Voiles de Légende

An Inclusive Digital Experience for a Major Maritime Event

For its 2025 edition, Voiles de Légende Dunkerque—the French stopover of the Tall Ships Race—have chosen to add the voice-reading solution ReadSpeaker webReader to their official website. This initiative makes information accessible to a broader audience, including people with disabilities or reading difficulties.

The Challenge

How could the organizers ensure that online information was accessible to all users, regardless of their needs or abilities, while also reinforcing their commitment to inclusion at a major public event?

The Solution

To meet this challenge, the organizers implemented webReader across the entire voilesdelegende.fr website. This voice-reading tool allows users to have web content read aloud, adjust the reading speed, follow along with synchronized highlighting, or listen to only selected portions of text.

Q&A

ReadSpeaker: What motivated you to integrate webReader into the Voiles de Légende 2025 website?

Voiles de Légende: Digital accessibility is an essential part of our vision for an inclusive, intergenerational, and community-focused event. We want everyone—whether visually impaired, dyslexic, elderly, cognitively challenged, or simply more comfortable listening than reading—to be able to access our content with ease.

With webReader, we remove barriers to information and open our event to a wider audience, just as we provide on-site accessibility and support for people with disabilities during the event itself.

ReadSpeaker: What types of content are made accessible through the voice solution?

Voiles de Légende: All pages on the site are covered. This includes information about the tall ships, event news, the schedule of festivities, opportunities for young participants, and practical details for visitors. These are essential resources that must be accessible to everyone, with no exceptions.

ReadSpeaker: Why did you choose ReadSpeaker?

Voiles de Légende: We were impressed by how easy the solution was to integrate, as well as by the quality of the synthetic voices. The listening experience is natural, smooth, and pleasant. webReader also offers valuable features like synchronized text highlighting, adjustable reading speed, and selective text reading. These are important tools for accommodating a wide range of user needs.

ReadSpeaker: Have you received any feedback so far?

Voiles de Légende: Yes—very positive feedback! Users have thanked us for the initiative, especially older adults and non-native French speakers who find the voice reading function extremely helpful. It’s also a valuable tool for young people with disabilities, who can now more easily follow event updates and imagine themselves participating.

ReadSpeaker: What are the benefits of this digital accessibility initiative?

Voiles de Légende: It strengthens the social impact of the event. Voiles de Légende is not just a maritime celebration—it’s also a civic and inclusive project. With webReader, we demonstrate our commitment to welcoming all audiences and contribute to raising the accessibility standards for large cultural events.

Results

• A fully accessible browsing experience for users of all reading abilities
• A stronger inclusive image for a major international event
• Fast, simple, and effective implementation thanks to webReader
• Positive, encouraging user feedback that supports further accessibility efforts

Testimonial

“By integrating ReadSpeaker’s solution into our website, we wanted to ensure that all audiences can easily access information about Voiles de Légende 2025. It’s a concrete way to express our commitment to inclusion and digital accessibility.”