A guest arrives at a performance wearing smart glasses. The venue has a policy prohibiting recording devices, and a staff member asks the guest to remove them. But what if those glasses are helping the patron navigate the space or understand what’s happening around them?
This is a scenario that ticketing and guest services professionals may increasingly encounter as assistive technology continues to evolve. Some devices are easily recognizable, but newer technologies are also widely used, making it less obvious when someone relies on them for accessibility.
So, what should live event and entertainment professionals do when established policies conflict with an attendee’s accessibility needs? And are some longstanding policies due for another look?
These were among the issues explored during “Assistive Devices: What’s Allowed, What’s Not & What You Can Ask,” a recent INTIX Pro-to-Pro session featuring accessibility expert, lawyer and longtime INTIX collaborator Betty Siegel. Drawing on her legal background and extensive industry experience, she offered practical insights on navigating policies around assistive devices, emphasizing that her presentation was intended as information, not legal advice.
Assistive Technology Is Changing
Wheelchairs, walkers and other mobility aids are familiar examples of assistive devices. But today’s technology extends well beyond these traditional tools.
“Noise-canceling headphones are quite common amongst people who are neurodivergent or who live with autism because they help them control external stimulation. Hearing aids are very common … and they come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Newer hearing aid technology is oftentimes paired to an app on a phone, which controls the settings of the hearing aid … or their cochlear implant,” explains Siegel. “Magnifiers, [like an] old-style magnifying glass that you always see Sherlock Holmes holding, or a camera on your phone can be your magnifying glass, or you might have an app on your phone.”
Siegel continues, “The other type of assistive technology people bring into your venue are navigation tools. Low-tech white canes are used by people who are blind or have low vision, but you might also have apps that are paired to the individual’s phone or a wearable camera … There are also augmentative, alternative communication devices, such as communication boards. They might be an iPad or a tablet that the person brings, and that’s what they are using to communicate.”
Smart glasses, particularly those equipped with artificial intelligence (AI), are among the emerging technologies raising new questions. While they may look like ordinary eyewear, they can perform a wide range of functions that support people with disabilities.
“We’ve had cell phones around for a while … We’ve figured out what our processes and procedures are in order to accommodate people. To prohibit the use of cell phones, what we’re really doing is prohibiting recording and taking pictures. Smart glasses seem to be the big thing. So first of all, understand what people with disabilities are doing with this new emerging technology. It is an assistive technology, which means you are going to have to modify your policies, practices, and procedures in order to allow a person to use them if they are a person with a disability using it as their assistive tech.”
Smart glasses can read signs and menus aloud, connect users with live assistance to navigate unfamiliar surroundings and identify obstacles, and display real-time captioning. They can also offer visual prompts and reminders, provide memory support for daily living activities, and enable hands-free communication through voice commands. These capabilities can make a significant difference for a person with a disability, even though the same devices may also be used for everyday consumer purposes.
For organizations and artists with policies restricting cameras or recording devices, these technologies present a challenge. How can they protect the integrity of a performance while ensuring people with disabilities can continue using technology they rely on? Siegel says the issue is not entirely new. Cell phones are an example of technology that venues have already had to accommodate.
“If we have a rule about no cell phones in the building or in the venue where the performance is going on, you are going to have to modify your policies, practices, and procedures to allow a person with a disability to retain their cell phone because they are using it to control, for example, their hearing aid,” she says. “They might be using it as a medical device to control blood sugar.”
When Policies Need a Second Look
Siegel encouraged participants to look beyond blanket restrictions and consider how existing policies may need to change.
“You can have rules, you can have protocols and procedures, but you must be prepared to modify those things in order to ensure that people with disabilities have access to goods, services, facilities, privileges and advantages that everybody else has.”
The starting point is questioning whether a restriction is necessary in the first place.
“We have a tendency to just want to say, ‘No, it’s not allowed.’ Really? I want you to ask yourself, really, do I need to have that policy that unnecessarily restricts the use of a thing?”
A participant’s question illustrated how this approach might work in practice. Some venues routinely collect walkers from guests before performances, storing them elsewhere until intermission or the end of the show. But is that always necessary? Siegel encouraged attendees to consider why the restriction exists and whether it needs to apply in every seating location.
“That’s a case of having an absolute and a blanket ban … I want you to ask yourself, why do we do that? Why do we take people’s mobility devices away from them? Well, most likely you take it away because you don’t want them storing a mobility device in an emergency egress route.”
So, what about locations where the walker doesn’t obstruct an exit or interfere with another guest?
“If it’s not taking up the space that another person needs to sit in, why would you take their device away from them? In an emergency, they’re actually safer with their device than without it.”
Rather than automatically removing every walker, Siegel suggested identifying where mobility devices can safely remain with guests and offering alternatives when they cannot.
“[You could say], ‘If you’d like to keep your walker with you, I would be happy to seat you over here, where there’s extra space, and it is not obstructing the emergency egress route. But if you want to sit here, I’m afraid we’ll have to store your walker, but I promise we’ll bring it back.’”
Of course, flexible policies are only part of the solution. Staff also need to know how to apply them on event days and when unexpected situations arise.
“Your policies need to be applied equitably and consistently, which is why part of your policies, procedures, and practices is to consider how you are going to modify [them]. Not make exceptions; modify them,” Siegel explains. “You want your policies to be flexible and allow for individualized assessments and individual determination of whether this person with a disability is using this assistive device as their assistive device related to their disability. Procedures should be written down. Please write things down, because if you’ve only got it in your head, then it’s really hard for other people to apply them consistently. Plus, if you leave, then all that knowledge walks out the door with you. Identify who has the authority to enforce the policies as well as who has the authority to modify the policy, procedure or practice.”
And when an unexpected situation does arise, Siegel’s advice is to keep the conversation going.
“[It is] very important to offer options. Never just shut the conversation down. The person who says no first loses.”
Keeping the Guest Experience at the Center
Throughout the session, Siegel emphasized responding to individuals rather than relying on assumptions about disability.
“What do they need? Not generically, what do all blind people need? What does this blind person who is standing in front of me need today?”
She says, “Be careful of your own stereotypes of what disability looks like, or who may or may not have a disability. Most disabilities are not apparent. You can’t tell by looking. People may be having a bad day and [their disability will] have a more significant impact on their life. Their disability might have a more significant impact one day than it has another day. So, watch out for those presumptions.”
Siegel also reminded INTIX members that accessibility isn’t simply about getting someone through the door. It is about enabling people to enjoy the same experiences as everyone else, including sharing those experiences with family and friends.
Using the example of someone who relies on a smartphone to control their hearing aids, she explained why separating that person from a companion would create another barrier.
“If you send my mom, who uses a hearing aid and her phone app to control her hearing aids, to one place [in the venue], and you send me to another place, we’re not having that social experience together.”
As assistive technology continues to evolve, the challenge won’t simply be keeping up with new devices. It will be ensuring that the rules designed to manage them don’t prevent anyone from fully participating in the experiences they’ve come to a venue to enjoy.
Continuing the Conversation with INTIX
“Assistive Devices: What’s Allowed, What’s Not & What You Can Ask” was part of INTIX Pro-to-Pro, a member-exclusive program that brings ticketing professionals together through practical knowledge sharing, peer expertise, and real-world solutions. The sessions encourage open discussion, with opportunities for participants to ask questions and exchange ideas.
Siegel’s session covered considerably more ground than the sneak peek shared here. INTIX members can access a recording of the presentation (along with other Pro-to-Pro sessions) on demand.
Siegel will also lead a four-hour immersion workshop at INTIX 2027 on Monday, Jan. 25. Register today and we’ll see you in New Orleans!
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