----- Original Message -----
: From: "Mary Lorefice" <[log in to unmask]>
 Subject: [blindlikeme] Can Anything Be Done About Ticketmaster?
:
:
: > Morning everyone. The following article shows how indifferent some
: services
: > can be to the needs of blind consumers. I too ran into difficulties with
: > Ticketmaster. I wanted to order tickets for Dolly Parton. She's coming to
: > Toronto in September. I was doing great, till I came to that dreaded "Word
: > Verification" box. As you'll see in the following article, I'm not alone.
: >
: > > Turned Away at the Virtual Box Office
: > > 11 October 04
: > > Christopher Danielsen
: > > If you have ever purchased tickets to a major popular music concert,
: > > sporting event, or theatrical performance, then you probably dealt with
: > > Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster is the largest retailer of major event
: tickets
: > > in
: > > the United States. Venues from sports arenas to local theaters use
: > > Ticketmaster to sell tickets to their events. Ticketmaster still sells
: > > tickets by way of its telephone outlets; generally, you can find a local
: > > or
: > > regional number to call in order to reserve tickets. Like many other
: > > retailers, however, Ticketmaster also sells its wares over the Internet.
: > > Until recently, it was possible for blind persons, like other members of
: > > the
: > > general public, to use either Ticketmaster's charge-by-phone service or
: > > its
: > > Web site to purchase tickets. However, as far as I can tell, it is now
: > > virtually impossible for a blind person to purchase tickets at
: > > Ticketmaster.com.
: > >
: > > It was not always thus. Last year, I was able to score the last
: available
: > > tickets to see Jimmy Buffett at the Carolina Center in Columbia, SC with
: > > the
: > > help of determination, good luck, and Ticketmaster.com. I was able to
: get
: > > my
: > > Buffett tickets because Ticketmaster allows you to store all of your
: > > relevant shipping and billing information on its site, so if you can
: find
: > > seats for its computers to hold for you and click quickly through a
: couple
: > > of screens, you can have your tickets in minutes. At least, you could in
: > > the
: > > spring of 2003.
: > >
: > > What has changed since then? The answer is that Ticketmaster, like other
: > > sites on the Internet that collect information they want to keep secure
: > > from
: > > automated software, has adopted a technology called visual verification.
: > > Readers of the Braille Monitor may remember Curtis Chong's article about
: > > his
: > > experience with Network Solutions, whose database of domain name owners
: > > was
: > > unavailable to the blind without assistance because of this technology.
: > > (Network Solutions has since removed the visual verification component
: > > from
: > > its Web site.) The basic idea behind visual verification is to give the
: > > Web
: > > site's owner a way to tell whether a real human being is trying to gain
: > > access to the service or information being protected, as opposed to
: > > automated software. (Ticketmaster is apparently concerned that automated
: > > scripts can be used to reserve large blocks of tickets, giving the user
: of
: > > the automated program an unfair advantage in obtaining seating. This
: > > concern
: > > is certainly legitimate.)
: > >
: > > The technology works like this: An image containing characters or words
: is
: > > displayed on the screen, and the user has to retype them in a box before
: > > being permitted access. The image of the characters to be typed is not
: > > plain
: > > text, so screen readers can't detect it; it's also typically somewhat
: > > distorted so that it requires some work on the part of a sighted user to
: > > interpret it. Some sites that use this technology offer an accommodation
: > > for
: > > blind users in the form of a link which plays an audio file of the
: > > characters to be typed, or provides a customer service number for the
: user
: > > to call so that a representative can complete the transaction. As Mr.
: > > Chong
: > > reported, these solutions have their problems, but an imperfect solution
: > > is
: > > better than none at all.
: > >
: > > On March 7, 2004, I was planning to look into snagging a few seats at
: > > Baltimore's brand new Hippodrome Theater for the Broadway musical "Les
: > > Miserables" for a few friends and myself. I was able to fill in the form
: > > explaining what kind of seating I desired, how much I was willing to pay
: > > for
: > > it, and how many souls were involved, but when I clicked the "submit"
: > > button
: > > I was greeted with the dreaded Visual Verification Screen. I wasn't
: happy
: > > to
: > > see the visual verification monster rear its ugly head again, but below
: > > the
: > > box where I was supposed to type the elusive secret word was a link
: > > reading,
: > > "Can't see the word?" I braced myself for whatever indignities I would
: be
: > > asked to endure - listening to a garbled audio file and Brailling its
: > > contents before retyping them, calling a customer service number and
: > > waiting
: > > for a return call, offering a sacrifice to the gods that rule
: cyberspace.
: > > I
: > > clicked the link. I got a pop-up window containing information that my
: > > screen reader couldn't interpret and a single, unlabeled link. Clicking
: on
: > > this link only returned me to the visual verification screen. There was
: > > nothing left to do but email customer service. I did so, though I had to
: > > work my way through a form that was essentially inaccessible to do it. I
: > > specifically asked Ticketmaster whether there was any kind of
: work-around
: > > for blind customers to bypass the visual verification screen, such as
: > > listening to an audio file or calling a special customer service number.
: > >
: > > To its credit, Ticketmaster's customer service department responded
: > > immediately:
: > >
: > > "Dear Christopher,
: > >
: > > Thank you for your e-mail. We do apologize for your experience. Although
: > > there is no audio file provision to the word verification screen at
: > > Ticketmaster.com, there is an accessible seating icon in the upper right
: > > corner of each event page. This icon will allow you to access an
: > > accessible
: > > seating form, which you may use to request sight impaired seating for
: your
: > > desired event. The event page appears before the word verification
: screen,
: > > so you should experience no difficulty in placing your ticket order. You
: > > may
: > > also request sight impaired seating through our Charge-By-Phone lines if
: > > you
: > > prefer. . . . We hope that this answers your concerns. We look forward
: to
: > > serving your needs in the future.
: > >
: > > If you have any further questions, please reply, and include all
: previous
: > > correspondence.
: > >
: > > Sincerely,
: > >
: > > Dan (Customer Support Supervisor)"
: > >
: > > I was unsure what was meant by the term "sight impaired seating" and
: > > didn't
: > > necessarily want my seating choices limited to the so-called
: "accessible"
: > > parts of the theater. However, not knowing what else to do, I did what
: the
: > > customer service representative suggested. Requesting accessible seating
: > > proved to be a difficult proposition because the form I was supposed to
: > > use
: > > to do so was, ironically enough, inaccessible. Specifically, tabbing
: > > through
: > > the form yielded only the repeated word "edit" from JAWS, indicating
: that
: > > proper labeling techniques had not been used on the Web site. As a
: result,
: > > identifying which information I was supposed to type in each of the
: boxes
: > > on
: > > the form took approximately fifteen minutes. However, I did successfully
: > > complete the form and was rewarded with a screen stating that my request
: > > was
: > > being processed and a customer service representative would get back to
: > > me.
: > > An automated email from Ticketmaster.com arrived a few moments later,
: > > saying
: > > that I would receive an email from a customer service representative to
: > > complete my request within an hour. An hour passed, but I did not hear
: > > from
: > > Ticketmaster. Fortunately, Ticketmaster still operates a charge-by-phone
: > > service. I personally prefer to avoid it because it is slower and more
: > > cumbersome than using the Web site, but having been turned away at the
: > > virtual box office, I had no choice.
: > >
: > > I had a few more rounds of email correspondence with Ticketmaster, in
: > > which
: > > I indicated that their accessible seating request form was inaccessible
: > > and
: > > asked what blind computer users were supposed to do in the event that
: > > Ticketmaster offered special Internet promotions or advanced Internet
: > > sales.
: > > I was assured that the accessible seating screen was intended to address
: > > all
: > > of the needs of the disabled, including Internet promotions and
: presales,
: > > and that my concerns were being forwarded to Ticketmaster's technical
: > > research team for possible improvements to the Ticketmaster.com Web
: site.
: > >
: > > I should note here that at the time I attempted to purchase the "Les
: > > Miserables" tickets, I still had the same account I had used to purchase
: > > my
: > > Jimmy Buffett tickets. This fact made no difference to Ticketmaster's
: > > security scheme. Like the Network Solutions site as it existed in
: November
: > > of 2003, Ticketmaster requires visual verification for each transaction
: on
: > > its Web site, not merely for the creation of an account that can later
: be
: > > used to purchase tickets without the need for verification. But unlike
: > > Network Solutions, which doesn't collect personal information from users
: > > of
: > > its free "Who Is" domain registration database, Ticketmaster had my
: > > personal
: > > address, telephone number, and credit card information on file;
: > > theoretically, it would have been easy for someone on Ticketmaster's
: staff
: > > to confirm who I was and conduct an investigation if I appeared to be
: > > trying
: > > any funny business.
: > >
: > > Three weeks later, I received the following official-looking email from
: > > Ticketmaster:
: > >
: > > "Dear Mr. Danielsen:
: > >
: > > Thank you again for your email and your suggestions. While we are proud
: of
: > > the services we offer as well as the efforts we have undertaken to make
: > > our
: > > services accessible to all consumers, we are continuing to seek ways to
: > > make
: > > our website even more user friendly. You have some interesting
: > > suggestions,
: > > and we have already initiated a project that we hope will address your
: > > concerns, including making it even easier to reach and utilize our
: > > accessible seating page. As you know, Ticketmaster employs visual
: > > verification technology on its website. We have chosen to use this
: > > technology to prevent commercial users from taking advantage of personal
: > > users of tickets by using automatic scripts to buy tickets faster and
: > > ahead
: > > of those buying for personal use. Nevertheless, we understand how this
: > > might
: > > affect visually impaired consumers. While there are technological
: hurdles
: > > we
: > > must overcome, we remain committed to seeking ways to make our services
: as
: > > accessible as possible for all users.
: > > We are glad you contacted us, and found your feedback to be quite
: useful.
: > > We
: > > look forward to hearing from you again in the future, perhaps after we
: > > have
: > > implemented some of the upgrades we are considering.
: > >
: > > Very truly yours,
: > >
: > > Ticketmaster
: > >
: > > Kandus Simpson
: > > Director, Corporate Communications"
: > >
: > > Naturally, I was not entirely pleased with the email. It outlined no
: > > specific steps Ticketmaster would take to rectify the problems I had
: > > experienced and contained only thanks for my "interesting" suggestions
: and
: > > vague assurances about Ticketmaster's commitment to accessibility. The
: > > message appeared to be that I should buzz off until later, however
: > > politely
: > > worded. I told Ms. Simpson as much in a reply email. Not wanting to burn
: > > any
: > > bridges, however, I followed up with a relatively cordial telephone
: call.
: > > Ms. Simpson assured me that my email had gone all the way up the chain
: of
: > > command at Ticketmaster, to the president and legal counsel, and that
: > > steps
: > > would be taken to improve accessibility. She did not know what those
: steps
: > > would be, and specifically said that she was not sure Ticketmaster would
: > > abandon the use of visual verification technology. I followed up with an
: > > email suggesting ways the blind could be permitted to work around the
: > > visual
: > > verification screen and offering the assistance of the Federation, but I
: > > have received no further correspondence from Ticketmaster. As of this
: > > writing, Ticketmaster's Web site does not appear to have changed
: > > substantially.
: > >
: > > Why Worry?
: > > Ticketmaster appears to believe that it has no obligation to serve the
: > > blind
: > > other than to provide us with a means of requesting accessible seating.
: If
: > > one doesn't want accessible seating or can't use the Web site, there are
: > > always the charge-by-phone numbers. However, in circumstances where we
: > > might
: > > need to use the Web site, such as for special Internet-only presales and
: > > promotions, we are effectively being denied service. We are required to
: > > use
: > > an accessible seating form that is in itself inaccessible and then wait
: > > for
: > > a reply from customer service, which may never come. Meanwhile, tickets
: to
: > > the event continue to sell and may be gone by the time we receive any
: > > reply.
: > >
: > > Ticketmaster is a major online retailer, probably the largest of its
: kind
: > > in
: > > the nation. Not only has it chosen to use visual verification
: technology,
: > > but it also appears that no thought has been given to how the blind will
: > > access Ticketmaster's goods and services in light of our inability to
: work
: > > with that technology. It further appears that no change in that
: situation
: > > is
: > > coming any time soon. The fact that such a major retailer has chosen to
: > > ignore the needs of blind consumers is cause for concern.
: > > Turned Away at the Virtual Box Office
: > > 11 October 04
: > > Christopher Danielsen
: > > The Bigger Picture
: > > As far as I can tell, the only good news in the area of visual
: > > verification
: > > is that the Internet community is becoming more aware of the issue,
: which
: > > will hopefully give other companies doing business on the Web pause
: before
: > > adopting this technology without considering the needs of blind
: consumers.
: > > In addition to the dropping of visual verification by Network Solutions,
: > > Cnet News.com published a story highlighting the problem, referring
: > > readers
: > > to a draft statement by the World Wide Web Consortium (commonly called
: the
: > > W3C) criticizing visual verification as a security option and suggesting
: > > alternatives. The alternatives suggested included the kinds of
: > > accommodations already being provided by some sites that use visual
: > > verification, including playing an audio file or providing a special
: > > customer service number, as well as discussing other nonvisual security
: > > alternatives. Ticketmaster was mentioned in the Cnet piece and refused
: to
: > > comment.
: > >
: > > Perhaps it is impractical and unwarranted for the Federation to take a
: > > position against visual verification technology as a whole, given that
: the
: > > security concerns this method is meant to address are legitimate. But at
: > > the
: > > very least we must encourage Web developers and the corporations that
: > > employ
: > > them to consider us when designing their security systems, and fight for
: > > access where we must. Ticketmaster should serve as a wake-up call; it is
: > > bad
: > > enough when we are presented with barriers to obtaining information from
: a
: > > database or opening free email accounts, but it is even worse when we
: are
: > > denied the opportunity to purchase goods and services online when the
: rest
: > > of the public can make such purchases easily. We are being told, in
: > > effect,
: > > that we cannot enter the virtual box office, or must wait at the back
: door
: > > for service. This policy is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to stand,
: > > nor
: > > can we allow other companies to follow suit.
: >
: > Mary L
: > mailto:[log in to unmask]
:


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