Web Accessibility for TNEW Ticketing Interface

Client: Tessitura
Date: September 2017 through December 2022
A website screenshot features the text "One Unified System" in large, red font in the middle of the screen. The website navigation menu spans across the top of the page and includes the items "Markets," "Solutions," "Features," "Services," "Support and Learning," "Community Events," "About Us," and "Discover." Along the bottom of the image, services are listed along a bulleted, linear red arch: "CRM," "Ticketing and Admissions," "Fundraising," "Memberships," "Online and Mobile," "Education and Programs," "Marketing," and "Business Insights."

PAC worked with Tessitura on TNEW Version 7, advising on accessibility strategy, interaction patterns, and implementation to create a more accessible, customizable purchasing and transaction experience for museums, performing arts organizations, and cultural institutions using the platform.

Project Description

Tessitura is a ticketing and customer relationship management platform used by hundreds of museums, performing arts organizations, and cultural institutions to support ticket sales, general admission, memberships, gift certificates, donations, and other revenue-generating visitor transactions. As accessibility became a higher priority across the cultural sector, Tessitura clients increasingly needed the public-facing TNEW interface to support a broader range of visitors more effectively.

PAC worked with Tessitura during the development of TNEW Version 7 to help create a more accessible purchasing and transaction experience across the platform. This work mattered because TNEW was not a single institutional website. It was a shared product used by many organizations, each with its own branding, visual identity, ticketing model, membership structure, and visitor journey. Accessibility therefore needed to be built into the underlying product in a way that could remain durable across many different implementations.

PAC advised on accessibility strategy, interaction patterns, and implementation considerations for the public-facing interface, with attention to the full range of activities visitors complete through TNEW: selecting tickets, purchasing admission, completing donations, managing memberships, and navigating transaction flows. The goal was to help Tessitura create an interface that worked more consistently with access technology while still allowing client organizations to customize the appearance and presentation of their visitor buying experiences.

PAC President Sina Bahram delivered the keynote address, “Welcoming the Widest Possible Audience,” at the 2019 Tessitura Learning and Community Conference in Chicago in July 2019. The keynote focused on equitable experiences, universal and inclusive design, and the role cultural technology platforms can play in expanding access across many institutions.

The project was especially important because improvements to TNEW could scale across the cultural sector. By helping Tessitura improve the accessibility of a core platform used by museums and performing arts venues, PAC contributed to better digital access not only for one organization, but for the many institutions and visitors relying on Tessitura-powered experiences.