Beyond the wheelchair symbol

True digital accessibility goes beyond simply meeting legal requirements—it’s about fostering a meaningful relationship with your audience. Accessibility overlays and one-size-fits-all solutions won’t cut it, and we recommend that our clients approach accessibility as an attitude rather than a box-ticking exercise. By focusing on thoughtful details and human-centered design, you can create improvements for new and longtime audiences.

Read on to explore how arts organizations can lead the way in making digital experiences genuinely inclusive.

Surfacing Accessible Performances

Performing arts organizations are increasingly offering relaxed, sign-interpreted, and audio-described performances, creating more welcoming spaces for diverse audiences. However, ensuring these performances are easy to find online is just as important as offering them.

Relaxed Performances at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) offers a dedicated series of relaxed performances designed for neurodivergent audiences. These performances provide an accommodating environment where patrons can move around, make noise, or visit a quiet room if needed. The TSO also provides descriptive visit guides so that audience members know exactly what to expect at a relaxed performance to alleviate any anxiety.

What sets the TSO apart is how effortlessly patrons can access this information. Their Relaxed Performances page is prominently linked in the global navigation, featuring a clear overview of services and a scroller of upcoming relaxed performances available for purchase.

The orchestra’s calendar page further highlights relaxed performances, allowing users to filter for these events specifically. Individual concert detail pages also include clear links to the Relaxed Performances page, so that the relevant information is always easy to find across the site.

Accessibility on the Seat Map

While many countries require venues to mark wheelchair-accessible and companion seats, seat maps can be used to provide even more valuable information for patrons. Consider adding icons for features such as wider seats, clear sightlines for sign interpretation, or seats with minimal stairs. Including the precise locations of stairs and doors on a seat map is useful for patrons with a variety of accessibility needs, as well.

Limited Steps Symbol for the Melbourne Theatre Company

The Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) identified a need to assist patrons who can navigate some stairs but prefer easier access to their seats. Their standard venue map already showed stairs and doors, but patrons often struggled to identify which seats were easiest to reach.

By leveraging SeatCurve, our custom seat-selection product integrated with Tessitura, we designed a unique symbol—a circle with a flat base—that indicates “limited steps” seats. This subtle yet effective icon helps patrons locate accessible seating options that aren’t wheelchair-specific. As a result, patrons with a range of mobility needs now have a smoother booking experience.

Language Accessibility

In diverse communities, serving patrons in their preferred language is a cornerstone of digital accessibility. From the landing page to the order confirmation screen, a seamless multilingual experience ensures all patrons feel valued and respected. 

End-to-End Translation at the National Arts Centre of Canada

The National Arts Centre of Canada (NAC) is a shining example of how to make multilingual accessibility work. Catering to both Anglophone and Francophone audiences in Ottawa, NAC’s implementation of BlocksOffice—our Tessitura-integrated ticketing platform—respects the user’s language preference on every screen.

NAC patrons can select their preferred language on any page in the global navigation and move across different areas of the site in seamlessly; even their transactional emails (password reset, order confirmation, etc.) respect the user's chosen language on the site.