Golden 1 Center, Disability Rights Advocates, and Community Members partner for improved access
Sacramento, Calif. – As Sacramento's Golden 1 Center welcomes increasing numbers of visitors back to the stadium to enjoy Kings games, concerts, and other events, community members who are blind or have low vision will notice improvements to the stadium's online ticket purchase platform.
These improvements are thanks to collaboration between the Golden 1 Center, non-profit law firm Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), the ACB Capital Chapter of the California Council of the Blind (CCB), and other community members.
DRA reached out to the Golden 1 Center on behalf of the ACB Capital Chapter, Sacramento Kings season ticket holder Leslie Thom, and community member Margie Donovan to notify the stadium of difficulties that individuals who are blind had experienced attempting to purchase tickets using the Golden 1 Center's online ticket purchase platform. Due to programming barriers, the ticket purchasing website was incompatible with the software that many customers who are blind use to navigate and interact with websites, called screen readers. Because this online platform is the only way to purchase tickets without going to the box office in person, it is important that the process be accessible for individuals who are blind or have low vision.
Updates
When notified, Golden 1 Center got to work to fix the problems by hiring a web access consultant to assess not only the ticket purchase platform, but the entire Kings and Golden 1 Center websites. They also worked with vendors to implement the recommended modifications. These improvements follow the Golden 1 Center's recent addition of audio description services for eventgoers who are blind or have low vision so that they can enjoy all aspects of performances at the arena.
"To my knowledge, Golden 1 Center is the first arena with audio description and a fully accessible ticket purchasing system. Being fully accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired is something Golden 1 Center can be proud of," said Capital Chapter member Margie Donovan.
"It is always great when businesses invest in a relationship with local advocates," said Meredith Weaver, a senior staff attorney at DRA. "The Golden 1 Center has done just that with the Capital Chapter, and we are encouraged by the company's recognition that increasing access is good for the community and good for business."
Do Good Corner
During the Kings' February 23 home game against the Portland Trailblazers, Golden 1 Center and the Kings highlighted their dedication to the blind community in Sacramento by featuring DRA and CCB at the arena's Do Good Corner, which provided the opportunity to spotlight Golden 1 Center's commitment, share the importance of accessible technology, and connect individually with interested fans.
If you experience barriers to accessing the Golden 1 Center's website or ticket purchase platform via screen reader, please reach out to Golden 1 Center directly at 888-91-KINGS. To request audio description for an event, contact 1-888-91-KINGS (1-888-915-4647) or email [email protected] at least two weeks in advance of the scheduled event or as soon as possible.