[nabs-l] National Federation of the Blind AnnouncesAgreement withTicketmaster

Thu Apr 28 15:12:09 UTC 2011

Hello Mike and everyone,

    Having text-only Web sites also promotes a cyber version of separate but 
equal where the blind are concerned.

Peter Donahue

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 9:03 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] National Federation of the Blind AnnouncesAgreement 
withTicketmaster

Hi, chris.

I'm going to express a view that is rather unpopular among students and some
other techies.  I feel that if we expect the public to treat us with respect
and not discriminate against us, we must have a philosophy that is
internally consistent so that both we and society at large know what we
expect of society and of ourselves.  With that in mind, here is my view.

I start with the observation that note-takers are, in essence, PDAs.  Yes,
they can get rather expensive, especially when they have a braille display.
But they are PDAs nevertheless.  Sighted persons also use smart devices --
PDAs,smart phones and the like -- albeit these devices are usually far less
expensive than are our note-takers.  Some websites have a mobile version;
others do not.  Hence, the sighted cannot view every website using their
smart phones or PDAs and must use a PC or Mac to view some websites.  Why
should we, the blind, expect to be treated differently?  Some might say that
our impecuniousness, that is, our lack of income making it difficult to
afford both a note-taker and a laptop or PC/Mac should be sufficient reason
to justify a request for differential/special treatment.  I don't buy it.
There are plenty of sighted folks who cannot or choose not to own both a
personal computer and a smart phone or PDA due to lack of means.  In my
view, to demand that all websites be accessible by note-takers amounts to a
request for special treatment and we should think *very* carefully before we
ask for such differential treatment.

On the other hand, I think it *might* be defensible to request that
government websites, at least, have a text-only version accessible by both
fancy computers and mobile devices such as note-takers, PDAs and smart
phones.  The problem there is that often this means two websites must be
maintained and this inevitably leads to the sites getting out of sync.  So
many of us have resisted this solution to the problem of web accessibility.

I know it's human nature to want to have our cake and eat it, too.  But one
of the strengths of NFB philosophy is that we realize that this is
impossible.

This is, of course, entirely separate from the question as to whether
note-takers should have more powerful processors.  But that's between the
blind and the note-taker manufacturers.  And one can't blame these
manufacturers for not going that route when at least some folks maintain
that note-takers will soon be obsolete.  I'm not sure this is the case but
it's something to think about.

Mike Freeman

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Chris Nusbaum
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 3:16 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list;
david.andrews at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] National Federation of the Blind Announces Agreement
withTicketmaster

Hi, all.

I just want to make a few comments.  I'm always very glad to know that NFB
has reached an agreement with a private company to make that company's Web
site accessible.  My only comment is that in all these press releases, I've
noticed that it has only talked about making sites accessible to screen
reading software, and that's great! Screen readers are the most popular form
of Internet access for the blind, if I'm not mistaken.  But I don't want NFB
to overlook the fact that they also need to be accessible to people using
electronic notetakers for their Internet access as well as those using
screen readers.  I have both available, so if a site isn't accessible to the
BrailleNote, I'll try JAWS.  But a friend of mine only uses his Braille-Note
for Internet access both at school and at home, and hasn't gotten a laptop
yet.  What about people like him? Also, it never ceases to amaze me that the
NFB has to go so far as a lawsuit to get companies to make their Web sites
accessible.  It sounds to me like the CEO of Live Nation, in that case, was
totally cooperative with the NFB and would be glad to make their site
accessible.  But if the CEO was that cooperative, they wouldn't have to take
Live Nation to court.  The same with the law school admission site that we
were told about yesterday.  What do you think of all this?

Chris Nusbaum

"A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Freeh,Jessica" <JFreeh at nfb.org> (by way of David Andrews
<dandrews at visi.com>)
To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Tue, 26 Apr 2011 19:20:44 -0500
Subject: [nabs-l] National Federation of the Blind Announces Agreement
withTicketmaster

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Chris
Danielsen
Linda Bandov Pazin

Director of Public
Relations
Live Nation Entertainment

National Federation of the
Blind                                                   (310)
867-7000

(410) 659-9314, extension
2330
<mailto:lindabandov at livenation.com>lindabandov at livenation.com

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org

National Federation of the Blind
Announces Agreement with Ticketmaster

Ticketmaster Makes Website Fully Accessible and Fan-Friendly to Blind Users

Baltimore, Maryland (April 26, 2011): The National Federation of
the
Blind (NFB), the nation's leading advocate for Internet access by
blind Americans, today announced a cooperative agreement with
Ticketmaster, the global event ticketing leader and one of the
world's top five eCommerce sites, to make its website fully
accessible to the blind.  Under the agreement, Ticketmaster will
make
its website (<http://www.ticketmaster.com/>www.ticketmaster.com)
fully accessible to blind users utilizing screen access
technology by
December 31, 2011.  Screen access technology converts what is on
the
computer screen into synthesized speech or Braille.

Dr.  Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the
Blind,
said: "An increasing number of goods and services are now offered
primarily over the Internet and Ticketmaster's extremely popular
ticket sales website is a prime example of this trend.
Ticketmaster
customers gain many of the company's valuable benefits and
services,
including access to special pre-sales and promotions, through its
website.  The National Federation of the Blind is pleased that
Ticketmaster has recognized the importance of providing equal
access
to its website for its blind customers, and we look forward to
working with the company to achieve that goal.  The National
Federation of the Blind will continue to work tirelessly until
the
blind have equal access to the full range of products and
services
available to the public through the Internet and other
information
technologies."

"For Ticketmaster, the future is all about the fans.  We want to
participate wherever and however so that fans can have the best
possible fan-friendly experience," said Nathan Hubbard, CEO of
Ticketmaster.  "Partnering with the National Federation of the
Blind
is enabling us to address the needs of our blind fans, so that
they
can have the same positive experience when purchasing tickets for
their favorite artists' performance or any live event.  We are
committed to working with NFB to enhance the Ticketmaster website
so
that it's accessible and usable by all of our fans out there."

Pursuant to the agreement, Ticketmaster will develop a
comprehensive
accessibility program that will include the development of an
accessibility guidelines manual, as well as the appointment of
both
an accessibility coordinator and an accessibility committee.

Additionally, Ticketmaster will continue to work with officials
of
the National Federation of the Blind to ensure that the
Ticketmaster
services remain accessible to the blind.  Ticketmaster will
submit
its website to the NFB Nonvisual Accessibility (NFB-NVA) Web
Certification program, a rigorous procedure by which websites and
applications that have made efforts to be accessible to the blind
can
be identified and recognized.  The NFB-NVA Web Certification
program
continuously monitors participating sites to ensure that they
remain
compliant with certification criteria.  If a site remains
accessible,
its certification is renewed on an annual or a version basis.  If
accessibility issues arise, the National Federation of the Blind
will
work with the site developers to remedy them.

###

About the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the
Blind
is the largest and most influential membership organization of
blind
people in the United States.  The NFB improves blind people's
lives
through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs
encouraging independence and self-confidence.  It is the leading
force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's
blind.  In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of
the
Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center
in
the United States for the blind led by the blind.

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment is the world's leading live
entertainment
and eCommerce company, comprised of four market leaders:
<http://www.ticketmaster.com/>Ticketmaster.com, Live Nation
Concerts,
Front Line Management Group and Live Nation
Network.  <http://www.ticketmaster.com/>Ticketmaster.com is the
global event ticketing leader and one of the world's top five
eCommerce sites, with over 26 million monthly unique visitors.
Live
Nation Concerts produces over 20,000 shows annually for more than
2,000 artists globally.  Front Line is the world's top artist
management company, representing over 250 artists.  These
businesses
power Live Nation Network, the leading provider of entertainment
marketing solutions, enabling over 800 advertisers to tap into
the
200 million consumers Live Nation delivers annually through its
live
event and digital platforms.  For additional information, visit
<http://www.livenation.com/investors>www.livenation.com/investors

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