2/25 ADA Web Seminar Recap

We were very happy to see several clients join the webinar that had over 480 attendees from the ticketing industry.  The following is a brief overview of the information the presentation contained.  I encourage all of you to visit http://www.adaconferences.org/Ticketing/Archives/, which contains the information from the presentation, for more information.

Overview:

• These law changes are restricted to accessible seating, not in relation to deaf or blind patrons.  This could mean wheelchair accessible, vision impaired, sign language seats or caption reading seats for events/shows that have these incorporated.
• ADA requirements state that there need to be wheelchair accessible seats in every price level of a venue
• With this law change, the venue must allow for 3 companion seats for each wheelchair seat.  This is only required if at the time of purchase there are those seats available.  If not, the companions should be seated as close as possible to the wheelchair seat.  This does not mean that normal ticket restrictions do not apply to special need patrons (so if a show has a restriction of 2 tickets per transactions, that still applies)
• Exchanges: if a patron purchases a non-wheelchair accessible seat, they must be allowed to exchange that for a wheelchair accessible seat if it is available.
• This law requires the removal of forms that need to be filled out for a back office user to purchase accessible seats, as well as not forcing these patrons to call the box office for seats.  It’s to ensure that patrons who need accessible seating can do this real time on the website.
• Holds: An organization is required to make accessible seats available online, but it does not mean that they must have ALL accessible seats available online.

Recommended options for current clients:

• Have the wheelchair/companion seats in a different color in the seating map
• Add wording to the site around purchasing an accessible seat:

Accessible seating areas are solely for disabled persons and their companions.
By purchasing an accessible seating ticket through our website, you agree to the following: The ticket will be used only by a person with a disability and his/her companion. A ticket holder may be denied entry to, or removed from, the accessible seating area if he or she is not disabled or the legitimate companion. If this occurs, the venue shall have no obligation to provide alternate seating. If <ORG NAME> or the event provider believes, in its sole discretion, that your order violates or may violate this policy, <ORG NAME> may cancel your order without notice.

• Creating a unique price level to change the color of accessible seats
• Adding an additional area specifically for the accessible seats.

We also recognize that there are some areas where we can improve.  To keep track of what we are working on, please review Knowledgebase solution BB720490 for the latest information.