change

This project doesn't exist in a vacuum. It aligns with a seismic shift in the industry, most notably the Channel 4 closed captioning mandate in the UK. From March 1, 2026, Channel 4 requires all new advertising to carry closed captions.

By participating in this Six Nations initiative, our partners aren't just complying with future standards - they are leading them. Making ads accessible isn't just a DEI "nice-to-have". It's about reaching the 18 million adults in the UK and Ireland who are deaf, hard of hearing, or simply prefer using closed captions. From a brand perspective, there’s a positive financial return on investment and brand sentiment when making an effort to reach all consumers. 

Looking ahead

The success of the 2026 Six Nations proves that with the right partners, "impossible" technical challenges can be overcome to create a more inclusive media landscape.