No Limits Live!
Accessibility Awareness Platform for Live Music Experiences
Role: Researcher, UX Designer, Front-End Developer
Timeline: Spring 2026
Tools: Figma, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Canva, Miro, VS Code, Github
Overview
No Limits Live! is an interactive educational website designed to raise awareness about accessibility barriers in live music environments. While venues may meet ADA requirements, many concertgoers with disabilities still encounter challenges related to navigation, sensory experiences, information access, and overall inclusion. This project explores the gap between compliance and truly inclusive design by guiding users through the concert experience from the perspective of attendees with accessibility needs.
Design Timeline/Process
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Week 2 (Feb 2)- Topic Exploration
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Week 3 (Feb 9) - 5-minute Pitch Presentation
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Week 5 (Feb 23) - Annotated Bibliography, Analysis of What Currently Exists, Peer Feedback, & External Mentor Meeting #1
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Week 6 (March 2) - Primary Research Interviews + Affinity Mapping of Themes
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Week 7 (March 9) - Insight Statements + How Might We’s
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Week 8 (March 16) - Design Proposal + External Mentor Meeting #2
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Week 11 (April 6) - Demo Days + Peer Feedback
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Week 14 (April 27) - External Mentor Meeting #3
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Week 15 (May 4) - Feedback Report + Final Deliverable
Topic Exploration
To start this project it began by exploring two potential problem spaces. For each topic, I researched the existing challenges, why the issue mattered, who it impacted, and reflected on my own assumptions and biases to better understand the problem from multiple perspectives. This process encouraged me to approach the project with curiosity, empathy, and a research-first mindset instead of designing around preconceived ideas.
The two topics I explored were Concert Culture & Accessibility and Visual Impairments in Higher Education, both of which were rooted in my own experiences. As someone who frequently attends concerts, I had experienced firsthand how confusing ticketing, venue navigation, and accessibility information can be. Likewise, living with a visual impairment gave me a greater appreciation for the everyday barriers that inaccessible environments can create. These experiences, combined with a course on accessible design, sparked a passion for creating more inclusive digital experiences and ultimately drew me toward accessibility as the focus of my project.
After evaluating both opportunities, I chose to further explore concert culture and accessibility as my passion project. The next step was developing an initial project pitch that synthesized my preliminary research, identified key stakeholders, and outlined questions to guide the remainder of the design process.
5-Minute Pitch
With a topic selected, I transformed my early research into an initial project pitch. This allowed me to define the problem space, identify research gaps, and establish a direction for interviews and further exploration before committing to a final solution.
Bibliography & Peer Feedback
After developing my initial pitch, I continued researching the topic by creating an annotated bibliography and analyzing existing solutions related to live music and accessibility. This phase helped me better understand the current landscape while identifying common themes across my sources, including the importance of concerts as spaces for connection, the impact of digitalization on the live music industry, and the accessibility barriers many attendees still face. It also gave me a clearer understanding of where my project could provide value.
Receiving feedback from my peers helped me realize that my research was trying to tackle two different ideas at once. I was exploring both the changing culture of live music and accessibility within concert venues, but they weren't connecting as clearly as I had hoped. This feedback made me step back and reconsider the direction of my project. Rather than trying to solve multiple problems, I decided to narrow my focus and build my research around accessibility, using broader concert industry trends to provide context instead of becoming the primary focus.
The feedback also introduced new directions for my research. I was encouraged to look at accessibility in sports venues, since many concerts take place in those spaces, and to connect with professionals who work in accessibility services for additional insights. These conversations helped shape the next phase of my project and gave me a much stronger foundation for planning interviews and defining the problem I wanted to solve.
Primary Interviews & Affinity Mapping
After refining my research, I interviewed three individuals who each represented a different perspective within the live music experience: an event organizer, a frequent concert attendee, and an accessibility advocate. I wanted to better understand the challenges each group faces and compare their experiences with the research I had already gathered.
Once the interviews were complete, I combined my interview notes with key takeaways from my annotated bibliography and organized them through affinity mapping. This process helped me identify patterns that appeared across multiple sources instead of relying on individual opinions. As I grouped similar ideas together, I began to see the bigger picture of the problem.
Several themes consistently emerged. Concerts were described as spaces for connection, community, and belonging, but that experience was often affected by financial barriers, confusing venue information, and accessibility challenges. I also found that attendees rely heavily on digital platforms before a concert to understand what to expect, yet the information they need is often scattered across multiple websites or missing altogether.
One idea that particularly stood out to me was radical hospitality, a concept introduced during my interview with Patti Liberatore. Rather than simply meeting accessibility requirements, radical hospitality focuses on making people feel welcomed, supported, and included. That conversation shifted how I thought about accessibility and encouraged me to consider how those same feelings could be translated into a digital experience.
Looking across both my interviews and research, I realized the problem wasn't just about accessibility. It was about reducing uncertainty and helping people feel more prepared and confident before attending a live event. Those insights became the foundation for defining my problem statement and designing the direction of my final solution.
Insight Statements & HMW's
With my research and interviews complete, the next step was synthesizing everything I had learned into actionable design opportunities. Using the themes identified through my affinity mapping, I developed three insight statements that captured the most significant patterns emerging across my research. From there, I translated each insight into a series of How Might We questions to shift my focus from understanding the problem to exploring possible solutions.
Then I chose one insight statement and HMW's and came up with 60 ideas based on those questions.
Insight One
Themes: Psychological Impact + Accessibility Barriers + Financial Barriers
Live music events often function as third spaces, offering people a place outside of home or work where they can explore identity, build community, and express themselves. However, barriers such as cost, venue location, environmental factors, and limited accessible online information can restrict who is able to participate. As a result, spaces designed to foster connection may unintentionally exclude the very audiences seeking belonging. (64 words)
Insight Two
Themes: Accessibility + Audience Behavior
Concert-goers with disabilities must often gather additional information before deciding whether they can attend a live event, including details about accessible seating, parking, restrooms, entry points, and available accommodations. While accessibility accommodations are required when “reasonable” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), venues are not required to clearly present this information online. As a result, disabled concert-goers must often navigate additional uncertainty and planning simply to determine whether an event will be accessible.(77 words)
Insight Three
Themes: Audience Behavior + Audience Motivations + Industry Adaptions
Live music events are experience-based, meaning their true value is only known after attending. Because of this uncertainty, concert-goers rely heavily on digital platforms, such as social media, artist websites, and ticketing conglomerates, to judge whether an event is worth attending. When key information about the experience is difficult to find or missing, potential attendees may decide not to attend at all.
(62 words)
![How might we [bridge the gap between ADA compliance and accessibility] so that.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f164cc_82e48f8af9984457bbf41bcd91f485e6~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_644,h_362,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/How%20might%20we%20%5Bbridge%20the%20gap%20between%20ADA%20compliance%20and%20accessibility%5D%20so%20that.jpg)
Design Proposal
With a clear problem statement and direction established, I developed a design proposal outlining the purpose, audience, and scope of the project. This proposal served as the blueprint for the remainder of the design process, helping me define what I wanted to create, who it would serve, and how the experience would address the needs identified throughout my research.
Rather than creating a tool focused solely on venue ratings or ADA compliance, I proposed an interactive educational website that would guide users through the concert experience from the perspective of individuals with disabilities. The platform would combine educational content, visual storytelling, and interactive elements to increase awareness of accessibility barriers while introducing inclusive design practices that extend beyond minimum legal requirements.
The proposal also helped establish the core sections of the website, including an interactive concert journey, an accessibility awareness hub, interactive accessibility features, and a final section encouraging advocacy and action. Although these features evolved throughout the semester, this proposal established the overall vision and provided a roadmap that guided the design, prototyping, and development of No Limits Live.
Beginning Sketches & Figma
With my design proposal finalized, I began translating my ideas into visual concepts through low-fidelity sketches before moving into Figma. Sketching allowed me to quickly explore different layouts, user flows, and interactive features without becoming attached to a single design direction. Rather than focusing on visual details, I concentrated on how users would navigate the experience and how each section could communicate accessibility in a clear and engaging way.
As the concepts became more refined, I recreated the strongest ideas in Figma to better evaluate layout, hierarchy, and interactions. During this stage, I explored the overall concert journey, accessibility education pages, and interactive activities, including an accessibility symbol quiz. Moving into digital wireframes made it easier to iterate on navigation, organize content, and begin visualizing how users would progress through the website from start to finish.
These early concepts established the foundation for the final website while leaving room for refinement as I continued gathering feedback and testing ideas throughout the remainder of the project.
Coding
Throughout the project, my professor emphasized that our final deliverable did not need to be a fully coded website and that integrating coded elements into a UI prototype would be sufficient. Rather than stopping there, I challenged myself to bring as much of my vision to life as possible by developing a fully functional website. Using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, along with resources such as W3Schools, YouTube tutorials, and AI as a learning tool, I was able to refresh my coding skills, solve technical challenges, and successfully build the entire website by the end of the semester.
Brand Guide
After completing the website, I presented No Limits Live at the ETBD Student Expo, where I received feedback from faculty, peers, and visitors. Presenting the project to people with different backgrounds was valuable because it allowed me to evaluate whether the platform clearly communicated its purpose to both designers and individuals with little prior knowledge of accessibility.
One of the biggest takeaways was that people genuinely enjoyed the interactive elements, particularly the accessibility symbol quiz and knowledge checks. Many visitors commented that these features made the information feel more engaging and approachable, reinforcing my goal of creating an educational experience that encouraged exploration rather than overwhelming users with text.
The feedback also highlighted opportunities for improvement. Several conversations encouraged me to broaden my discussion of accessibility beyond large arenas by considering the unique challenges found in smaller venues, such as sensory overload from flashing lights, mosh pits, and limited accessible seating. Another visitor asked, "Why would someone want to use this platform?" That question made me realize I needed to strengthen the website's call to action and better communicate the long-term value of the project.
While refining the website based on this feedback, I also developed a brand guide for No Limits Live, defining the project's mission, campaign objectives, brand personality, messaging, and visual identity. Creating the brand guide helped ensure that both the website and supporting marketing materials communicated a consistent message centered on accessibility, education, and advocacy.
Conclusion
Looking back on this project, the final website product is not the only thing I gained from the experience. Throughout the semester, my ideas changed multiple times as I conducted research, interviewed different stakeholders, and received feedback from professors, classmates, and visitors at the ETBD Expo. There were many moments where I questioned whether I was taking the project in the right direction, but each conversation helped me better define the problem I wanted to solve and ultimately led to a stronger final outcome.
If I were to continue this project, I would spend more time gathering feedback from individuals with disabilities and conducting surveys with a larger audience. Since accessibility within live music is not an area that has been widely researched, I think additional firsthand perspectives would strengthen both the educational content and the overall experience. While I was able to speak with an accessibility advocate, I wish I had found more opportunities to connect with people who regularly navigate these challenges themselves.
One of the decisions I am most proud of was choosing to fully code the website. Although we were only expected to incorporate coded elements into our projects, I wanted to challenge myself to bring my entire vision to life. Relearning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript after spending the last two years focused primarily on design and marketing was intimidating at first, but it ended up being one of the most rewarding parts of the project. Seeing an idea that started as research, sketches, and wireframes become a fully functioning website made all of the extra time and effort worth it.
Overall, this project reminded me that good design starts with listening. Every interview, research article, critique, and conversation influenced the direction of No Limits Live in some way. More than anything, this experience strengthened my appreciation for user-centered design and reinforced my passion for creating digital experiences that are thoughtful, engaging, and accessible.