As a blind conference organizer and attendee, the immense inaccessibility of event platforms has cost me tons of time and money, as well as preventing myself and many other disabled people from equitably participating in this incredibly valuable form of discourse.

As someone born deaf who reads lips and doesn't use ASL, it's hard to know whether an event will be worth my time. One time, I found out an event had captions after the fact. I asked the organizer why they didn't promote the event had captions. They said captions are the default for them. While that's awesome, most of us have become accustomed to expecting nothing. Moreover, many hearing folks tell me they're relying on captions more and appreciate it when they're available.

As a blind person, I always dread buying tickets to an event because it is usually such a bad experience, even for a skilled screen reader user like myself. This leads to me often having to call or get assistance, which I only grudgingly do if the event is so important to make that worth it. A lot of the time I just decide to skip it if I run into too many issues.

My experience has been that event management and ticketing platforms tend to pose barriers for users with disabilities participating independently in social and entertainment events. Event organizers should not be faced with limited market opportunities and potential risk due to the inaccessibility of the systems they use. An accessible ticketing platform is much needed.

I've lost count of the times when I've been stopped from getting tickets for events because the platform isn't usable to people like me who are blind. As a speaker it's frustrating too because I wonder how many people decide not to attend events just because the act of getting a ticket is difficult or impossible.

It's unbelievable that a truly accessible events management and ticketing platform does not yet exist! Every day, the lack of such tools forces event organizers who are deeply committed to accessibility and inclusion to bend over backwards just so that every audience member can fully enjoy equitable access to the events we put out. I support the creation of such a platform because it's a crucial step towards enabling full societal participation for people with disabilities and if anyone can do it, it's Karl and his team.

As the organiser of a local Inclusive Design Meetup and a person with a disability, I am highly attuned to the accessibility of our platforms. All traditional event platforms have accessibility quirks, so we must be careful not to inadvertently exclude people from participating. I think Eventably finally does away with this.